Editor's visit

In July 2003 Afrikeye's editor Alex Barrett once again visited Conservation Lower Zambezi headquarters in the Lower Zambezi valley to spend a couple of days with the operations managers Ian Stevenson and Leanne Edwards.

CLZ's future headquarters With funding from Danida (the Danish Embassy's development and aid organisation) the construction of a new purpose built headquarters is under construction in the Game Management Area close to the Chongwe river and entrance to the Lower Zambezi National Park. The headquarters will comprise of workshops, staff accommodation, managers' accommodation, kitchen facilities, offices, meeting rooms and stores.

George - the site foreman An essential element of the new headquarters will be the new purpose built Education Centre with accommodation for up to twenty-four children and four teachers. Although at the time of the visit the construction site was quite a mess it is targeted to complete the major works by the end of the season (November 2003) and intended that the Education Centre will open in March 2004.

In addition to all this construction work and expansion CLZ continues its core activity of supporting ZAWA wildlife police officers in the field protecting the Lower Zambezi wildlife and habitat by supplying rations, moving patrols, patrolling the park with the CLZ airplane, recording incidents and other wide ranging logistical assistance. View from the new education centre Working with safari operators in the area is another important aspect of CLZ's work and Edwards runs a weekly radio bulletin "Valleynet" to keep the commercial operators up to date with the what is going on in the park and its surrounding areas. They also administer examinations for safari guides ensuring a high level of professionalism and expertise within the commercial sector.

So with all this going on you might wonder how a typical day begins. Barrett sat in the headquarters meeting room with a notepad and a watch to find out:

06:00	Dawn begins to break Staff start lighting the furnaces for hot water
06:30	The operations team discuss the plan for the day over tea and cookies
06:45	Staff pack the rations for wildlife police officers on patrol in one of the CLZ Landcruisers Loads and supplies for the building site work are packed in the four wheel drive Mercedes truck provided by Danida
07:00	Radio activity begins with reports from the field, ZAWA command and control and the CLZ Lusaka office A report is filed of shots being fired in the GMA and a patrol is instructed to investigate
07:15	Other field teams are briefed for their days movements and the days logistics are agreed In the background the radio monitors the commercial operators' chit chat as they discuss their plans for the day
07:30	The CLZ vehicles are fuelled up and checked for road worthiness
07:45	The firearms cabinet is unlocked and the outgoing patrol equipped with AK47 automatic rifles and ammunition
08:00	The outgoing patrol is ready to go into the field and the sound of diesel engines of the Landcruisers warming up fills the air
08:30	Headquarters is quiet again (for now)

On 23 July 2003 Barrett flew with Stevenson on a routine aerial patrol. What had been intended a routine scan of the park turned out to have a rather harrowing end. Respecting the sensibilities of some Afrikeye readers it has been decided to report this day and its aftermath on a separate page as some of the photographs are very distressing.

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