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The year 2000 was a turning point in the work of the North Luangwa Conservation Project. This page contains extracts from the annual report which highlight the primary areas of concern and work for the project staff. Contents
Law Enforcement
Officers receiving support from NLCP are issued with the necessary equipment to ensure that they are able to take part in extended foot patrols in and around NLNP. NLCP policy is to issue each officer with a pair of boots each year, and new uniforms every second year. Other equipment is provided or replaced as necessary. All patrols in the field are issued with Global Positioning System units (GPS), to enable officers to report their position on a daily basis. Patrol RationsRations for patrols are made available to Units on all four boundaries of NLNP. For the first half of this year patrols consisted on average of 6 men doing a 14-day patrol. Since the scaling down of staff levels that has taken place under ZAWA, patrol size had to be reduced to 4 men going out on a 10-day patrol. Although the number of patrols that are currently being deployed is at the same level, or even above, the number being fielded before staff reductions took place, manpower is insufficient. The areas that need to be protected are vast (NLNP and West Musalangu GMA alone are both nearly 5,000 square kilometres in size) and current staffing levels cannot adequately protect the areas involved. Current rations provided by NLCP for a single patrol includes 25 kg maize-meal, 5 kg rice, 3 kg kapenta, 3 kg beans, 2 kg groundnuts, 2 litres cooking oil, 2 kg sugar, salt, torch batteries, GPS batteries and matches. OperationsA control room is now fully functional in the Park. It is permanently staffed by a ZAWA officer on a rotational basis, and all patrols in the field report their positions to him on a daily schedule. These positions are immediately marked on a laminated 1:50 000 wall map of the Park and surrounding area's. Any observations on poaching incidents are also reported and marked on the map as are sightings of rarer wildlife such as elephant and lion. Four officers have been trained in the use of a GPS computer program so that all patrol positions are also entered into a database in order that monthly reports can be compiled. The officers have been trained in the last few months of this year so the system is only now getting fully operational (See Appendix 2). They were also trained in the use of a spreadsheet program and enter information on all poaching related matters.
Sixty officers have been trained over the past three years in the use of GPS units. Positions reported daily by patrols in the field are verified by flying on a regular basis with the Project plane to the indicated waypoints to obtain visual confirmation of the position of respective patrols. Allowances and IncentivesMonthly allowances were paid by NLCP to a number of officers in the old NPWS system as it was felt that the salaries received by these key officers were inadequate to cover their basic cost-of living. With the transformation of the organization into the Zambian Wildlife Authority this practice was stopped as conditions of service under the new system are promised to be of a high standard. Instead of monthly allowances NLCP will now make a fund available for Rangers and Wardens that can be accessed to cover additional operational costs not provided for. Incentives are paid to officers who are successful in arresting poachers while on patrols or other operations. Money is also made available for the maintenance of an information network and for investigations. Information on poachers and poaching incidents are recorded by a Ranger in Mpika and Lundazi who also do a follow-up on all cases brought to court. Park CommunicationsA radio communications system that covers most of NLNP and that connects all camps supported by the Project has been installed and maintained by NLCP for a number of years now. Wildlife MonitoringThree wildlife censuses were conducted in 2000. A total count of the elephant population was done in March, providing information on the distribution and size of elephant groups in the Park in the wet season, and also giving an estimate of the minimum population size. The most important information gleaned from this census was that the elephant population is concentrated on the grasslands of the alluvial zone adjoining the Luangwa River - in marked contrast to their distribution in the dry season. A minimum population size of 1 600 animals was derived from this census. A systematic reconnaissance flight survey was conducted in late October 2000. Prior to the census taking place a four-day training workshop was held at NLCP headquarters. The course was conducted by FZS staff from the Tanzania Wildlife Conservation Monitoring Unit and three ZAWA officers and a ZAWA biologist attended the training. Two of these officers were used as observers on the census itself. All wildlife seen was recorded, as well as any sign of human activity. The transect lines were spaced at 2.5 km intervals and extended to a 10 km zone around the Park, and the Munyamadzi GMA was also covered. Data entry for the census has been completed, but final estimates of population numbers are still to be made as the maps used by the computer program to analyze the data are still being prepared in the required format. Results are expected early in the new year. The project plane, a Cessna 180, was used to conduct both of the above censuses. At the end of the dry season the Luangwa was reduced to a number of pools with only little water-flow. The hippo population is concentrated in big pods in these pools during this time. Luawata Conservation Ltd donates the time and use of a Bell let Ranger helicopter for conservation work in the Luangwa Valley every few months, and this helicopter was used to conduct a count of the hippo population in the stretch of the Luangwa River forming the eastern boundary of NLNP on 15 October. A total of 5 292 animals were counted. There was some concern as reports of hippo carcasses being sighted in the river had been received in the weeks prior to when the survey was conducted. 