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It’s the size of Italy and contains Africa’s

largest contiguous elephant population,

the world’s biggest Ramsar Site and one

of the Seven Natural Wonders of the

World. It’s called the Kavango–Zambezi

Transfrontier Conservation Area or

KAZA TFCA, and it’s taking cross-border

cooperation to new and unprecedented

levels. John Hanks reports on what is

set to become one of the largest and

most significant conservation

areas on the planet.

BIG is beautiful

michael poliza

TEXT BY JOHN HANKS

Elephants are the flagship species of the KAZA TFCA. By linking protected areas across their

historical range, migration routes can be restored, giving the animals

much-needed room to move.

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‘TFCAs are inherently such a good idea, the melding of wildernesses rather than the creation of diminishing islands of wilderness, split

from one another and marooned. I’ve reported on the early stages of many of them, but this one is wreathed in superlatives. And the

biggest prize of all is that, finally, after 30 years of civil war, conservation returns to Angola’ – Peter Godwin, author

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he first time I flew into Menongue, the provincial capital of Angola’s Kuando Kubango Province, I was shocked by the grim

reminders of the consequences of a brutal civil conflict. It was 2002 and three decades of fierce fighting had come to an end earlier that year. Menongue had been badly affected and much of its infrastructure destroyed. The surrounding country­side was littered with landmines and abandoned tanks and weapons, but it was the pervasive human suffering that left the most indelible impression – countless innocent people maimed for life with nothing but the crudest

and most rudimentary prostheses on which they hobbled. It was an inauspicious start to my first meeting in Menongue to discuss Angola’s involvement in a proposed trans­frontier conservation area (TFCA).

Yet, barely four years later, Angola has not only joined its neighbours Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe in becoming a signatory of a Memorandum of Understanding to work towards the establishment of the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), but it is actively promoting investment in tourism.

‘I tell everybody to invest in Angola right now and enjoy the benefits. If they come in three, four, five years,

they will be too late,’ says Eduardo Jonatão Chingunji, Angola’s Minister of Hotels and Tourism.

What has prompted these countries to come together and embrace the KAZA TFCA, an area of approximately 287 132 square kilometres? The answer lies in its vital role in the conservation of biodiversity and its potential to become one of the world’s premier tourism destinations. South of the equator, there simply is no comparable contiguous wilderness, wetland and wildlife area. It boasts some unique attractions, including the largest population of African elephants on the continent (approximately 250 000), the

Okavango Delta (the world’s largest Ramsar Site), and Victoria Falls (a World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World).

As with many other transboundary conservation areas in Africa, con­servation and tourism are seen as the vehicle for socio­economic develop­ment. They present exciting oppor­tunities for two or more countries to grow their tourism industries through the development of a surprisingly diverse range of labour­intensive activities.

‘If managed carefully, tourism can make a huge contribution to the regeneration of the African continent,’ said Bene Maleka, an official with

‘When protected areas are found on both sides

of an international boundary, cooperation replaces the potential for conflict, tourism becomes a force for

peace, and problems are converted into

opportunities’ – Valli Moosa, IUCN President

Countries Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

ProPosed area Approximately 287 132 square kilometres. It combines no less than 36 national parks, game reserves, community con ser­vancies and game manage ­ ment areas.

Key sPeCies African elephant (population estimated at some

250 000); cheetah (listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable); and African wild dog, wattled crane and Nile crocodile (all listed by the IUCN as Endangered).

sPeCial attraCtions The Okavango Delta, the world’s largest Ramsar Site; and the Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wondersof the World.

T

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ABOVE Although not threatened, most grey crowned cranes occur outside protected areas, which are usually too small to support year-round populations.

PREVIOUS SPREAD The Okavango Delta is one of the jewels of the KAZA TFCA. Angola’s participation in the trans-frontier project will help to secure the Okavango River’s catchment area and the overall health of the Delta.

With careful consultation, the KAZA TFCA has the potential to alleviate human–wildlife conflict. If not managed properly, however, the issue could prove a major stumbling block to the project’s success.

