(Lusaka, Sambia – January 30, 2025) -Local communities and wild animals benefit from a generous jokes of 1 million US dollars to implement landscape connection projects in the Luambe National Park and in the surrounding Lumimba Game Management Area (GMA), which are part of the Luangwa Valley Ecosystem in Sambia.
The scholarship is a generous gift to IFAW of the Francis Noz Heritage Fund to promote the IFAW room to go through the initiative in Africa. This initiative aims to protect the elephant populations and include local communities in several governance and management practices for natural resources in several associated ecosystems.
The Luangwa Valley ecosystem houses the largest elephant population in Zambia – about 15,000 people. This huge landscape is a crucial path for animal migration and a carbon sisten that is woven in one of the iconic wildlife areas of Africa. In this reason, the Luambe National Park covers an area of approx. 254 km2 (approximately 75 times the size of the New York central park) and is strategically located in order to offer critical connectivity between the habitats for elephant populations in the region.
“People and wild animals share rooms, offer opportunities and challenges. The guarantee of connectivity between the landscapes for elephants is of crucial importance for their long -term survival, but the local communities are fundamental to this vision to become a reality, ”says Patricio Ndadzela, country director of Zambia and Malawi at IFAW . The goal is that thousands of elephants can go through freely, while the local communities keep ownership that can thrive them socially and economically.
The Luambe National Park and the buffer -GMAs are under essential bioclimatic and human pressure and accelerate habitat loss and deterioration. The population growth and the associated requirements for natural resources continue to escalate, which leads to an increasing frequency and intensity of conflicts between humans and swarms.
“So that people and animals can thrive together, we cannot treat it like a random game. Landscapes that are rich in wild animals all over the world, especially in Africa, are becoming increasingly fragmented because space and natural resources become a more competitive territory. Elephants cannot stay on nature conservation colors – they need space to the roam, “adds Ndadzela.
Paul Noz from Francis Noz Heritage Fund said that one of the main goals of the grant was to deliver long -term solutions for these challenges. “This complex matter has no simple solutions and requires considerable investments. We hope that this partnership promote the connectivity of the landscape protecting threatened wild animals, improving the well -being of rangers, promoting coexistence and supporting local communities in the administration of natural resources. ”
“We see in the Luambe national park that conflicts between humans and cars often lead to illegal killing and trade with illegal wild animals. Fortunately, this can be disturbed by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the anti-poaching operations in the hard company environment of the park, ”says Dominic L. Chiinda, director of the Ministry of National Park & Wildlife in Sambia. “We work with IfAW and work together to improve the ranger camps and the mobility of rangers and to provide the tools and resources for effective wildlife management and coexistence. Rangers are the front-line defenders of nature and ensure that they are of crucial importance for their success. We praise IFAW for the partnership with DNPW to ensure effective participation in the community in natural resource management that has improved the management of wild animals. ”
This increase in funding from the Francis Noz Heritage Fund will throw a lifeline for the preservation and the decisive communities by implementing approaches that help develop healthy landscapes and resilient communities.
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