The Women for Conservation network took part in Masebe Ranch’s annual Tangila Trail Series marathon in Mkushi, which was held in honour of the late Solomon Chidunuka, a wildlife conservation hero.
The Tangila Trail Series is an annual event with three core activities: trail running, mountain-biking and open-water swimming. This year’s event, which had been postponed due to Covid-19, only hosted running activities, which came in three categories: a gentle 10km run, a challenging 22 km run and a punishing 33 km trail run.
What makes this year’s event special is that it combines two great stories. The first story is of a man who dedicated his life to protecting wildlife. The late Solomon Chidunuka, in whose honor the event was held, was the ideal Wildlife Ranger, having carved out for himself a career in protecting wildlife that spanned more than 30 years. He joined the then National Parks and Wildlife Services in 1987 as a Wildlife Police Officer and rose through the ranks to his last position, that of Senior Warden of Muchinga province. One of the highlights of his illustrious career is when he received the prestigious Tusk Wildlife Ranger award in 2017, in recognition of his immense contribution to combating poaching and ensuring that Zambia’s wildlife is kept out of reach of mafias profiting from the illegal wildlife trade.
The second story is that of women finally taking their place in conservation. One of the conservation projects that travelled for the event in Mkushi is Women for Conservation, a network that was created by Wildlife Crime Prevention and supported by the Woodtiger Fund, to provide networking opportunities to women interested in working in or already working in conservation. This came from the timely realisation that the conservation sector in Zambia was male dominated, while women were underrepresented and often on the side-lines.
This is despite the fact that women have proven that they are just as capable as their male counterparts and that if they are given a platform and support, they can deliver. Leaving women off the conservation top table also meant that the conservation sector wasn’t functioning to its capacity as women could contribute significantly to protecting Zambia’s wildlife resources. Women are an equal partner in conservation and their input is crucial if conservation efforts are to yield tangible long-term results.
The Tangila Trail Series event that was held at the Mkushi Country Club around the Masebe hills last weekend gave conservationists an opportunity to celebrate a brave man who protected Zambia’s wildlife from poaching gangs. Now that Solomon Chidunuka is no longer with us, more people will have to step into his shoes as the illegal wildlife trade continues to target our wildlife. But for us to win this fight, we mustn’t leave women behind. The hope for Women for Conservation is that organizations in conservation will create the necessary platforms and support for more and more women to develop careers in conservation.
In October, the DNPW and CLZ went through a selection process with Resolve Wildlife for the establishment of a new River Unit and Rapid Deployment Team. Whilst boots on the ground protect the park from the inside, these new specialised law enforcement units will work together with the K9 Unit, along with the DNPW Investigations and Intelligence Units, to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
The River Unit will monitor the Zambezi River which is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, preventing the international flow of illegal wildlife products between the two countries and enforcing fishing regulations. The Rapid Deployment Team will support patrol teams on the ground as well as lead targeted operations.
CLZ hosted a visit for the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of General Education, the Provincial Education Officer and District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS) from four districts.
As CLZ continues to expand their Environmental Education Programme to benefit more children and teachers, the purpose of this meeting was to strengthen their relationship with the Ministry.
Environmental Education Programme
October saw the restart of CLZ’s Environmental Education Programme after it was put on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Teachers and 28 students from Chinyunyu village visited CLZ’s basecamp to learn about the importance of conserving wildlife and the environment. For many of these students it was their first time experiencing the Lower Zambezi’s wildlife and its natural beauty.
CLZ thanked a generous donor, who visited the Lower Zambezi valley, for their most welcome donation to conduct this visit as well as the DEBS and Permanent Secretary’s visit.
Bats Without Borders is hosting their next WingedWednesday webinar this week, at 15hrs CAT on Wednesday 24 November. Their speaker is Professor Fiona Mathews, from the University of Sussex, UK, who will be talking about the impact of infrastructure on bats – from roads to wind energy.
Her talk is particularly relevant to Zambia as our Ministry of Energy has signed an implementation agreement to build the country’s first wind energy plant just 50km from the borders of Kasanka National Park. This proposed location is directly in the flightpath of Kasanka’s internationally important migratory colony of straw-coloured fruit bats and poses a severe threat to their population. So join in Professor Mathews talk to find our why clean energy infrastructure solutions need to be located in the right places for our biodiveristy.
