SIXTH EDITION 2017
A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION
The Difference it Makes
How tourism influences Hwange
National Park’s local communities
Zambezi Gold
Victoria Falls’ neighbouring National Park
Gonarezhou’s Gentle Giants
Beauty in the East
Bald Heads and Rhino
DISCOVER ZIMBABWE 2017
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HWANGE | Community And Conser vation
The Difference
it Makes...
Shelley Cox discovers the life changing influence that tourism is having
on the communities surrounding Zimbabwe’s largest National Park
Words by Shelley Cox
photos by Christopher Scott
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HWANGE | Community and Conser vation
Previous Page: Grade 7 pupils study for
their upcoming exams by the pitiful light
of solar lanterns. A generator donated by
a tourist means the school will soon have
electricity.
Above and Facing Page Top: Where would
you prefer to learn? Tourists helped paint
a classroom at Mlevu Primary School
(above) but, sadly, funds only stretched to
2 rooms, leaving many classrooms in their
original state (facing page top right)
“the idea behind
sustainable communitybased development is to
focus on a more cyclic
and holistic approach
which integrates education
and commerce with
community, culture and
conservation.”
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t’s a bitterly cold winter’s morning on the outskirts of Hwange National Park… and
as we bump slowly along the dusty road on the periphery of the park, a mirage of
moving silhouettes appears on the horizon against the rising sun. As we draw closer,
the silhouettes transform into small clusters of young children, plodding determinedly
and cheerfully through the thick sand.
“We call this the school-run,” says Mark Butcher, one of the owners from Imvelo
Safari Lodges, as he pulls the vehicle over and a stream of smiling faces come
running over to clamber aboard the land-cruiser. The excitable chatter and giggling is
contagious, and almost immediately the cold is forgotten as the children squeeze in around
us and start chatting amiably.
“Usually we would drop off our guests and they would then walk the remaining short
distance to Ngamo school with the children,” says Butch. “This way, they are able to
interact with the children from the outset and are able to experience a miniscule version of
some of the distances these kids cover each day on foot in order to gain an education.”
The Tsholotsho boundary of Hwange National Park is a heavily settled community
area and one which is rife with human-wildlife conflict. The boundary, which consists of
3 strands of heavy duty cable which is porous to game, stretches 140kms on the SouthEastern border of Hwange National Park. Historically, there has been little tourism along
the South-Eastern borders of the park, and these communities have primarily relied on
subsistence and cattle farming for their livelihoods.
However, over the course of the last few years, both Imvelo Safari Lodges and
Wilderness Safaris have been working with a number of communities in the area to develop
a sustainable tourism model, allowing communities to benefit directly from tourism dollars
and therefore be able to recognise the linkage to wildlife and the necessity to conserve and
protect it.
According to Sue Goatley, CITW (Children in the Wilderness) Project Coordinator for
Zimbabwe and Zambia, the idea behind sustainable community-based development is to
focus on a more cyclic and holistic approach which integrates education and commerce
with community, culture and conservation. This aims to transform the communities’ ‘sense
of entitlement’ into the more proactive approach of a ‘sense of responsibility’.
Along the Eastern and Northern borders of the Park, a similar ethos is being developed
where other tourism operators are working in partnership with the Dete and Sinamatella
communities (see the full list of Operators and corresponding projects in the factbox).
In the dialogue between operators and community leaders, education has been
identified as a key focus. Infrastructure development in many of the schools has included
refurbishment of existing classrooms, building and furnishing of new classroom blocks,
teachers’ housing and other facilities. In many of the schools, operators have introduced a
daily feeding programme throughout the school week, which they believe has resulted in a
higher and more consistent attendance rate.
Partnerships with regional and international organisations, as well as support from
tourists visiting the lodges, has led to donations of educational materials such as books,
stationery and sports equipment.
“As the current generation of leaders and professionals, it is our collective responsibility
to ensure that the youth, who are ultimately our future leaders and custodians of the
country, are adequately educated to ensure the longevity and well-being of our wildlife, the
habitats and this nation,” says Beks Ndlovu, Founder of African Bush Camps.
