AWF Donates Equipment to Zambia Wildlife Authority

On April 8, 2004, AWF presented the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) with camping equipment and uniforms worth $74,000 to assist wildlife protection in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. The equipment includes camping tents, tarpaulins, mosquito netting, and other accessories.

AWF Chief of Party Henry Mwima presented the equipment to the Honorable Patrick Kalifungwa, Zambian Minister of Tourism, Environment, and Natural Resources, at a ceremony attended by numerous ZAWA officials and other dignitaries. Mr. Kalifungwa emphasized his commitment to tourism development and the need to work with neighboring countries to ensure wildlife conservation at an ecosystem level.

AWF purchased the donated items under the Protected Areas support program of the Four Corners Transboundary Natural Resources Management (TBNRM) Initiative. The Four Corners project area encompasses the Eastern Caprivi Strip in Namibia, Ngamiland in Botswana, the Hwange district in Zimbabwe, and Southern Province between the Zambezi River and Kafue in Zambia. It covers 220,000 square kilometers and is home to an estimated 140,000 elephants and other animals.

Through the TBNRM, AWF is helping the governments of Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe adopt an integrated approach to conservation and tourism development in the Upper Zambezi area. Specifically, AWF provides support for management of protected areas, collaborates with local communities to secure wildlife corridors, dispersal areas, and habitats, encourages communities along the Zambezi River to streamline fisheries management, and cooperates with wildlife and fisheries authorities on ecological planning, monitoring, and research.

The TBNRM is part of AWF's focus on landscape-level conservation, which aims to conserve protected areas and species over large areas such as the Four Corners region. This approach recognizes that protected areas have to be conserved within the context of the surrounding landscape and land use and that conservation efforts must transcend political boundaries. This approach also takes into consideration that protected areas are connected to their surroundings through ecological, economic and cultural relationships.