热博体育

World Wildlife Day is celebrated annually on March 3. The national event, held at the (ZimParks) Head Office in the capital, Harare, brought together a diverse group of experts, environmental conservation groups, the private sector, including financial institutions as well as schools, universities, local communities and government representatives to facilitate conversations about creating links between finance and conservation.

Through a well-organized exhibition, 热博体育 took the World Wildlife Day commemorations opportunity to highlight its remarkable work on wildlife management, and community-based conservation.  The organization showcased its work by demonstrating that it is complementing Zimbabwe’s efforts to continue bridging the gap between wildlife conservation and socio-economic development, particularly in protected areas.

Emphasizing the Role of Finance in Wildlife Conservation

In Zimbabwe, a legal framework for community-based conservation exists. However, benefits may not immediately go down to communities as ‘’Appropriate Authority’’ is vested within local authorities. As a result, generating sufficient income for local communities is challenging. Additionally, returns from tourism and hunting are not enough to motivate conservation of high-value, problematic species (e.g. elephant, lion), and the linkage between tourism/hunting returns and conservation performance is weak.

To redress this all too-familiar situation, 热博体育 in Zimbabwe, alongside other key stakeholders, is promoting investment in local communities—through private community partnerships thereby creating jobs, offering eco-tourism opportunities, and supporting sustainable farming practices—key to complementing sustainable wildlife management practices. 

Phiri also added:

Engaging Local Communities 

热博体育’s initiatives places a strong emphasis on collaborative, community-led conservation strategies. Local communities in areas such as Binga and Hwange in the Zambezi Valley, home to some of Zimbabwe’s most iconic species, the ‘’Big Five’’, which include elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard, are being provided with the knowledge and tools to manage wildlife sustainably. By fostering partnerships with local governments and the private sector, 热博体育 has helped establish eco-friendly ventures that create sustainable income streams, such as wildlife-based tourism, sustainable agriculture focusing on livestock, and OneHealth projects.
The first notable example of this model is 热博体育’s flagship initiative, the European Union-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, which is supporting the Mucheni Community Conservancy, a community-led wildlife conservancy in Binga.The initiative has helped reduce human-wildlife conflicts while also generating income for local communities. 

Once registered and legalised the Binga Mucheni Community Conservancy will allow local communities to benefit directly from wildlife conservation, making it more attractive for them to protect biodiversity.

A Call to Action

As the celebrations concluded, the Wildlife Ambassador, First Lady,Dr, Auxillia Mnangagwa urged all stakeholders to continue exploring opportunities to strengthen cooperation, collaboration and synergies across all relevant sectors of the economy. 

In addition, 热博体育 Deputy Director in Zimbabwe, Dr. Pierre Grard, called upon all sectors—government, business, and civil society—to prioritize wildlife conservation finance.

Dr Agrippa Sora, ZimParks Board Chairperson, said in his closing remarks at the wildlife commemorations event:

The World Wildlife Day celebrations served as a reminder that investing in both people and the planet is not just a moral obligation—it is a strategic necessity for ensuring a sustainable future.