It became evident however, that in each of the communities we visited, there was a
problem of understaffing and the teacher / student ratio was dire. In one of the primary
schools we visited, the early child development class (ECD) comprised 100 children under
the guidance of one teacher. Often overlooked, teachers are the real unsung heroes in
these communities, and despite minimal civil servant salaries and difficult conditions, their
Above and Left: Feeding programmes initiated
at some schools have boosted attendance to
nearly 100%, the meal may also be the child’s
daily staple.
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HWANGE COMMUNITIES MAP
N
Hwange National Park Boundary
Community Boundaries
E
W
Camps
ST. MARY’S
SINAMATELLA
CZEHOU
MAMBANJE
DINGANI
DETE
DEKA
MAIN CAMP
ELEPHANTS EYE
IVORY LODGE
DETE OLD
AGE HOME
THE HIDE
CAMP HWANGE
HWANGE
NATIONAL PARK
S
SOMALISA
MAKALOLO
BOMANI
DAVISONS
CAMELTHORN
LITTLE MAKALOLO
LINKWASHA
NGAMO
ZIGA
SIHAZEKA
KAPANE
MLEVU
MTSHWAYELI
HARARE
HNP
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Community and Conser vation | HWANGE
continued passion and determination to ensure the youth are educated is nothing short
of inspirational.
An additional challenge, which is where these community-based tourism models are
proving to be successful, is that many of the families within these communities cannot
afford to send their children to school. By creating employment in the camps and training
the communities in a variety of skill sets, a number of sustainable income-generating
projects have been adopted throughout the communities we visited, which have resulted in
consistent income flows.
Through a training programme introduced by Wilderness Safaris, a group of women
from the Ziga community in Tsholotsho have created a jersey knitting business and are
currently supplying the Wilderness Safari camps with jerseys for their entire work-force.
The long-term goal is to provide all the camps in and around Hwange with jerseys for their
staff and to eventually set up a more commercial operation to sell jerseys to the guests
visiting Hwange. One of the ideas being adopted throughout the communities surrounding
the park is using the techniques of vermiculture and permaculture in order to grow herbs
and vegetables, both for community-level sale and consumption, but also to sell on to the
tourism operators for use in their camps.
Alongside education and income-generating projects, some operators are working
more closely with the communities to minimise human-wildlife conflict whilst ensuring that
habitats are being managed effectively. Earlier in 2016, African Bush Camps, in partnership
with the Lion Guardian Project, set up the first mobile cattle boma, which, in its first month
and a half, already had almost 200 head of cattle from the surrounding communities safely
secured every night. As a result, an additional two mobile bomas have been erected in
the area in the last few months and there are proposed plans to introduce the first mobile
cattle boma in the Tsholotsho area over the coming months.
Below Left and Right: Support from Children
in the Wilderness at Zika school has seen the
installation of a comprehensive library and a
solar system to power computers.
Bottom: Modi Ndhlovu, bottom left, and
Dorothy Ncube, bottom right, make a living
selling their crafts to tourists visiting the
Ngamo community, with skills learned from
training by Children in the Wilderness.
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FactBox
Operators and their corresponding projects
African Bush Camps
(ABC Foundation)
•
Main Camp Primary School
•
Mambanje School
•
Mambanje Mobile Cattle Boma
(in partnership with Lion Guardians)
•
Thandanani Project
•
Vukani Project
•
Eco-clubs with Main Camp and
•
•
Homestead Visits
Conservation & Wildlife Fund Trust
Imvelo Safari Lodges
Ngamo Primary & Secondary School
Kapane Primary & Secondary School
•
Ziga Primary School
•
Mlevu Primary School
•
Mpindo Primary School
•
Mtshwayeli Primary School
•
Sihazela Primary School
•
Chisuma Primary School
•
Mondo Primary School
•
Sidinda Primary School
Amalinda Collection
(Mother Africa Trust)
•
Sidinda Clinic
•
Sidinda Mothers Shelter
•
Dete Old Age Home
•
Annual Teachers Training Workshop
•
Nechilibi High School
•
Annual Dentistry Clinic for the
•
Mabale Clinic
•
Providing Lion Research with
Annual Heroes Day Soccer
Tournament
•
Annual Dete 10km Fun Run
•
Conservation & Wildlife Fund Trust
•
Mambanje Primary School Feeding
Programme
•
Domestic Animal Health Programme
and Veterinary Asssitance
tranquilisers and other materials
•
Wheelchair programme
•
Conservation & Wildlife Fund Trust
•
Mabele Primary School
•
School Scholarship Programmes
Hwange areas.
