In May 2023, a member of Wild Things Roam Org will head to the expansive Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA – the world’s largest Trans-frontier Conservation Area at approximately 520,000 km.
Occupying part of the Okavango and Zambezi river basins, it encompasses areas within the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and includes 36 formally proclaimed national parks and a host of game reserves, forest reserves, game management areas, communal lands and conservation and tourism concession areas designated for use of natural resources. The most well-known parts of the TFCA are the Chobe National Park, Hwange National Park, Kafue National Park, the Makgadikgadi Pans, the Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls.
The goal of the KAZA TFCA is “To sustainably manage the Kavango Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic wellbeing of the communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonization of policies, strategies and practices.”
The Vision “To establish a world-class transfrontier conservation and tourism destination area in the Okavango and Zambezi River Basin regions of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe within the context of sustainable development.
The KAZA TFCA process evolved from two initiatives namely, the Okavango Upper Zambezi International Tourism Initiative (OUZIT) and the “Four Corners” Transboundary Natural Resource Management initiative. However, unlike its predecessors, the KAZA TFCA initiative is owned and led by the governments of the five partner countries, with a clear focus on conservation as the primary form of land use and tourism being a by-product thereof. The cornerstone of the KAZA TFCA was laid on 7th December 2006 when the Ministers responsible for environment, natural resources, wildlife and tourism in the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to negotiate and work towards the establishment of the TFCA. This process is well underway and the MoU will be repealed when the Treaty to formally establish the KAZA TFCA is signed by these partner countries.
In just five years, the KAZA programme has surged ahead in leaps and bounds. Here are just a few of their achievements:
- Formulation of KAZA component development plans and strategies
- Formulation of a regional development plan
- Official launch of the KAZA UNIVISA pilot project between the Republics of Zambia and Zimbabwe
- Supply of park management equipment, vehicles and infrastructure
- Expansion of communications networks
- Construction of park housing and administration facilities (Sioma Ngwezi National Park, Zambia, and Pandamatenga, Botswana)
- Supporting environmental monitoring programmes
- Securing wildlife dispersal corridors
- Marketing KAZA TFCA as a tourism destination
- Creating awareness about the benefits derived from wildlife dispersal corridors
- Supporting community development projects
- Supporting human-wildlife conflict mitigation measures.
How we are helping
While there, they will be visiting counter-poaching units, conservation management teams, local schools and communities that all work to help preserve the wildlife and environment. Equipment is vital in their work and funding is limited, so Wild Things Roam Org are here to help where it can.
We are doing a collection of any laptops, tablets, camera gear and phones in working order to be taken to this region in Africa where they are distributed between conservation teams.
We will visit the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust, African Impact Community Project, Kaza Elephant Project and ATS Anti-Poaching Tracking Specialists to name a few.
How you can help
You can email us what you have so we can organise pickups, couriers or postage on hello@wildthingsroam.org. Any monetary donations will be split and go direct to the mentioned organisations to purchase needed equipment.