1st Year Progress in Mana Pools World Heritage, Zambezi River Valley, Zimbabwe

In 2019, Global Conservation supported Bushlife Conservancy and International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) for park and wildlife protection programs, equipment and support to protect Mana Pools World Heritage and adjacent areas in the Lower Zambezi River Valley, Zimbabwe. Additional support was made available to Zambezi Society for prosecution support and aerial surveillance.

Over the past 12 months. ZimParks Director General Mr. Fulton Mangwanya approved and supported all Global Conservation efforts to deploy Global Park Defense in Mana Pools World Heritage Park including satellite communications, digital radio upgrades, thermal long-range scopes, cameras with a focus on river protection where more than 60% of the elephant and wildlife poachers come from across from Zambia.

Global Conservation has five primary goals in supporting Global Park Defense in Mana Pools and adjacent areas:

1. Deployment of Global Park Defense systems and communications for all Park Rangers.

2. Achieving ‘No Cut, No Kill’ within the park by increasing arrests and jail sentences.

3. Increasing the size of Mana Pools National Park to protect adjacent high biodiversity areas by 30-50%.

4. Improving core wildlife populations by 1-2 times for endangered indicator species in 5 years.

5. Training of Park Rangers on Global Park Defense technologies, systems and training for rapid response and targeted patrolling.

Working with Bushlife Conservancy

Under the leadership of Nick Murray, Bushlife Support Unit has been supporting ZimParks partroling and capacity building for over a decade. Recently, with the support of Global Conservation, Bushlife has been able to multiply its funding and scale up park and wildlife protection.

Bushlife works in close coordination with Parks and Wildlife personnel to help patrol remote areas, identify, detain and arrest poachers, monitor prosecutions and sentencing, and recover and rehabilitate stolen wildlife.

Implementing SMART Patrol Systems for all Mana Pools and employ a dedicated IT Expert to set up and maintain all systems for Surveillance, Trailcams, Patrol Maps, Digital Radio integration, Internet and Wireless, Laptops and WorkStations.

Deploying SatSleeves donated by Global Conservation for digital satellite communications.

Image courtesy of Zambezi Society.

Bushlife provides drivers, vehicles, food and supplies for ZimParks patrolling.  These brave young men and women have undergone intensive training with ZimParks and are being deployed on the river and interior of the national park to protect against wildlife poaching.

Image courtesy of Zambezi Society.

With a dedicated patrol boat from Zambezi Society and 3 other vessels provided by Bushlife supported by Global Conservation, river patrols started up in December 2019 netting over 15,500 meters of illegal nets, 25 water beaters, unlicensed fishing lines and fishing baskets. Two poachers where handed over to the Chirundu police.

Global Conservation believes wildlife poaching incursions across the river from the Zambian side of the border can be reduced by 60% with regular patrolling on the river supported by night vision and thermal imaging equipment. This equipment allows for poachers to be sighted at night and increases safety of park rangers who are often shot at by wildlife poachers.

Sadly, two ZimPark rangers were killed while performing their duties on New Year’s Eve 2020. Rangers Mabharani and Tembo were drowned on Lake Kariba after being attacked by four captured poachers while in transit by river to Police in town. These rangers lost their lives protecting Zimbabwe's parks and wildlife and will be remembered for their brave sacrifice.

Global Conservation sent Greg Brown, head of security and logistics, to administer advanced weapons and equipment training and began implementation of SMART patrol system.

The SMART Patrol system will include dedicated IT and communications personnel and a rapid response team of rangers, trail cameras, surveillance, Intel, patrol maps, digital radio communication and an additional command center on the southern boundary, All will be integrated into the existing infrastructure to create a formattable park defense network targeting poachers and improving ranger safety.

Bushlife began Elephant Collaring in 2019 and with funding from Global Conservation, has already increased the number of collars purchased for 2020. Long-term, Bushlife hopes to establish a Black Rhino Reintroduction program once elephant poaching is under control and a viable plan for sustainability is formed.

