New Wildlife Corridor Connecting Zambia’s National Parks
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.
Images © BCP