Tourism With A Purpose – Luambe Conservation
2020, along with all the conservation projects and lodges in Africa, has been a very quite year for the Luambe Conservation Project (LCP). But they realised that with few tourists, this quiet year have given them a chance to reflect.
“We realised that the happiest guests we have hosted at Luambe were the guests who got to join us in our conservation activities and projects. Guests who had enjoyed a safari with a purpose. Guests who had combined their safari time with activities that helped us track the wildlife recovery and benefit our local communities. So in response to our guest feedback, we have decided to change direction! Change for good and for wildlife.”
They are delighted to launch the re-branding of Luambe Camp within the national park to the Luambe Conservation Project. Over the past 6 years the project has quietly been achieving amazing results and their new tourism initiative will invite guests to join in with their conservation projects – saving animals whilst on their safari holiday.
Guests are invited to:
Track wildlife – helping the LCP team with their mammal census on game drives or tracking and monitoring large carnivore movements to find out which areas of the park they utilise.
Study animal behaviour – guests can listen to underwater hippo communications, learn the basics of anti-poaching or take escorted walks around the park, setting up wildlife cameras traps to capture photographs of leopards to help with their identification.
Special interest projects – experience what it is like to work in conservation by joining in with bat echolocation, vulture and crane tagging projects.
Local communities – guests will gain an understanding of the human dynamics of the project by learning about human/wildlife conflict issues and seeing law-enforcement first hand by helping the scouts to remove snares.
Luambe National Park
The wildlife found at Luambe National Park is similar to its larger neighbours, with over 200 species of birds and increasing elephant, lion and leopard populations. Set on the Luangwa River, it has a wide range of habitat diversity, from riverine forests to floodplains and open grasslands and plains.
At just 254 km², the park, which is in the heart of the Luangwa valley, is one of Zambia’s oldest conservation areas – being declared in 1938. It is located in Eastern Province, north-east of the well-known South Luangwa National Park and south of much larger North Luangwa National Park.
You can find out more about Luambe Conservation Protect’s new tourism initiative on their website – www.luambe.com and keep up to date with what is happening in the park on their Facebook Page.