African Reservations

The total project area of Bangweulu covers over 6,000 km2. This encompasses the territories of six Chiefdoms, with the land belonging to the communities and the Chiefs holding it in trust on behalf of their subjects. Although part of the Bangweulu Wetlands Area has protected wetland status under the RAMSAR convention, conservationists have not been successful in having the area proclaimed a national park due to the large numbers of people that live in and depend upon the park and its resources. In order to preserve this unique habitat and wildlife, African Parks took over the management of the area in 2008 in partnership with the local communities. It was the decision of the communities, expressed through their Chiefs and advisors, to invite African Parks to be their private sector management partner for the Bangweulu Wetlands Project. The Bangweulu Wetland Management Board was established in August 2008 and consists of representatives of the six local communities, African Parks and the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA). This ensures that the stakeholders at the heart of the project, the people that live and work in the community, have a role to play in managing this incredible area.

The Bangweulu Wetland ecosystem represents vast stretches of seasonally flooded grasslands and permanent swamps with huge virgin miombo woodlands. The swamp areas are dominated with extensive stands of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) and Phragmites reeds.

A large mammal census of the area conducted by African Parks in 2011 revealed healthy populations of black lechwe (Kobus leche smithemani - 75,703), sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei - 278), southern reedbuck (Redunca arundinum - 146), tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus - 404) and oribi (Ourebia ourebi - 230). Other species known to occur in the area, yet with census counts too low to reveal accurate population estimates, include hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) and side-striped jackal (Canis adustus).