Lower Zambezi Conservancy

A Thriving Buffer. A Shared Future.

The Lower Zambezi Conservancy is proposed as a Zambia country pilot for the National Park Community Conservancy (NPC) model being advocated by Rewilding Africa CIC. The vision is to establish a thriving, community-led conservation landscape around the Lower Zambezi National Park, connecting the protected area with surrounding communities, natural ecosystems, tourism enterprises and sustainable economic opportunities.

The Lower Zambezi landscape is one of Zambia’s most important wildlife and wilderness areas, centred on the Lower Zambezi National Park and the Zambezi River. However, the long-term security of the National Park depends not only on effective protection within its boundaries, but also on creating positive relationships and sustainable economic opportunities for the communities and stakeholders living around it.

The proposed Conservancy therefore seeks to create a managed and coordinated buffer landscape around the National Park – protecting wildlife corridors and important habitats while enabling communities to benefit directly from conservation, tourism, sustainable agriculture, community enterprises, investment and other nature-positive land uses.

Rather than viewing conservation and community development as competing priorities, the Lower Zambezi Conservancy seeks to bring them together through a community-led, partnership-driven model in which conservation becomes an economic and social opportunity for surrounding communities.

A Zambia Pilot for a National African Model

The Lower Zambezi has the potential to demonstrate how the NPC model can help transform the relationship between national parks and their surrounding landscapes.

Rewilding Africa CIC proposes to work collaboratively with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), community leaders, traditional authorities, NGOs, conservation organisations, private-sector partners, tourism operators, investors, researchers and other stakeholders to establish the foundations for a coordinated Lower Zambezi Conservancy.

The programme is intended to complement rather than replace the statutory role of DNPW and the existing management of the National Park. The Conservancy would provide a wider collaborative framework for planning, marketing, investment and sustainable development across the surrounding landscape.

The Two-Phased NPC Programme

The Lower Zambezi pilot would follow the Rewilding Africa CIC two-phased National Park Conservancy programme.

Phase 1 – Foundation & Destination brand building

The first phase would establish the foundations required to determine the feasibility, structure and investment proposition for the Conservancy. This would include stakeholder engagement, community consultation, partnership building, destination branding and marketing, baseline assessments, identification of conservation and development opportunities, governance discussions and mobilisation of potential funding and investment partners.

Phase 2 – Planning, Development & Management

Subject to the successful completion of Phase 1 and stakeholder agreement, Phase 2 would provide the framework for the detailed planning, development and long-term management of the Conservancy. This could include natural resource assessments, comprehensive community planning, land-use mapping and zoning, governance structures, investment and concession opportunities, community enterprise development, rewilding and landscape restoration, and ongoing conservancy management.

A Thriving Buffer Around the National Park

The ambition is to create a landscape in which people, wildlife and nature can thrive together.

The Conservancy could provide a platform for:

• Protecting wildlife corridors and critical habitats outside the National Park;

• Supporting community ownership and participation in conservation;

• Developing sustainable community enterprises and livelihoods;

• Attracting responsible tourism and private-sector investment;

• Developing appropriate nature-positive concessions and lease opportunities;

• Promoting sustainable agriculture and natural-resource management;

• Supporting landscape restoration and climate resilience;

• Strengthening collaboration between communities, government and conservation organisations;

• Creating a stronger and more unified Lower Zambezi community led destination brand; and

• Generating long-term economic value from conservation while protecting the ecological integrity of the landscape.

Ultimately, the Lower Zambezi Conservancy is intended to demonstrate that a national park can become the heart of a much larger thriving conservation economy, rather than an isolated protected area surrounded by competing land-use pressures.

Through the partnership of communities, government, conservation organisations and responsible private-sector investment, the Lower Zambezi could become a flagship example of community-led conservation in Zambia and a potential model for replication around national parks across Africa.

People. Parks. Partnerships. Prosperity. Conservancies

Together for a wilder, more thriving Zambia.