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KAVANGO–ZAMBEZI TFCA

Fast facts

map courtesy the peace parks Foundation City

Administrative townMajor townSecondary townOther townLocalInternational

Border postsNational bordersTarred roadsUntarred roadsWater bodySeasonal inundationWorld Heritage SiteRamsar Wetland

National parkGame/Nature reserveProtected forest (national)Protected forest (local) Game/Wildlife management areaConservancySafari area/SanctuaryRecreation park

KAZA TFCA Target AreaIn accordance with Memorandum

of Understanding

the Southern African Development Bank, speaking at a tourism symposium in Luanda. Angola ranks 160 out of 177 countries on the UN Human Develop ment Index (which measures poverty and the overall quality of life), so it is no wonder that the country views the KAZA TFCA with enthusiasm.

With Africa’s protected areas being increasingly threatened by a combina­tion of illegal harvesting and human­induced land transformation, any move to improve and secure the connectivity between the protected areas within the TFCA must be wel­comed. The well­established theory of island biogeography indicates that when an area loses a large proportion of its original habitat, and especially when the remaining habitat is fragmented, species will be lost. It is thus clearly in the interest of species conservation to reconnect fragmented habitat patches into a continuum, a key objective of transfrontier thinking.

The KAZA TFCA will set a new international standard by linking no less than 36 national parks, game

reserves, community conservancies and game management areas, including the Hwange, Matusadona, Chizarira and Zambezi national parks in Zimbabwe; the Mamili, Mudumu and Bwabwata national parks in the Caprivi region of Namibia; the Sioma Ngwezi and Kafue national parks in Zambia; the Chobe, Makgadikgadi Pans and Nxai Pan national parks and the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana; and the Luiana Partial Reserve in Angola.

The precise boundaries of the KAZA TFCA and the design and shape of the corridors linking protected areas are still being determined, but already we know that this exciting initiative will help to reverse a global trend towards the fragmentation of land set aside for conservation. With sections still rela tive ly untransformed, it is antici­pated that this new entity will play a valuable role in the conservation of biodiversity and contribute significant­ly towards the protection of such threatened species as the African wild dog, wattled crane, Nile crocodile and cheetah.

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ABOVE Agriculture in the rural district of Kalomo, Zambia. Almost 80 per cent of the one million-plus residents of the KAZA TFCA are subsistence farmers.

OPPOSITE The Okavango Delta is home to around 60 000 red lechwe, a highlyspecialised wetland antelope.

reaching agreement about the designa­tion of a TFCA is a complex process and,

as anyone working behind the scenes knows, the devil is in the detail. Part of the problem lies in settling on a precise definition of such an area. No standard or international classifi­cation for TFCAs exists. There are many variations on this theme around the world, and as many definitions as there are examples. In practice, the details usually have to be worked out between the respective countries and this involves issues of domestic law and foreign policy, as well as taking international conventions and laws into account. Each case depends on the situation and the reasons for cooperation.

Designating an international peace park or TFCA usually involves at least two countries agreeing to cooperate to secure the conservation status of an area and to ensure that its biodiversity, for example migratory elephant populations, is managed jointly. If a bi­national agreement between the two already exists, this might provide a framework for such an agreement.

If not, the countries enter into a custom­designed treaty or other international

agreement that binds them to common objectives on a number of issues. For example, they might agree to a joint management policy for water, fire or wild animals. In some cases, the agreement is simple – in a mountainous environment, countries may agree on an approach for dealing with search and rescue; in others, the objectives might include regional cooperation for tourism development or anti­poaching operations.

Securing such an agreement can be a protracted process. It needs to go through consultation and approval in each country, particularly where the objectives of joint management have implications for local communities. Once that step has been completed, each country needs to consider issues of sovereignty and security, and to agree on the terms of an international agreement. They also need to make provision for a mechanism to ensure that the govern­ance and operational framework is accept­able. There is no formula that applies in every case and, as you might imagine, the process can be frustrated by episodes of instability or conflict between the countries.

Seen in this light, the achievement of the KAZA TFCA – bringing no less than five countries together – becomes all the more remarkable.

Trevor Sandwith is Deputy-Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and co-leader of the IUCN Transboundary Task Force.

TYING THE KNOT ...with red tapePhotographs of heads of state signing memorandums and shaking hands are common images of transfrontier conservation, but getting to that point involves extensive and case-specific negotiations. Trevor Sandwith takes us behind the scenes.