To join this month’s WingedWednesday Webinar on Zoom, please pre-register by completing the sign up form on the BatsWithoutBorders website. Please note: you only need to register once, and they will email you the joining in instructions the evening before the monthly webinar.
You can also catch up on all their previous webinars on their website or via their dedicated YouTube channel.
2022 Batty Calendar
Have you seen the Bats Without Borders awesome 2022 bat calendar? It includes gorgeous images of the wonderful southern African bat species for every month of the year. Plus, all profits go towards their important conservation work securing a future for these amazing bats!
After two weeks, with almost 40,000 delegates negotiating in Glasgow, Saturday saw the end of the crucial Glasgow climate summit – COP26. World Leaders made a series of climate pledges about ending and reversing deforestation, cutting methane emissions, more money to help developing countries to help them to adapt to climate impacts, and the journey to net zero. The Glasgow Climate Pact is the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal, the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases. But do these pledges go far enough to limit temperature rise to 1.5C? Experts say not.
We take a quick look at the key agreements that were made over the two weeks:
The Glasgow Pact
It was agreed to get countries to strengthen their emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year to limit dangerous global warming with increased financial help for developing countries. This is the first time fossil fuels have been included in a UN climate agreement which aims to keep limiting global warming to 1.5c above pre-industrial levels within reach. Current pledges, if fulfilled, will only limit global warming to about 2.4C.
At the last minute, the Glasgow Pact was watered, following a push by India and China, from the “phase out” of unabated coal, to “phase down”. This prompted angry responses from European and vulnerable countries who feel these pledges do not go far enough to limit temperature rises. .
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that our planet is “hanging by a thread… we are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe… it is time to go into emergency mode – or our chance of reaching net zero will itself be zero.” He called for an end to fossil fuels subsidies, phasing out of coal, a price on carbon, building resilience of vulnerable communities against the impacts of climate change and to make good on the long-promised 100 billion US dollar climate finance commitment to support developing countries.
If global temperatures rise by more than 1.5C, scientists say that our earth is likely to experience severe effects, such as millions more people being exposed to extreme heat.
Coal and fossil fuels
More than 40 countries, including 23 new ones, pledged to phase out the use of coal – the most polluting fossil fuel. Major countries said they would phase it out in the 2030s, with poorer countries committing to the 2040s. However, Australia, the world’s second largest exporter of thermal coal which is used in coal-fired power stations, did not add its name to the pledge. At least 20 countries, together with public finance institutions, promised to stop public finance to overseas fossil fuels by the end of 2022, diverting cash into clean energy instead.
Green technologies
More than 40 world leaders agreed on a UK-led plan to speed up affordable and clean technology worldwide by 2030. The first five goals were dubbed the ‘Glasgow breakthroughs’ and cover more than 50% of global emissions:
Power: Clean power becomes the most affordable and reliable option worldwide
Road transport: Zero-emission vehicles become the new normal and are accessible, affordable and sustainable in all regions
Steel: Near-zero emission steel is the preferred choice in global markets, with efficient use and near-zero emission steel production established and growing in all regions
Hydrogen: The aim is for affordable renewable and low carbon hydrogen to be globally available
Agriculture: Climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture becomes the most attractive and widely adopted option for farmers everywhere
Deforestation
More than 100 countries, which included Zambia, represent 85% of the world’s forests. They promised to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by the end of 2030. This is to be underpinned by $19bn in public and private funds to invest in protecting and restoring forests.
Forests absorb roughly 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, taking emissions out of the atmosphere and prevent them from warming the climate. But, this natural climate buffer is rapidly disappearing. The world lost 258,000 square kms of forest in 2020, according to WRI’s deforestation tracking initiative Global Forest Watch.
Fighting deforestation with green charcoal in DRC – African News
Farming
45 countries pledged urgent action on making farming more sustainable. Along with commitments on methane, the signatories promised to invest in green agricultural practices which protect nature.
Finance
The EU launched a programme to finance breakthrough climate innovation alongside Bill Gates and the European Investment Bank. Called the EU Catalyst Programme, it is worth one billion euros, and will finance new technologies, allowing them to be used on the ground in Europe.
The UK’s government announced that financial firms, controlling about 40% of global assets – $130trn (£95trn), have signed up to 2050 net-zero goals including limiting global warming to 1.5C. The UK’s Chancellor also said that Britain will become the first country to force all financial institutions, and listed companies in the UK, to publish plans on how they will transition to net zero from 2023.