•
Annual Optometrist Clinic for the
Hwange areas.
•
Borehole drilling and repair
programme in the communities on
the south eastern park boundary
•
Scorpions Anti-poaching unit support
The Hide
(The Hide Community
Trust)
Wilderness Safaris (CITW)
•
Chezhou Primary School
•
Dingani Primary School
•
Detema High School
•
Young Zebras Football Club
•
Dete Womens Workshops
•
Eco/Conservation Clubs
•
Eco Farming Programs
•
Donations to Dete Old Age Home
•
Nutritional Training Programme
•
Magoli Bee-keeping Project
•
Conservation & Wildlife Fund Trust
•
Main Camp Primary
•
Ngamo Primary
•
Sinamatella Primary
•
Ziga Primary School
•
Kapane Primary School
•
Jakalasi Primary School
•
Mpindo Primary School
•
St. Francis Xavier School
•
St. Mary’s Primary School
•
Children’s Camps
•
Women’s Craft Workshops
•
Women’s Sanitation Programme
•
Agricultural Training Programme
•
Elephant Movement Study
Camp Hwange
(in collaboration with
Wilderness Safaris)
•
Scorpions Anti-Poaching Unit
•
Bi-Annual Teachers Training Courses
•
Eco-clubs with Main Camp and
•
Sinamatella Primary School
•
Children’s Camps
•
Vermiculture programmes
•
Sinamatella Clinic and School
•
Poultry programmes
•
ST Mary’s pupils kids camp in
•
7 boreholes in the Community Areas
conjunction with CITW
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Dingani School
Collaboration with Painted Dog for
School Educational Programmes
•
•
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•
•
•
surrounding schools
Above: At the Ingonyama Arts Centre in Dete,
skilled artists turn thousands of snares
collected by Painted Dog Conservation into
world renowned wire crafts (below), yet the
horrific damage caused by heavy wire snares
on animals is ongoing (middle and top).
African Luxury Hideaways
(Grow Africa Foundation)
surrounding schools
(equipped with Solar pumps and
5000 litre tanks)
Community and Conser vation | HWANGE
Not only does the boma offer overnight protection for the cattle from predators which
may be moving through the area, but it also stimulates the regeneration of minerals in the
soil and has been proven to increase the water table in the area. The boma moves to a
new field every six weeks, leaving behind a more fertile piece of land. The mobile cattle
boma returns to that same area at least twice a year, ensuring consistency in fertilising
the land.
Communities have an important role to play in biodiversity conservation and as they
are the true custodians of the land it is vital that all tourism operators have a communitybased development programme in place. It is however a multi-level responsibility: without
the support and buy-in from the local communities as well as the support from international
travellers, it will be difficult to effectively preserve and protect large wildlife habitats like
Hwange National Park.
Thanks go to Imvelo Safari Lodges and African Luxury Hideaways for assisting the
Discover Zimbabwe Team with accommodation whilst researching the community
projects in and around Hwange National Park.
Above: Mobile bomas initiated by the Lion
Guardian Programme reduce cattle fatalities
by lions and fertilise the farmers’ fields.
Born and educated
in Zimbabwe,
Shelley Cox
developed a deep
love for wildlife
and her country
of birth from a
very young age. She went on to study
Journalism at Rhodes University. Shelley
is a passionate conservationist who has
dedicated herself to wildlife conservation
and promoting Tourism to Zimbabwe,
Botswana and other African countries.