Celebrating conservation success for People and Wildlife

World wildlife day was proclaimed on 20 December 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate the biodiversity of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the numerous benefits that their conservation provides to people. The date was set on 3 March every year. The theme for this year’s world wildlife day is ‘restoring key species for ecosystem restoration.’

The theme perfectly describes the collaborative work done by WWF, DNPW, the communities and the traditional authority in restoring Zambia’s third-largest National Park-Sioma Ngwezi National.

For many years, the wildlife of the Sioma Ngwezi National Park was almost depleted due to the uncontrolled harvesting of game meat compounded by the fight for independence in Namibia and South Africa by the freedom fighters of Namibia and the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) and weak management.

However, to restore the ecosystem healthy, since 2017, WWF Zambia in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) restocked over 1500 various key wild Animals-Sables, Wildebeests, Impalas, Zebras, Buffaloes. Over the years, this restocking exercise has not only led to an increase in the prey species populations e.g., buffaloes, impalas, zebras, elands, giraffes, sable and roan antelopes but has also impacted the ecosystem through the ecological bottom-up model. Meaning that restoring the increase in herbivore populations has led to the increase and thriving large carnivore populations and Sioma Ngwezi National Park has recently recorded many large carnivore sightings e.g. Lions, Cheetah, Hyena, Leopard and Wild dogs resulting in the first time large carnivore collaring of 4 lions and 2 wild dogs in 2020; and this is a huge plus for tourism.

Over and above, the restoration of key species for a healthy ecosystem alone is not enough: ensuring communities who live alongside wildlife benefit sustainably from wildlife is WWF’s desired goal. Since 2009, WWF Zambia in the Silowana Complex has been supporting alternative livelihoods such as Conservation Agriculture and beekeeping.?Other support includes capacity building of CRB/VAGs in the governance and management of natural resources, prevention and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict, monitoring of wildlife and policy advocacy for effectively managed ecosystems.

However, the issue of Human-Wildlife Conflict cannot go without being discussed especially on this important day because HWC threatens the very key species and ecosystems we have restored.

As the wildlife population continues to grow, so is the frequency of the incidents of HWC involving elephants, hippos, crocodiles, spotted hyenas, leopards and lions and other conflict-causing species.

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Over 70000 people are living within the Silowana Complex. And reports from 2017 to 2021 game counts indicate an increase in the wildlife population. With the expanding population of local people and wildlife, competition for space and water at the Zambezi and Kwando rivers has become more intense resulting in frequent and widespread human-wildlife conflict incidents. Furthermore, traditionally, over 60% of the local people depend on agriculture and cattle keeping for their livelihood. As a result, the impacts of HWC from both herbivores raiding their crops and large carnivores depredating upon their cattle is bound to be strongly felt here. It is important to also note that women and children are often the victims of wildlife attacks. Women are traditionally expected to fetch firewood and water from the bush and rivers respectively while children act as cattle herders.

As a result of the continued threat from HWC, WWF Zambia is in the process of upscaling its current approach to HWC to the SAFE systems approach. The SAFE systems approach is a paradigm shift from the current context to a long-term results-based goal that goes to the heart of conflict management. Human-Wildlife Conflict Safe Systems is a suite of actions across all the above mentioned six elements that contribute to a single long-term goal for an area: to make it safe - safe for people, assets, wildlife and habitat. The Safe Systems approach encompasses all interactions between people, their land, their livelihoods, decision-makers, commercial and government interests, and wildlife; and it accommodates human error and the “wildness” of the species involved. (WWF-2021).

With this holistic approach to HWC management in place, we are certain of achieving a Silowana Complex where man and wildlife live in harmony for the benefit of both.

Authors: Nachilala Nkombo CD WWF and Shadrach Mwaba , Senior Wildlife Officer WWF