Gamefields
&
ProjectsAfrica
P.O. Box 31333, Longacres, Lusaka, Zambia.
Telephone: (260) 1 25 60 22
www.projectsafrica.com
ZAMBIA BLACK RHINO RESCUE PROJECT PROPOSAL
SUMMARY
This document proposes a strategic partnership between the Safari Club Chapter of Italy and the Luembe Community Resource Board, Gamefields Limited and ProjectsAfrica – all represented on the Luembe Conservancy Trust, for an emergency effort to save the last remaining indigenous black rhino population of Zambia from extinction. This project falls under the present programme being mounted in the Luembe customary area of south Luangwa Valley, Zambia by Gamefields Limited and its partner ProjectsAfrica which sees the formation of a joint-venture between itself and the Luembe community for the sustained use of the natural resources of Luembe for the purpose of conserving the biodiversity, raising human livelihoods and providing a profit creating model for investors in rural development without alienating land from the community.
The Luembe customary area of Zambia, which encompasses in excess of 4000 km2 of eastern Zambia, Luangwa Valley, contains the last population of black rhino in the country – some three or four animals. While it is clear that local villagers have chosen not to kill these animals, armed poaching gangs are penetrating the area from far afield and it is a matter of time before they find them. The statutory body responsible for wildlife in Zambia, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) is aware of the situation but has been unable to take action. Urgent action is required: phase 1 (July 2004), reconnaissance of the rhino situation; phase 2, sustained project for rhino protection, in partnership with the local community.
1 INTRODUCTION
The black rhino of Zambia, formerly widespread and numerous up to 1973, is now all but extinct in the country – except for a small population occurring in Luembe’s country. In September of 2003, the village representative of an isolated area of Luembe and member of the Luembe Community Resource Board reported having seen a male and female black rhino in an area close to his village. He also reported that a small population had always occurred in that area. In April, Gamefields financed a recce of the area which gathered information from villagers and confirmed sightings in April of 2004. A full ground recce it is hoped can be carried out in August/September.
The area in which they fall is classified by government as the West Petauke Game Management Area – forming part of the Luembe customary lands, one of the premier hunting areas of Zambia.
2 THE PROPOSAL
Phase 1
In August/September 2004 carry out a reconnaissance of the area, locate the rhino, assess their status and provide an immediate framework for the local community to protect the rhino and for them to benefit directly from the continued survival of the rhino while plans are being made for the rhino’s long term survival
Phase 2
Draw up an integrated rhino conservation and local community development plan
Phase 3
Programme implementation
3 PROJECT NAME
Luembe People and Rhino Project
4 PROJECT LOCATION
West Petauke Game Management Area, Luembe customary lands, Nyimba District of Eastern Province, Zambia, Africa.
5 IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
Luembe Community Resource Board (LCRB)
Luembe Conservancy Trust (LCT)
ProjectsAfrica
Gamefields Limited
Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA)
Luembe CRB
The Luembe CRB is provided for in Part 3 of the Wildlife Act of 1998 (Laws Of Zambia), summarized below:
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The CRB, as the arm of ZAWA, is therefore the organization who will take charge of the project – with the direct support of Gamefields and ProjectsAfrica.
Luembe Conservancy Trust
The Trust is a registered charity in Zambia under the Companies Act. Its trustees comprise the Senior Chief Luembe, Ian and Cathlin Manning, the Luembe CRB Chairman and the Nyimba District Council Chairman. Effectively the Trust is responsible for all natural resource use in Luembe’s country and will therefore ensure that all moneys are regulated and that the project conforms to the development objectives of the area.
ProjectsAfrica
This international ICDP charity will advise and assist in ensuring that the effort to find and protect the rhino is fully integrated with the local community. It also will assure full financial transparency from its position as signator for the Luembe Development Fund administered by the trust.
Gamefields Limited
Gamefields is an international company registered in Gibraltar with a branch in Zambia. The company is contracted to the Luembe Trust to sustainably use the natural resources of the area. It is therefore the investment and management arm of the project. The rhino project therefore falls within the overall sustainable natural resource management plan presently being compiledbeing with the full cooperation and inputs of the local community.
ZAWA
ZAWA is established under the 1998 Wildlife Act, with responsibility for national parks, ecosystems, biodiversity and GMAs. In particular, it is responsible for the following
In partnership with local communities, to share the responsibilities of management in GMAs
To encourage general development in National Parks, GMAs…including the development of facilities in accordance with management plans
To enhance the economic and social well-being of local communities in GMAs
To prepare and implement management plans for National Parks, GMAs… in consultation with local communities
In partnership with communities, to grant hunting concessions to hunting outfitters and photographic tour operators in GMAs
To assist and advise the CRBs
To pay out money - to a CRB, from license and concessions fees obtained, and according to regulations issued by the Minister
ZAWA may delegate any of its functions to the CRB
6 PROPOSED PROJECT DURATION
Three years
7 PROJECT RATIONAL AND OBJECTIVES
The Luembe rhino are possibly the last indigenous rhino left in Zambia. Immediate action is required to assess their status, protect them and directly link the local community with their protection and continued welfare
8 EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Rhino status assessment
Immediate protection
Immediate production of a preliminary integrated protection and community development plan with the full participation of the local community
Production of a full plan
Implementation of the full plan
Assured protection of the rhino and their increase
Directly linked improvements in the livelihoods of the local community
Rapid provision of an ICDP success story which will impact on Luembe.