14 dead animals were counted during the survey. Blood smears were obtained from two of the carcasses and sent for laboratory analysis. The results showed that anthrax was present in both cases. However, no further reports of dead animals were received after this date, and no dead animals were spotted on subsequent surveys by plane of the river. There are two main conclusions that can be reached by looking at the distribution and details of the poaching incidents encountered by the officers. Firstly - the majority of cases are taking place in the GMA's surrounding NLNP, and not in the Park itself. Furthermore the nature of the poaching encountered can be classified mostly as subsistence, or low-impact poaching. Muzzleloader guns are commonly used, and only a few animals are killed by each poaching party with the intention of either selling or bartering the dried meat locally or using it for own consumption. There has been no indication of any large-scale commercial poaching in and around NLNP. A worrying increase in poaching was observed in the middle of the year, and is attributed to the opportunity presented by the re-organization of staff that took place under ZAWA in this time. A large number of officers were not re-employed and benefits and salaries were in many cases paid late or not at all. This caused great confusion and frustration on the ground, and it would seem that poachers took advantage of this to step up their operations. From unofficial reports received from different parts of the country it would seem this was a phenomenon taking place in many different parts of Zambia during this time. Although the law enforcement program in the camps surrounding NLNP was very well established the general drop in morale and staffing levels were felt even here. With continued good discipline from senior staff in the camps and ongoing support from the Project this was however minimized and patrols were still being sent into the field - with a record number of 29 patrols being deployed in August. Initially the number of staff under the new ZAWA system was set to be only half of previously existing staffing levels. The manpower thus available was considered inadequate by the officers, a sentiment shared very strongly by NLCP management. More officers have subsequently been re-employed, and levels stand at less than three- quarters of that prior to the restructuring. Although this is a marked improvement, manpower is still inadequate for the work involved. Community Initiated ProjectsSmall community projects are undertaken to provide assistance to villages adjoining the Park, generate goodwill and create an atmosphere where wildlife conservation can be seen to be of benefit to local communities. Spare parts for the grinding mill at Mwamfushi village were purchased and the engine was repaired. The road between Mpika and Ibangwe was rehabilitated. Assistance was given to Chief Mukungule to complete his house - cement was purchased as well as wood for windows and window frames. Paraffin is made available to the Mukungule Rural Health Center. Three secondary school scholarships were continued for students from local communities that were awarded them in 1998. These students have now completed grade 10 and 11 at secondary schools in Mpika and Chinsali and will be sponsored to complete grade 12 if they prove successful in the 2000 examinations. Where possible local products are purchased to provide rations. To this end a total of 260 bags of maize, 20 bags of beans and 35 bags of rice were purchased from a number of villages adjoining the Park. NLCP offers prices comparative to what would be received if produce is sold in town, but with the advantage to the villagers that produce is collected at their villages. A total of K22 227 000was spent in this way, a substantial cash flow input into the local economy. Labour for road and construction work is also locally recruited and provided cash inflow of K34 205 500, School group visits to the Park was initiated this year by the visit of pupils from Mukungule Basic School and Mano School to the Park. The Mukungule Wildlife Club also visited the Park with the assistance of the Project. The Project truck was used to bring the people to the Park and to take them on a game drive. At Mano and at NLCP headquarters talks on conservation issues were held and lunch and a video show provided. Zone Management PlanNo management plan currently exists for NLNP. A start was made this year to put together an initial Zone Management Plan. A meeting was organized at NLCP headquarters in the Park with a core group of people who will be involved in the planning process. (This group consisted of members of the Planning Unit of ZAWA, ZAWA ecologist, a ministry of Tourism official, the Area Warden Bangweulo Command and the TA's NLCP). The process is led and guided by the Planning Unit of ZAWA. Reconnaissance of the Park and it's infrastructures and resources took place, as well as an identification of information needed. A data-gathering period followed, where especially information on adjoining communities was collected and existing information on the Park and its wildlife and habitats were compiled. A second meeting in Lusaka was held to put all the existing information together and to plan the way forward. At this stage however ZAWA was in the middle of their staff-restructuring program. It was decided that the process will have to be delayed until final staff placements and transfers within ZAWA has taken place. This proved to be a prudent move in retrospect, as the Head of the Planning Unit left her post with ZAWA and the Area Warden was transferred. A biologist for the Bangweulo Management Unit is also still to be appointed. The planning process will however continue next year and with the basic information already collected can move forward quickly. |
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© Afrikeye 1999 - 2007 (certain items under permission of original copyright owner) |
At the
start of this year NLCP support extended to 177 wildlife police officers in
camps on all boundaries of North Luangwa National Park. All officers from Mano
and Munyamadzi Unit and Fulaza Sub-unit of the Bangweulo Area Management Unit (BAMU)
were included, as well as all officers from the Chifunda Unit of the East
Luangwa Management Unit (ELAMU).
All patrols are on foot, and patrols are either undertaken directly from the
respective camps, or they are deployed by vehicle to a designated area in or
around NLNP. Planning for law enforcement activities are done at regular
meetings between the respective Wardens, Rangers and the NLCP Technical Advisor
Park Management. As meetings can not always take place due to the
inaccessibility of certain camps in the wet season, private channels have been
programmed into the radio's so that the control room can contact these camps at
all times and discussions on dates and areas of deployment of patrols can take
place. All patrols complete a patrol data form while on patrol, and copies of
these reports are kept both at the respective Unit headquarters as well as at
the NLCP office.