WHat’s in a name?transfrontier or transboundary? Southern Africans generally refer to ‘transfrontier conservation areas’ or TFCAs, but the IUCN and Convention on Biological Diversity prefer ‘transboundary conservation areas’. In this feature the terms are used interchangeably.

transfrontier protected areas Existing adjacent protected areas that straddle two or more international boundaries. The protected areas are designated by the laws of their respective countries and are managed cooperatively. transfrontier or transboundary conservation areas Tracts of land or sea designated for conservation that straddle international boundaries and include both protected and other areas.

Peace parks Cross­boundary conservation areas designated specifically to promote peace and cooperation.

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continent, such as red lechwe (as many as 60 000), tsessebe, sitatunga, wattled crane and slaty egret. All of Africa’s non­forest large predators are con­spicuous, with wild dogs being present in signifi cant numbers. At least 450 species of birds have been recorded, as well as 36 species of amphibians, 86 species of fish, 89 species of reptiles and over 1 000 species of plants.

The continued ecological functioning of this conservation asset is dependent not only on the quantity of water reaching it, but also the timing of that

water. The flood­pulse is crucial to various ecological processes that take place and any impounding of water by large­scale agri cultural development, or any other diversion, would have devastating consequences.

The Okavango River Basin Com­mission has recognised that the long­term protection of the forest cover of the Okavango River’s catch ment area is important to main tain regular and healthy sediment flows to the Delta. The Angolan component of the KAZA TFCA contains a significant portion

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T he Okavango Delta is a crown jewel of the KAZA TFCA. Set in one of the largest inland deltas

in the world, the Okavango is a highly variable and complex aquatic ecosystem. The permanent swamp, the seasonal swamp and the drainage rivers create a mosaic of habitats that form the core of northern Botswana’s extremely successful tourism industry.

Wildlife attractions include 128 spe­cies of mammals, with major popu­lations of animals that are not well represented in other parts of the

A black rhino on the shores of Lake Kariba, in Zimbabwe’s MatusadonaNational Park. The global population of these Critically Endangered mammals isapproximately 3 700 individuals.

‘In a world beset by conflict and division, peace is one of the cornerstones of the future. Peace parks are building blocks in

this process, not only in our region, but potentially in the entire world’ – Nelson Mandela, Nobel Laureate

Can money groW on trees?

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For conservation to be a sustainable agenda that competes adequately with alterna­tive land­use options, it needs to be financially attractive. At the Peace Parks Founda­

tion, part of our programme to facilitate the creation of transfrontier conservation areas focuses on the identification of sustainable sources of income. The Foundation, in partner ship with the conservation agencies of southern African countries, has identi fied payment for carbon offsets, generated through land rehabilitation and avoided defor­esta tion initiatives, as one such source.

The rehabilitation of ecosystems and avoided deforestation form part of global efforts to reduce human­driven climate change. Wood is approximately 50 per cent carbon and therefore deforestation and degradation leads to substantial carbon dioxide emissions. Annually, deforestation accounts for more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere than is generated by the entire transport sector.

Such ecological mitigation initiatives are an economically efficient means of decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. In poorer developing countries especially, avoided deforestation is a low­cost way to generate considerably more income than the status quo. This is particularly pertinent in the woodlands of southern Africa, which are being denuded rapidly for little financial return. Conserving these woodlands certainly makes ecological sense in terms of increasing ecosystem resilience to climatic change, avoiding soil erosion and maintaining biodiversity, but it can also provide a platform for African nations to participate meaningfully in climate change mitigation efforts and to benefit from the international carbon market.

Following a positive feasibility assessment, the Foundation is developing a set of climate change mitigation projects within TFCAs across southern Africa. It is hoped that the multiple biodiversity, financial, social and climate benefits of this opportunity will be realised in the near future.

Tony Knowles is the Carbon Programme Leader for the Peace Parks Foundation. To find out more about the project, e-mail him on tonyknowles@gmail.com

Aside from the economic opportunities offered by cross-border conservation, such as ecotourism and the phyto trade, the preservation of trees could be a cash cow in this era of climate change. Tony Knowles is looking into it.

map courtesy the peace parks Foundation

Transboundary conservation

initiatives in Africa

of that catchment, which is an added incentive for Angola to pro mote conservation land­use options.

The large contiguous population of African elephants, one of the con­tinent’s most important flagship species, is of considerable economic and ecological importance to the region. Northern Botswana alone has in excess of 150 000 elephants, with the most recent statistics indicating a five per cent growth rate per annum. There are an estimated additional 50 000 elephants in north­western Zimbabwe and 16 000 in north­eastern Namibia, but rapidly growing human popula tions and associated land trans­formation have restricted the elephants’ dispersal options.

Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks is concerned about the effects that the mounting number of elephants is having on riverine

vege tation, particularly in Chobe National Park. Furthermore, many communities living in northern Botswana have expressed concern about what they perceive as escalating human–elephant conflict. This includes crop­raiding and the total destruction of crops, damage to wild fruits and trees, impeded human movements and loss of life, as well as the depletion of water and destruction of water instal­lations during the dry season.

These trends are fuelling growing demands to reduce elephant numbers. Recent research by Mike Chase and Rudi van Aarde has shown that once new corridors have been secured, there are considerable oppor tunities for elephants from Botswana to move north into Angola and Zambia.

This dispersal has the potential to limit, to some extent, the environ­mental and social pressures associated

An elephant drinks its fill from the Chobe River. Botswana’s wildlife authoritiesare concerned about the impacts of increasing elephant numbers in this area.

CI ADVERTORIAL

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‘Community involvement does not mean opening the national parks to all comers, any more than a banker would seek customers by opening the vault. Rather, a wise protected-area manager, like a wise banker, uses the park’s assets as a base on which to build customer satisfaction, investment and interest’ — Jeffrey A. McNeely, IUCN Chief Scientist

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with their over­abundance in Botswana and Caprivi. Chase, however, is the first to recognise that these movements will probably make little difference to the situation in Chobe. ‘The main advantage of elephants moving into Angola is that parts of south­east Angola would be repopulated with elephants,’ he says, noting that the re­population could provide opportu­nities for conservation­based enterprises run by local communities.

A lthough the conservation of biodiversity is a primary objec t­ive of the establishment of

TFCAs, it is one that can all too easily be over­emphasised by conservationists. The reality of widespread poverty in the region is something that cannot be overlooked. At least 80 per cent of the estimated 1.2 million people living within the KAZA TFCA are subsistence farmers, and the numbers are increas­ing. As more people turn to agriculture, the processes of deforestation and habitat fragmentation accelerate.

There is considerable ethnic and cultural diversity in the numerous

communities living in this area. Linked to this heterogeneity is a range of lifestyles that use living natural resources at various levels of intensity. In line with the Southern Africa Development Community’s (SADC) strategies of poverty reduction and the Millenium Development goals, imple­mentation of the KAZA TFCA must impact positively on the lives of these communities. It is one of the salient apects of this initiative – local commu­nities will continue to live within its boundaries, and must be encouraged to develop a range of rural livelihood opportunities and household income streams based on the sustainable use of natural resources.

Growth associated with nature­ or wi ldl i fe ­based tourism wil l be en couraged, including safari hunting, which has great potential in several parts of the TFCA. In areas where access by tourists is either difficult or not desired for whatever reason, there are other options. One of these is the sustainable harvesting of natural plant products, such as indigenous fruits and fibres for local crafts and (to page 55)

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the days when elephant herds could roam great distances uninhibited by

boundaries and fences are not yet over. In southern Tanzania, local communities are shaping part of their land into a wildlife corridor to link two of the largest protected areas in Africa – the Selous Game Reserve and the Niassa National Reserve in neighbouring Mozambique. Both reserves, when connected by the corridor and including other adjacent conservation areas, will constitute a continuous elephant range of about 120 000 square kilometres. That’s the size of Malawi. This will be big enough not only for the estimated population of 85 000 elephants, but also for the large herds of buffalo and more than half of the continent’s remaining African wild dogs.

The corridor secures gene flows and conserves biodiversity by connecting miombo woodlands with a wide variety of wildlife habitats. Open savannas, wetlands and riverine forests, interrupted by steep escarpments, granite inselbergs and mountains, form a unique scenic landscape.

The corridor is sparsely settled by the Undendeule, Ngoni and Yao people. The Yao are originally from Mozambique and have maintained strong cross­border ties with their relatives in Niassa. It was they who, in 2001, decided to set aside part of their land to create Wildlife Management Areas, a develop ment that will assure the future con nectivity of the corridor. Heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture

and natural resources, the local com­munities decided to use the attractions of their area for the develop ment of eco­tourism as an additional future source of income. A mix of income generation from improved natural resources management, such as honey production, together with the creation of a new tourism destination, will boost the local economy.