With Global Conservation support, Bushlife is supplying Frozen Meat for ranger rations to replace the wild game hunting being done previously by Mana Pools rangers and their families, as well as providing quantities of dried fish for the ranger’s village. The economic situation in Zimbabwe is 1200% inflation on the USD meaning that ranger salaries are barely enough to put food on the table for their family.

In early 2019, Bushlife hired a dedicated Anti-Poaching Manager who is doing great work with parks and ranger teams. Having been in Zambezi Valley Parks working for the past 12 years, he has really helped to streamline our work, even more so since Bushlife purchased a manager’s vehicle for him to help in rapid deployments, servicing breakdowns and monitoring of various projects including engaging in operations with other remotely stationed rangers in need of vehicle support.

Summary of Patrolling Results – 2019

- Bushlife has 3 vehicles up and running to reach our remote bases in the park - Vehicle deployments have continued on a daily basis

- On average a vehicle drives 3000km/month, using 300 liters diesel

- 75 rangers are deployed in the bush on patrol per month per vehicle

- A full time mechanic is employed for working on these vehicles along with a runner in Harare procuring spares

Establishing Remote Bases and Observation Posts

Remote Bases help ZimParks rangers combat poachers entering the park from the remote southern boundary and the surrounding highland areas which are often very difficult to reach do to the terrain.

In partnership with GC, Bushlife will establish 3 more remote bases, including the command center on the southern boundary road near Mondo spring. Bushlife has scheduled more road work to be completed in the next few months including sending in a Backhoe to work on river crossings so we will have improved access to the new command center base and provide better patrol routes for rangers. 

One more vehicle will be a great addition to help manage these extra remote bases. Another remote base will be established in the Chewore area where one of two elephants were shot. The last base will be established in an undisclosed location and will remain hidden for as long as possible. In addition, 2 existing remote bases will be refurbished to improve living conditions and increase morale.

Police and Private Investigations – Anti-Poaching and Trafficking

A 4x4 SUV was provided by Bushlife and Global Conservation to support the Kariba branch, so we now have 2 vehicles operational in investigations. A lot of work is being done in the areas surrounding the valley and community reports of poachers coming into the area are being logged and we are able to alert ranger teams who are the boots on the ground. Regular patrolling and presence of rangers has been a big deterrent to poachers. There have been at least 4 cases where early warning by informers has kept poachers out of the valley.

Other work by the Bushlife Investigations Unit includes:

- 3 days road blocks checking for contraband with the police

- Patrolling dams for illegal fishing

- 6 fish poachers arrested- 46 kgs fish recovered

- Bush meat poachers with porcupine arrested

- 3 Pangolin recovered and 4 people arrested

- Two incursions into Mana Pools stopped based on intel from informers

- Poachers were sighted in village next to park and discouraged by show of boots on the ground

- 5 fishing vessels were impounded of illegal fishing on lake Kariba

2 Elephants Shot in Mana Pools in the last 12 months​

Intel suggests 82 kgs of ivory was taken on this poaching incursion, suggesting that they killed several elephants, not in Mana Pools but possibly in neighboring Sapi or Chewore. With an estimated 3000 elephants across the landscape, this is a very low percentage of elephants being falling victim to poachers and should not hamper natural increase percentages. Nevertheless, we are working hard to remove all wildlife poaching with the UNESCO World Heritage park in furtherance of our goal to reintroduce the Black Rhino into Mana Pools National Park.

Integrating fifteen (15) new rangers recently were added to the team of 11 whom currently patrol Mana Pools supported by Busklife drivers, vehicles, food and supplies. These brave young men and women have undergone intensive training with ZimParks and are being deployed on the river and interior of the national park to protect against wildlife poaching.
 

Anti-Poaching Patrols

Global Conservation supports Bushlife anti-poaching patrols consisting of 4 wheel-drive vehicles, each containing a driver, armed Parks rangers, and two “call signs” - 3 Parks rangers each (or 6 rangers total) to be stationed at remote camps and undertake daily patrols.

