Chewore Conservation Trust joins African Parks Incubation Programme
Republic of Zimbabwe, 19 November 2024 – Conservation organisation Chewore Conservation Trust (CCT) has signed an agreement to join the African Parks Incubation Programme. The Incubation Programme was developed by African Parks with a vision to partner with organisations that share an ambition to promote effectively managed protected areas through formalised agreements and to support these partners in more efficiently reaching their conservation objectives.
CCT, founded as the pilot project of the AWE for Nature Foundation, has partnered with the Zimbabwean Government to manage Chewore South Safari Area, the largest single leased concession within the Mid-Lower Zambezi protected complex, encompassing 2,020 square kilometres. The area boasts diverse geography and habitats, including the Chewore inlier range reaching 1,200 metres in altitude and the Zambezi escarpment to the south. Perennial rivers and numerous springs contribute to the region's important water resources.
Historically, Chewore South held the highest concentration of black rhino in the region. However, poaching and illegal gold mining pose serious threats. Through the Incubation Programme, CCT aims to overcome these challenges.
In the next 10 years, Chewore Conservation Trust hopes to protect and rehabilitate the area’s wildlife, support those living in and around protected areas to become drivers of sustainable local green economies, and to bring back species that traditionally roamed these landscapes.
Through this incubation partnership with African Parks, CCT will receive support ranging from the development of management agreements with government partners to business structures, governance disciplines and protected area management practices. This partnership is conducted on both an institutional and operational level, with the support and exchanges adapted to the partner’s own specific needs and circumstances. A new financial support mechanism has also been implemented in 2024. With CCT and Chewore South Safari Area joining the programme, this brings the Incubation Programme to a total of seven protected areas within the African Parks Incubation Programme, including five organisations which collectively manage over four million hectares.
“We are delighted to welcome Chewore Conservation Trust into our Incubation Programme. The organisation’s goals are closely aligned with what we at African Parks hope to achieve in natural spaces across Africa and the team shares our passion for conserving and rehabilitating wildlife and habitat back to healthy ecosystems. With every new partner that joins our Incubation Programme, we come closer to realising our shared vision of representing a geographic spread of protected areas and different ecoregions,” says Pierre-Armand Roulet, Incubation Programme Manager at African Parks.
“Being part of the African Parks Incubation Programme is a great opportunity for Chewore Conservation Trust to receive guidance and mentorship from an organisation that is leading the way in promoting long-term conservation models. It will play an important role in securing a positive future for Chewore South as a thriving protected area, which benefits both communities and wildlife, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership,” says Michael Hacking, Founder of Chewore Conservation Trust and Director of the AWE for Nature Foundation.
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About African Parks: African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. African Parks manages 22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries covering over 20 million hectares in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For more information visit www.africanparks.org.
About Chewore Conservation Trust: The Chewore Conservation Trust’s mission is to revitalise and conserve Zimbabwe's unique ecosystems, beginning with its pilot project in Chewore South in the Zambezi Valley, implemented in collaboration with the Zimbabwean Parks Authority. The Trust is working to create a sustainable, conservation-led economy, to ensure that those living alongside Chewore’s wildlife are its greatest beneficiaries. The Trust takes on responsibility for all aspects of management of Chewore South Safari Area, including community development, protection, infrastructure and logistics, wildlife and habitat management, promoting good governance, and tourism development. Chewore Conservation Trust relies on financial support from donors to implement its mandate. For more information, visit www.awenature.org.
About the AWE for Nature Foundation: The AWE for Nature Foundation is developing the Chewore South conservation project in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe. For this project, the Foundation has obtained a 25-year lease and co-management agreement with the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority. Historically, limitations such as short-term agreements have constrained conservation investment, with consequences for the local communities living alongside wildlife. AWE for Nature is advancing conservation on the ground, and developing durable revenue sources for protected areas, mobilizing tools such as biodiversity credits. For more information, visit www.awenature.org.