Scientific surveys show that the wildlife population is recovering significantly, a direct result of village game­scout patrols. First set up in 2006, the patrols have since been boosted by rangers from Selous and Niassa, as well as the Tanzanian National Anti­poaching Unit and rangers of the district authorities. Joint patrols are being carried out, in particular, along the Ruvuma River, which forms 180 kilometres of the Tanzanian–Mozambican border. Cooperation, the exchange of research results and the joint planning of conservation management activities along the river are part of the cross­border initiative.

International organisations, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the German government (through the KfW Development Bank and Capacity Building International or InWEnt), together with the Swiss­based NGO ADAP, are providing various kinds of support. District authorities and villagers

are offered capacity building and training programmes in conservation and natural resources management, as well as advice on investments into the necessary local infrastructure.

Based on the strong commitment of the local communities and with the finalisa tion of land­use plans and surveys, it is expected that no less than five Wildlife Management Areas will secure the integrity of the corridor within the next two years.

Rudolf Hahn works for the Selous–Niassa Wildlife Corridor as the technical adviser for UNDP/GEF and Namtumbo District Council. Rolf D. Baldus was the GTZ government adviser for community-based wildlife man age ment in Tanzania from 1998 to 2005.

CORRIDORS of potential

Transfrontier conservation initiatives provide huge opportunities for nature-based tourism. The challenge comes in ensuring that the benefits of such an industry accrue to a wide range of people, in particular those who live in the area.

The Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania is one of Africa’s largest protected areas. When linked to Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve, it will provide a combined elephant range of some 120 000 square kilometres – the size of Malawi.

Wildlife corridors connect one protected area to another and are integral to many trans-boundary conservation initiatives, including the KAZA TFCA. One of the most ambitious projects, however, is happening on the other side of Africa, where villagers and conservationists are working to link two of Africa’s largest wildlife reserves. Rudolf Hahn and Rolf D. Baldus report.

TANZANIA

NIASSA NR

MOZAMBIQUE

SELOUS GR

Proposed corridor

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the KAZA TFCA almost certainly offers the region its best opportu nity for real

economic development. And the con­servation and tourism gains from creating one of the world’s biggest contiguous wildlife management area speak for themselves. What is less certain, as this mega­initiative gears up, is whether local communities living within its boundaries will be participants and beneficiaries – or merely observers.

If the latter, the TFCA is likely to fail, to become a white elephant inflated by rhetoric and short­term, unsustainable wealth creation for the large tourism operators, airlines and hotel chains, with governments and NGOs benefiting for a few years as the donor funding rolls in. Add alienated communities resorting to illegal hunting as a means to derive some benefits from the protected areas, as well as to recoup losses from living with dangerous and destructive wildlife, and we have a bleak scenario.

It does not have to be like this, of course. The KAZA TFCA really could become a powerful tool for local poverty alleviation and social upliftment. It could also be an international model for linking large­scale conservation to real rural development.

There are two critical issues here: one obvious, the other fundamental but less well understood. Whereas all involved in the initiative would agree that economic benefits must go to local people, it is equally important that a strong civil society is developed and that communities are socially empowered so that they can form equal partnerships with other stakeholders in the KAZA TFCA.

A concern is that it is easy enough to prop up community represen tatives for short­term window­dressing at meetings, but real capacity building at community level takes

longer and involves a government and NGO commitment that exceeds the big donors’ notoriously short­term attention span (three to five years for a ‘project’).

Richard Diggle, an experienced NGO leader with a financial background, has been based in the field for the past decade. He believes that ‘trickle­down’ and laissez-faire capitalist theories, which presumably underlie some of the thinking, will not work unless commu nities are assisted to become meaningful partners in the transfrontier initiative.

‘Evidence shows that, if left to its own devices, economic growth can create more inequality – the gap between the rich and poor will widen,’ says Diggle. ‘This is because the underprivileged are rarely able to exploit the opportunities in the same way as the more privileged, who are economi­cally, educationally and politically better positioned. The regional element of the KAZA TFCA might well compound this inequality to the advantage of those best placed to operate across borders and further undermine the rights and prospects of the poor.

