For over 2 years the Kasanka Trust has been working closely with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife to try and stop the illegal deforestation and unlawful developments just a stone’s throw from the borders of Kasanka National Park.
In July 2019 it was found that Lake Agro, a subsidiary of the Tanzanian owned Lake Group, had illegally occupied land in the adjacent Kafinda GMA, having cleared 160 hectares of pristine forest and set up two centre pivot cycles for agricultural use. The following month the Department of Forestry issued a stop order, which was ignored.
Since this time, a further three stop orders have been issued by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Arts and the Director of the DNPW. All have been ignored. Hundreds more acres of forest have been cleared for cattle farming and arable crops, with soya beans and maize even having been planted. Lake Agro did meet with the DNPW in March 2020, and were given permission to harvest their crops, but to then cease any further activities. This agreement was ignored and deforestation continued.
Satellite imagery from www.planet.com shows the status of the land cover in the GMA – 9 September 2021
In May 2021, Lake Agro submitted an Environmental and Social Impact Statement (ESIS) to the Zambian Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). They were requesting permission for a commercial agriculture development over a 7,000 hectare footprint – 3,000 hectare of arable land plus associated infrastructure, within the protected GMA and less than 3kms from Kasanka National Park. Their report failed to mention that they had already cleared hundreds of hectares of pristine forest or that they had already started commercial farming.
The company was also requesting to take water from the Luwombwa River, which flows into the west of the park. In dry season, Lake Agro acknowledged they will take up to 90% of the river water for their own commercial use, leaving just a trickle to flow into the park.
To date, Lake Agro have had no permission to deforest prime wilderness areas, bring in cattle or plant crops in the protected GMA. They have ignored numerous stop orders from Government. Their ESIS Report ‘forgets’ to mention Kasanka National Park’s proximity to their development, or the environment and wildlife, including the world famous bat migration which will be destroyed, or the local community’s dependence on the river that this Tanzanian company wishes to drain.
ZEMA is holding a Public Hearing on 22 October 2021. It is your chance to help save these rich, biodiverse and sacred protected areas.
You can download and read Lake Agro’s ESIS Report on ZEMA’s website. For further information about Kasanka National Park and the damage to the Kafinda GMA, with a timeline of events leading up to next week’s public hearing, then check out www.kasanka.org and the Kasanka Trust’s Facebook Page
BioCarbon Partners (BCP) were delighted to share that their Government partners, through the Forestry Department, have officially approved the establishment of a 15,000+ hectare Mpanshya Wildlife Corridor. This is a strategic corridor that links two of Zambia’s most important biodiversity areas – the Lower Zambezi and Luangwa ecosystems.
The Mpanshya Wildlife corridor has a rich biodiversity significance, linking the parks to combine one of the last remaining wildlife strongholds left on our planet! Conserving this corridor will help with wildlife gene flow for generations to come.
“The Mpanshya corridor is so important because it means this passage for animals is safe and will help restore wildlife and help reduce issues of human-wildlife conflict. Recently Kudu was spotted where it has not been seen before in the corridor. One community – Kamweshya Village did not have access to clean water before we partnered with BCP under the LCFP. People had to collect water from streams (sometimes dirty!), but since receiving REDD+ revenue, the community invested in repairing the roads to the village, which gave access to the drilling company to drill 4 boreholes in the village. This in itself is truly life-changing!” Her Royal Highness, Chieftainess Mpanshya
This link is due to the Mpanshya Chiefdom’s vision towards a healthy connected landscape that is carbon-financed, together with the Zambian Government’s innovative approach to combating climate change through a green economy.
Need for the corridor
This new corridor protects a path that crosses the Great East Highway. It was found to be urgently needed when elephants were seen crossing the highway for the first time in years, whilst scientists tracked wild dog from South Luangwa to near the north of the corridor. The iconic savannah elephant is now officially listed as endangered and Wild Dog numbers are thought be as low as 6,600 across the continent.
“BCP is proud to have supported the Mpanshya Community and Government to establish this vital corridor. According to National Geographic, the Luangwa-Lower Zambezi ecosystem is one of the last 10 strongholds on earth for lions. For wide-ranging species like wild dog and elephant, this type of connectivity is important long-term. An advantage of this corridor is that it is sustainably financed long term through carbon, and its protection not dependent on tourism or philanthropy.” Dr. Hassan Sachedina, BCP CEO & Founder.
Find out more
To find out more about the Mpanshya Wildlife Corridor and BCP visit their website and keep up to date by checking out their Facebook page. You can also read their Impact Report here.
The Kasanka Trust has just announced that the African straw-coloured fruit bats have started to arrive at the Bat Forest in Kasanka National Park.
This is the beginning of the world’s largest mammal migration in which about 10 million fruit eating bats arrive to congregate in the Bat Forest within Kasanka National Park. They bats set out at sunset to forage on ripe fruits in, and up to 60km away from, the park and then only return to roost in the Bat Forest as dawn breaks.
This unique and spectacular event only happens once a year, between October and December.
For more information about the bats and Kasanka National Park, check out their website and Facebook page
If you would like to book to view this amazing spectacle then call or message Camilla Howard on +260 961 084 576
The 4th Zambian Conservation Careers Fair is taking place this week, on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th October. Once again it will be held virtually online, so you can join in where ever you are.
The theme for 2021 is Redefining Conservation with this year’s guest speaker being the Minister of Tourism and Arts, Mr. Rodney Sikumba.
Held over 2 days, from 9-15 hrs, this free event will feature career talks, activities and panel discussions with prominent young Zambian conservationists from both the public and private sectors.
How to join in
Once again, in line with the ‘new normal’, the Fair is being held virtually online:
The Fair is hosted by hosted by Wildlife Crime Prevention (WCP) and aims to bring together potential employer conservation organisations and students from prominent Zambian training institutions, creating a platform for them to connect.
Through the Careers Fair, WCP aims to cultivate an environment conducive to participation by young Zambians, who are the future of conservation in our country. WCP partners with various representatives from the local conservation arena to demonstrate to young, educated Zambians that this sector is a rewarding and viable career path to take.
For more information contact Maina Malaya on 0976785336 or maina@wcpzambia.org