Japan committed an extra $10bn climate finance over five years. This means that the wealthier countries could hit the $100bn a year target one year sooner than expected.
Five countries along with a group of global charities have promised $1.7bn to support indigenous people’s conservation of forests and strengthening their land rights. The Scottish government pledged £1m to support victims of climate disasters by partnering with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund to address loss and damage caused by climate change.
Transport
34 countries committed to stopping the sale of non-electric vehicles by at least 2040, with several leading markets pledging to do this by 2035. The agreement was also signed by cities, car manufacturers and financial institutions, but not by the governments of three of the world’s biggest car markets – which are the US, Germany and China.
The Clydebank Declaration for green shipping corridors committed 22 countries to creating at least 6 zero-emission maritime routes by 2025. They hope to see many more green shipping corridors by 2030.
Methane
The US and the EU have launched an initiative to cut methane – the powerful greenhouse gas that comes from sources including fossil fuel extraction and livestock farming. Many heads of state signed up to the pledge, which commits to countries cutting methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
US and China
The US and China signed a rare joint declaration that commits these two biggest polluters in the world to “enhanced climate actions that raise ambition”. This makes promises on methane emissions, the transition to clean energy and decarbonisation, and plans to implement them in the “critical decade of the 2020s”.
Instructional Videos Raise Awareness and Excitement for Conservation
Across the vast rural landscapes that COMACO operates in, where farmers have limited literacy levels, they asked – how do you impart knowledge and understanding about caring for soils as the basis for improving livelihoods and protecting the land?
COMACO does this with six mobile video teams that fan out to all 86 chiefdoms, calling on chiefs, their advisors, headmen and farmer cooperative leaders to gather and view local language instructional videos that make learning easy, cost-effective and inclusive.
After 100s of such viewings, they have seen their impact and are finding it exciting to watch the results unfold. Leaders are now clear on how and why agroforestry, minimum tillage, and crop rotation with legumes save soils and keep small-scale farmers safe from hunger. Entire communities, and their leaders, are becoming empowered with the knowledge these videos bring and the positive farming transformation practices that they promote.
You can also view two of the videos online on YouTube which are making this transformation possible.
Partnership with The Kasanka Trust – Impacting Lives, Saving Wildlife
56 poachers surrendered their guns in the Chitambo and Mpumba Chiefdoms to take up farming and bee-keeping as part of a joint effort with The Kasanka Trust to reduce poaching in and around the Kasanka National Park.
COMACO’s results show that where they have brought in markets, they have been able to replace the need for poaching, and the number of arrests in these areas have dramatically reduced. Whereas in areas where they have not yet begun projects, illegal hunting still continues.
Since 2019 COMACO has purchased 1,420,206.50 tons of crops from 2.070 farmers from these two chiefdoms – valued at ZMW 5443,155.96. They have also distributed and put up 8,000 bee hives with the support of a grant, working with The Kasanka Trust. In 2022 they plan to begin buying honey from these new hives, which will add yet another cash incentive to help in protecting wildlife in Kasanka National Park.
Exposure Visit Inspires Nyalugwe Community to Ranch Wildlife
COMACO, in collaboration with the Wildlife Producers Association of Zambia (WPAZ), led a training tour for members of Chief Nyalugwe’s game ranch committee. Whilst visiting game ranches, they learnt what is required to manage wildlife on community land. The training included topics, such as wildlife ecology, animal welfare and nutrition, and sustainability.
During their training, they visited a game ranch in the Simalaha Conservancy in Kazungula and Sisheka which was established by Chiefs Sekute and Inyambo Yeta. They also visited Kushiya Game Farm, run by Ian Robinson who has ventured into multiple activities to financially sustain the farm – including trophy hunting, game meat harvesting, cows for milk and beef, honey production, and farming selected crops for feed.
Whilst at the game farms, they saw a wide range of wildlife species, including wildebeest, Kafue lechwe, zebra, impala and sable. They also fount out about the level of support and management that the local communities have achieved, which has resulted in zero poaching.
The training gave the Nyalugwe community a much clearer vision for their future game ranch. They hope it will serve as model for other chiefdoms in Eastern Province. COMACO looks forward to continuing its support for Nyalugwe’s game ranch and their vision for restoring wildlife into their land.
For more news from COMACO check out their September Newsletter here
