Kasanka National Park
Background
Kasanka National Park lies in Northern Zambia just west of the Luangwa Valley. It is a sanctuary for many unusual bird and mammal species and is noted for its broad range of habitats including woodlands, forests, grass plains, swamps, rivers, lakes and dambos. Of particular importance is the world’s largest known congregation of fruit bats and the visible abundance of threatened swamp-dwelling Sitatunga antelope.
Kasanka Trust has managed Kasanka National Park for the past 20 years under an agreement with the Zambian Government. This project has been one of the most successful of many non-government wildlife conservation interventions in Zambia. In 1985 Kasanka was an abandoned and rapidly collapsing national park; but today it is seen as a dynamic success story of a charity in partnership with government and an important destination on the tourism circuit. Its success was recognised by the Zambian Wildlife Authority in 2008 when they asked Kasanka Trust to also take on the management of the neighbouring Lavushi Manda National Park. Lavushi combined with Kasanka and the adjacent Bangweulu wetlands together allow for the conservation of a significant proportion of the Central Zambezian Miombo Woodland – a habitat rich in biodiversity.
Kasanka Trust
The park has become a focus of local economic development through employment, tourism revenue sharing, and technical support from the Trust. Management activities conducted by Kasanka include anti-poaching, fire management, infrastructure, tourism development and promotion of practical and scientific research. Community support programmes run by the Trust have helped surrounding communities to generate real benefits from improved resource management as well as assisting with education, health, HIV/AIDS, and livelihood support.
Funding for park management activities has recently come almost entirely from tourism income. This revenue has been paying for the basic needs and assured the continuation of the project. However inflation of local Kwacha costs in Zambia has increased wages by 600% over 10 years. This means that tourism income can no longer cover the cost of essential protection of the park, let alone the much needed improvements or capital items.
Tusk Trust initially provided one of its Small Grants to fund the installation of a solar power system, which had an immediate and positive impact for the wildlife managers. Further grant support was provided in 2007 and 2008 to help meet some the general operating costs of running vehicles and ranger teams across the Park.
Comments from the field
“The Kasanka Project has been a landmark success story for the non-government management of a national park. Most of the costs are now raised directly from tourists visiting the area, but to do a good job and keep up with recent cost increases we are still dependent on charitable support to fill the gap. This is where funding from Tusk has helped to keep scouts in the field during the rains, and provide the vital basic infrastructure. The success of the project can be gauged from the Government who are requesting Kasanka Trust to expand and take on another nearby depleted and threatened park. This will raise new funding challenges but increase the conservation significance greatly!”
Edmund Farmer, Project Director
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