The driver and 1 armed Parks ranger stay with the vehicle and transport the patrolling rangers from camp to camp in the bush as necessary to respond to poaching reports. Currently, the patrols are covering an immense area of over 4,000 square miles, extending beyond Mana Pools and into the surrounding remote areas of Nyakasanga, Rife, and Sapi Safari areas. These patrols have been extremely effective. We will add 3 more areas with the addition of the new remote outposts.

With Bushlife supporting park ranger’s anti-poaching patrols and remote camps, there were few elephant carcasses found. In contrast, during the 2015 rainy season, carcasses were being found at the rate of at least one per week.

Providing mobility- by increasing the number of vehicles available, Bushlife has increased the number of ranger deployments proving to be a major disruption to poaching activity, and an essential element in maintaining momentum and expanding the reach of rangers in the entire lower Zambezi area.

Rations for Rangers – the economic decline over the past ten years has not spared the rangers. Ensuring they have adequate food as they patrol is essential.

Re-Training of Rangers​- Due to ZimParks’ lack of funding, extensive ranger training has not occurred in the many years and rangers need coaching on the most effective anti-poaching efforts and tactics.

Data Collection​- Reliable data is key to understanding the current state of anti-poaching efforts and successes. We hope to standardize the collection of data in this region, collate the data and provide analyses to guide the most effective methods in the prevention of poaching.

Intelligence and Prosecution​- Bushlife, Parks intelligence,International Anti Poaching Foundation, and a number of other organisations in the Zambezi Valley are supporting the increase of overall capacity to gather intelligence and convert this intelligence into effective prosecutions resulting in conviction and lengthy sentences. Intelligence gathering remains the most effective tool in convicting wildlife criminals as less than 1% of criminals worldwide are caught in the act. Intelligence coupled with modern tools and technology allow rangers and other law enforcement entities to intercept poachers before they can make a kill.

Expected Outcomes- 2020

1. Increased ground coverage of rangers to further disrupt poaching activities - Enhanced ranger confidence due to retraining protocol
2. Improved data collection
3. Improvement in intelligence and prosecutions
4. Decline in number of elephants lost to poaching
5. Stronger stakeholder presence building trust and acting as a deterrent to poaching activity - Improved planning for rainy season hot spots for poaching activity.
6. Implementation of modern technology to offset the lack of manpower

Images courtesy of IAPF / Adrian Steirn

Supporting Akashinga and IAPF Lead Ranger Training

Global Conservation supports both Akashinga and IAPF Lead Ranger Training programs.

Akashinga is a community-driven conservation model led and implemented by IAPF, empowering disadvantaged women to restore and manage large networks of wilderness areas as an alternative economic model to trophy hunting.

The program was started in Phundundu Wildlife Area and vast wilderness encompassing the southern border outside the Mana Pools Park boundary. It builds an alternative approach to the militarized paradigm of ‘fortress conservation’ which defends colonial boundaries between nature and humans. While still trained to deal with any situation they may face, the team has a community-driven interpersonal focus, working with rather than against the local population for the long-term benefits of their own communities and nature.

The vision of Akashinga is to replace trophy hunting as an area management tool for conservation in Africa. This achieves landscape conservation at scale: A balance of ecology, economics, ethics and politics for the long-term preservation of large wilderness areas.

Images courtesy of IAPF / Adrian Steirn

Akashinga aims to recruit 1000 women, protecting a network of 20 former hunting reserves by 2025 – Wilderness reclaimed from trophy hunting and run by women.

The women who have graduated into this program received the same law enforcement training and fulfill the same role as a male ranger, learning skills such as leadership, armed and unarmed combat, patrolling, camouflage and concealment, first aid, dangerous wildlife awareness, democratic policing, search and arrest, intelligence gathering, human rights, crime scene preservation, crisis management, firearm safety and use, and conservation ethics.

Their duties are to work with the community in order to stop illegal wildlife crime. They patrol within and around the reserve, interact with the community, liaise with local authorities, conduct regular training and maintain a high conservation ethic. The armed unit working inside the wilderness area is supported by an unarmed and far less arduous village scout program working outside in the communities. The village scouts operate from their own homes each day. This gives flexibility for women to rotate around, spending more time working from home when required.