‘The opportunities that come from governments working together and the donors providing funds will not reap community benefits unless we are proactive in positioning local communities,’ he continues. ‘Policies and incentives need to be put in place if the infrastructure development, conservation agendas and tourism growth are to have any meaningful impact on poverty alleviation. This also

depends on the leadership available at every level among all stakeholders, includ­ing within communities.’

yet, instead of working on such policies and incentives and ensuring there is

good leadership in place, to date the only real force in many existing transfrontier conservation areas is rhetoric. This is understandable from government officials who need to galvanise support, but it is futile if not backed by meaningful policies. It is even worse when it is used as a marketing strategy by the tourism and international NGO industries to raise their profiles and advance their own agendas.

‘Communities will only share the KAZA TFCA’s opportunities if governments have empowered them as legal bodies to take responsibility for their wildlife and tourism and to receive the benefits legitimately,’ says Diggle.

Namibia’s communal area conservancy model – one in five rural Namibians is now a member of the country’s 55 registered and 20­plus emerging conservancies – offers a way forward.

‘At a micro level, the real lesson from the Caprivi Strip is not that elephants are valuable, or that local communities now share in the income from tourism and trophy hunting through the conservancy programme, but that the Namibian government has provided a mechanism for communal­area residents to engage in the discourse of the KAZA TFCA. The conser­vancies are legitimate partners and as such can be building blocks for the conservation area to work on the ground as well as on the drawing board,’ he says.

In Caprivi, collaborative management across small working units is already happening. The Kasika and Impalila conservancies in Namibia are promoting community­based natural resource management with the Sekuti Community Trust in Zambia. In Botswana, the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust is co­managing fire, cattle and wildlife with the Salambala Conservancy in Namibia, and the Kwandu Conservancy in Namibia and Imusho community in Zambia have successfully lobbied for a border post and are conduct­ing joint anti­poaching patrols. In yet another Namibia–Botswana collaboration, the Kyaramacan Residents’ Trust and the Itheku and Teemashane community trusts are mapping their cultural and natural resources and have started to market their campsites jointly.

KAZA TFCA rhetoric needs to be matched by both action and a major paradigm shift within the tourism industry, government

officials and some conservation NGOs and communities themselves.

‘Communities are not a threat to the KAZA TFCA, as some tourism operators suggest in private,’ says Diggle. ‘Communities are, in fact, the key to the conservation and development objectives of TFCAs – but only if they are seen as valued partners and are given real responsibilities.’

In the language of trans-boundary conservation, the most overused word (besides ‘conservation’) must surely be ‘community’. That the future of cross-border conservation relies heavily on the support of the people who live within its boundaries is obvious, but how that support is garnered and maintained is crucial. Margaret Jacobsohn explains.

POWER TOthe people

Namibian NGO Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and WWF­LIFE, has been working on community­based transboundary linkages for the past five years. Co­director Margaret Jacobsohn reflects on some of the lessons that have been learnt.

• Tourism in communal areas should be controlled by the host communities, not the industry.

• A strong community foundation should be developed though community­based organisations that can work with authorities in neighbouring parks. The Mudumu North Complex in the Caprivi Strip, for example, is managed by four conservancies, two national parks and a state forest.

• A small operational pilot achieves more large­scale success than big plans that remain incompletely implemented.

• Keep it local and small. Build on existing local structures and opportunities that don’t need huge resources to be supported.

Polers take tourists on a mokoro (dug-out canoe) trip in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip.

In addition to tourism opportunities, the KAZA TFCA could support the sustain able harvesting of flora for activities such as basket weaving.

A large fishing village along the Zambezi River. The substantial needs of settlements such as these cannot be ignored.

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plants for traditional medicines, an activity that is currently worth US$250­million per year within the SADC region. Associated with this is a substantial knowledge and skills base in the use and manufacture of these natural products, a comparative advantage over more modern forms of agricultural pro duction. Using natural resources (both plant and animal) to benefit human populations also removes incentives to develop the land for arable purposes or livestock herds.

T he creation of the KAZA TFCA is a mega­project, requiring massive financing, political

commitment and regional coordina­tion. It cannot realistically be com­pleted in one phase, particularly as the unequal levels of development in the partner countries and regions involved complicate integration efforts. Nor will this very ambitious programme succeed without extensive consultations with the communities involved. Their agree­ment and total participation in all aspects of planning and implementa­tion is a sine qua non if mistakes of the past are to be avoided. (See Margaret Jacobson’s insights into this issue on pages 52 and 53).