PROJECT PARTNERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
8.1 Community Resource Boards
The CRB’s responsibility is to oversee and manage the project – with the assistance and support of the conservancy partners, and funded in part by SCI Italy
8.3 ProjectsAfrica (www.projectsafrica..com)
ProjectsAfrica, registered in South Africa – and shortly in Zambia, will
have responsibility for seeing to the management of the funds held in the Luembe Trust Development Fund.
Gamefields Ltd Zambia
Gamefields, Zambia, apart from carrying out the land and wildlife developments involving trophy hunting, conservancy development, ranching and general tourism, will assist with logistical and other support
Luembe Trust
The Trust and Senior Chief Luembe will ensure that all activities have full legitimacy
10 PLANNED OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE OUTCOMES
OUTPUT 1: RECCE
Activity 1.1 Recruit and deploy a CRB team to investigate and report on the status of the rhino (May/June 2004)
Activity 1.2 Carry out a full investigation of the rhino’s status (August/September)
OUTPUT 2: PRELIMINARY PROTECTION PLAN
Activity 2.1 Recruit, train and deploy a protection force
Activity 2.2 Consult fully with the local community and jointly provide an action plan
OUTPUT 3: RHINO/PEOPLE ICDP PLAN
Activity 3.1 Provision of a participatory ICDP plan and its integration with the Luembe plan
Activity 3.2 Implementation of plan
OUTPUT 4: MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Activity 4.1 Provide, and carry out, a monitoring and evaluation plan
11 Budget
Abbreviations and Definitions
Biodiversity Biological diversity: the variations in biological
organisms at ecosystem, species and gene level
Chiefdom Authority over land held under customary tenure
Chipuna An integrated conservation and development model
(symbolized by the traditional African chair)
established within areas of customary tenure and
associated protected areas, and carried out by a
partnership between investors, chiefdoms
and non-government organizations (Chipuna – a
traditional stool (Chinyanja)
Conservancy A conserved area
Customary Area Land held under customary tenure
Customary Authority The authority over land held under customary tenure
(chiefs and headmen)
Customary Tenure Land held, through long tradition, by village headmen
under the chairmanship of a chief (Appendix 4 of the
Laws of Zambia)
De-centralization The allocation of responsibilities for decision-making and
operations to lower levels of government, community
organizations, the private sector, and NGOs
Ecosystem A dynamic complex of plants, animal and micro-
organism communities and their non-living environment
interacting as a functional unit
Game Commonly hunted animal species specified under the Act
Hunting Concession An area where authority to hunt within a specified
hunting block has been given by ZAWA for a specified
period of time in partnership with the local community
Land Alienation The conversion of land from customary tenure to
leasehold tenure: provisionary – 14 years; full title – 99
years (renewable)
Land tenure The rights of individuals or groups over arable, grazing
and residential land, how such rights are acquired, what
they consist of, how they operate in the holding, transfer
and inheritance of land and how they may be
extinguished (White, 1959,p 172)
Local Community The residents within a GMA or open area – other than
owners of tourist and camp lodges or hunting
concessions – who by virtue of their rights over land,
including under customary land tenure, invest in and
derive benefits from the sustainable utilization of the
wildlife resources in their area (Wildlife Act No. 12 of
1998); or defined in the ZAWA 2003 Safari Lease
Agreement as ‘The total number of villages, their
residents and traditional rulers within a Game
Management Area (ZAWA 2003 Safari Lease
Agreements)
Natural Resources Land and its biological resources: the soils, the vegetation
and the faun
Open Areas Customary land not included in GMAs
Partner One who shares risks, losses and profits
Private game ranches Fenced privately owned property (leasehold) (ZAWA: Draft Policy on Private Wildlife Estates)
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
State Land Land which is not situated in a customary area (Lands
Act 1995)
Strategy A set of chosen actions to support the achievement of a
specified development goal
Sustainable Use Use of an organism, ecosystem or other renewable
resource at a rate within its capacity for renewal
Tenure System Legal and institutional framework which determines the
ways in which rights to natural resources (property
rights) are defined and enforced
Usufruct The principle of customary tenure whereby anyone can
have access to and use of a piece of land but cannot
claim any form of ownership of it.
The latter implies in English jurisprudence – from which Zambia’s laws are derived, title to the lands and full rights of management including the rights of alienation (ownership at law) but not necessarily possession or enjoyment of benefits which may belong to the owner at equity
BSAP Biological Diversity Strategy and Action Plan
CBNRM Community Based Natural Resources Management
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity
CRB Community Resource Board declared under the Zambia
Wildlife Act of 1998 No. 12 Part 3 (6)
CITES Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species of Fauna and Flora
EPPC Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Act
ECZ Environmental Council of Zambia
FD Forestry Department
GMA Game Management Areas declared under the Zambia
Wildlife Act No. 12 Part 5 of 1998
GRZ Government of the Republic of Zambia
ICDP Integrated Conservation and Development Project
LCA Luembe Customary Authority
NGO Non Government Organization which operates as a charity
NEAP National Environmental Action Plan
PPP Public Private Partnership
PWEs Private Wildlife Estates
SCI Safari Club International
SCC Single Concession Hunting Company
TAZCORR Tazara Corridor Agriculture Development Project
WPAZ Wildlife Producers Association of Zambia
ZAWA Zambia Wildlife Authority