Arrested and Confiscated - Four Elephant Tusks for Sale

On the night of 20 November 2019, the Akashinga team was contacted with information about two sets of elephant tusks being sold into the black market in Zimbabwe’s Lower Zambezi Valley.

The IAPF rangers teamed up with the Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit (MFFU) of the Zimbabwe Police for the operation in Magunje. A location for the buy was arranged. Upon meeting the buyers, they were arrested, and four ivory tusks were recovered without incident. The two male suspects (aged 39 and 44) were taken into custody for processing. IAPF is pleased to be part of another successful joint operation with the MFFU.

Supporting IAPF LEADRanger Program

In 2019, Global Conservation made a $20,000 grant to IAPF for Zimbabwe to provide training for Zimbabwe leaders in wildlife protection in four areas:

Resilience​: Ranger Life Saver (field trauma care); Preventive Medicine; Stress Management; Survival & Sustainment.

Law Enforcement​: Law & Ethics; Patrolling; Ranger Defensive Tactics (use of force and associated unarmed techniques); Standard Operating Procedures; Tracking; Logging and Reporting; Emergency Procedures.

Biodiversity​: Conservation; Bush Firefighting; Wildlife Poisoning.

Investigation​s: Wildlife Crime Scene Preservation; Investigative Interviewing; Witness Statements; Basic Criminology.

For more information on International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) and Akashinga, see:

The Guardian: Zimbabwe’s Anti-Poaching Success- Women on the Frontlines

Akashinga Women Rangers Fight Poaching in Zimbabwe

Supporting the Zambezi Elephant Fund (ZEF)

The Zambezi Elephant Fund (ZEF) works collaboratively with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, NGOs and the private sector to develop, implement and manage: anti-poaching operations, field equipment and supplies for rangers and support teams, anti-poaching ranger training, conservation security planning and implementation, information systems and networking, and technology and systems for anti-poaching operations.

Primary use of funding in 2019 was to conduct regular aerial patrols and surveys across the Middle and Lower Zambezi Valley (Implemented by Flying for Wildlife) and Prosecution Support to track all cases of arrests for wildlife poaching in the Lower Zambezi Valley, and support prosecutors to succeed in legal cases resulting in jail and fines.

Mana Pools World Heritage - ​Outstanding Universal Value to Mankind

Mana Pools National Park is 676,600 hectares in the heart and core of the UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed, in conjunction with the Sapi Safari Area (118,000 ha) and Chewore Safari Area (339,000 ha) in 1984.

Mana Pools is located on the Lower Zambezi River where the floodplain turns into a broad expanse of lakes after each rainy season. As the lakes gradually dry up and recede, the region attracts many large animals in search of water, making it one of Africa's most renowned game-viewing regions.

Mana means ‘four’ in Shona, in reference to the four large permanent pools formed by the meanderings of the middle Zambezi. These 2,500 square kilometres of river frontage, islands, sandbanks and pools, flanked by forests of mahogany, wild figs, ebonies and baobabs, is one of the least developed national parks in Southern Africa.

Mana Pools National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site which includes adjacent Sapi Reserve and and Chewore Parks Estate. A 2014 survey conducted by a group of ecologists estimated the elephant population had dropped over 40% since 1994. They are being mercilessly targeted for their ivory. Many other threatened species of wildlife in the Park are also being poached, including pangolins. Cyanide poisoning of water holes has killed wild dogs and lions as well as elephants and any other wildlife that happens along for a drink or feeds on the poisoned carcasses.

The Challenges Ahead

The challenges are severe. Only 3000 elephants are left in Mana Pools, and the park has seen a 35% decrease in numbers over 12 years. We know that a poacher may get very little in compensation for an average pair of elephant tusks, only $200 to $300 USD but sell for a wholesale price to black market retailers (more often than not in China) for as much as $2100 per kilo. The penalty for poaching is an automatic 9 years and prison and poachers can legaly be shot on sight (Law of Zimbabwe). Yet poaching continues to be prevalent, due to the financial hardship of those that live in the Zambezi Valley.