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on 7 December 2006 was based on the enthusiastic support for the KAZA TFCA within a wide cross section of individuals and organisations from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The initiative is seen as a long­term and sustainable

the world’s first international peace park, between the Waterton and Glacier national parks in Canada and the US, celebrated its 75th anniversary recently.

The conference held to commemorate the event featured a strong southern African contingent and provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress of this important international concept.

What was apparent is that southern Africa, while not inventing the concept of peace parks, has become adept at finding new ways to interpret and apply trans­frontier conservation philosophy. Many transboundary conservation areas in the rest of the world, for example, have their rationale in achieving conservation objectives; in southern Africa they are seen more as a way of securing regional peace and economic development. (It could be argued that in many countries on the continent, transboundary cooperation is not a luxury, but a basic necessity.) In some parts of the world, the partnership is a symbol of extensive cooperation; on the subcontinent, those who manage these areas often grapple with the tricky issues of illegal immi­gration, reckless poaching, drug trafficking and wildlife disease. And, whereas the rights of ‘first nations’ were not part of the original agreement between Canada and the US, in southern Africa there is generally a much greater awareness of the wrongs of the past, with sincere attempts made to involve and respect local communities.

As we stood at the border post between Canada and the US on 11 September 2007, we reflected wryly that peace and cooperation are elusive concepts and that, as borders come and go, global initiatives to secure peace, such as transboundary conservation efforts, could provide universal lessons. Certainly, southern Africa has much to offer – and gain – from such a process.

ACTING globalA recent conference to mark the 75th year of the world’s first peace park gave Trevor Sandwith pause for thought.

In Botswana, the double buffalo fence (one side electrified) stretches for 135 kilo metres from the Okavango Delta to the Kwando Concession. It is a major obstacle to wildlife attempting to move from Botswana into Zambia, Angola and the Caprivi region of Namibia.CCA ADVERT

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programme, one that the partner coun­tries own and are pursuing together, where the primary bene ficiaries are the local communities, and the public and private sectors become stakeholders in wildlife and tourism.

An important development has been the establishment of the KAZA TFCA Secretariat, currently based in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone. The Secretariat, guided in its activities by the five countries, is compiling a full suite of projects and programmes that will require support from the donor community and the partner countries themselves. Under developed areas, such as southern Angola, will require a greater share of the resources (from such diverse components as infra­structure and institutional develop­ment, manage ment planning for natural resources, and training and capacity building) to place them on a footing similar to that of the other countries involved.

E arlier this year, I stood on the banks of the Kwando River in the remote Sioma Ngwezi

National Park in Zambia, looking across the meandering crystal­clear waters to Angola. In front of me was a vast area of virtually uninhabited woodland on Kalahari sands stretching

some 650 kilometres to Menongue. A large part of this is the Angolan component of the KAZA TFCA, still urgently in need of funds to remove widespread landmines, but already benefiting from the return of large mammals from neighbouring coun­tries. Behind me was the Silowana Plain, an area I had last visited during the severe drought of 1969–70, when the rains failed to come and some 200 ele phants died.

Almost four decades ago, it was inconceivable that elephants and other species could and would move freely across a continuum linking 36 protected areas in five countries. The economic opportunities associated with the growth of tourism and embracing some of the continent’s most exciting destina­tions could transform large parts of the region. At the same time, a unique level of regional cooperation through the facilitation of trans boundary move­ments by visitors and the marketing of a unified tourism destination has the potential to promote peace and stability in what was, until recently, a volatile part of Africa.

John Hanks is a partner with environmental consultants International Conservation Services. His column ‘Talking of Nature’ appears regularly in Africa Geographic.

Towards the end of 2005, the ministers of tourism in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) signed off the protocol for establishing the Univisa, an important initiative that will simplify the movement of people between SADC countries as part of the region’s strategy for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The Univisa will make international tourist travel much easier than it is at present, facilitating accessibility and cross­border movements for the anticipated 250 000 soccer fans. The move will also be of great benefit to the growing number of SADC’s transfrontier conservation areas.

‘We foresee a considerable liberalisation of travel routes between countries on the African continent in the near future. With the World Cup and the transfrontier parks in mind, a Univisa for the 14 member states should be in place by 2010,’ said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

one traveller, one visa

The KAZA TFCA will go a long way to securing the future of the OkavangoDelta, most of which is not secured by any type of formal protection.

michael poliza