Dear All

Yellow White-Eyes down for a bath and a drink. There is a flock of about 20 or 30 who are visiting most days, early in the morning.

Pete Roberts‎ to Families from Victoria Falls and Livingstone

Livingstone, 1930s: “At the headquarters of the Zambezi Boat Club, an enclosure of the Zambezi River has been made, permitting swimming to be enjoyed with safety. A small charge is made by the Club to visitors, who can procure swimming costumes in the town.” (The Victoria Falls of Southern Rhodesia, 1936)

LIVINGSTONE

ZESCO

We are having load-shedding again – often 12 hours a day. This is all ZESCO is telling us:

Zesco LimitedAugust 9 · PRESS STATEMENT - LOSS OF 130MW FROM THE NATIONAL GRID

ZESCO Limited wishes to inform its customers and the general public that there is a loss of 130MW of power from the national grid owing to a technical failure on one unit. This deficit implies that there may be variations in adherence to the current load shedding hours until the situation is normalized.

Without more details rumours are circulating including one which stated that ZESCO is now exporting the power to South Africa. This is likely to be fake news but, unless ZESCO tells us what is going on, these sorts of rumours will continue. I am guessing that it is a problem with Maamba Collieries again, but again I could be accused of spreading fake news.

ZAMBIA

Walk Luangwa

This walk took place over several days, starting in North Luangwa, past Luambe and then to South Luangwa. The walkers were taking part in a fund-raising event to raise some much-needed income for the NGOs who are trying to keep conservation efforts going during these terrible times. As we all know, all our conservation organisations are facing serious challenges with no money coming in from tourism and the local people, having lost jobs, are even more hungry than usual, with the result that poaching is on the increase.

Mwaleshi River (North Luangwa)The first two days have already yielded great experiences with black rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo sightings. Wildebeest, kudu and zebra grazed alongside the walkers and they even spotted a purple heron. Lions invited themselves into the campsite on Night 1 with a pride of 7 lions on a warthog kill on day 2. North Luangwa - it’s a lion’s world!

Luambe Camp

The Walk Luangwa 2020 team stopped over at Luambe for a night this weekend and were greeted with a warm welcome, hot showers, and a delicious meal before setting off again on their adventure towards the Nsefu region of South Luangwa.

Thank you for your visit and well done to the team thus far, we wish you well on the rest of your journey!

Conservation South Luangwa - CSLThe team have reached their ‘halfway stop’ - a significant milestone of the walk. Camping gear gets dumped here and network should be steady from here on out so expect far more regular updates.

Here Nick is seen in his happy place on the sand bank in front of Tafika Camp with his fiance Jen_Coppinger , their two puppies and Carol and John Coppinger, who have been incredibly supportive of the walk, providing meals and accommodation and much needed logistical support! Thanks Remote Africa

Here we say goodbye to guide Alex Phiri as he takes some well earned rest at home, and we will introduce our new team members tomorrow.

Good night all. Stay tuned.

Conservation South Luangwa Walk Luangwa 2020

Today CSL - Zambian Carnivore Programme vet Dr Mwamba Sichande , our Law Enforcement Advisor Benson Kanyembo and DNPW Area Warden Bovax Kachali have joined the Walk Luangwa 2020 team on the leg from Mfuwe Lodge The Bushcamp Company to Puku Ridge Chiawa Safaris

Walking through a prime game viewing area they’ve already seen 5 lions, a leopard and 2 hyenas in wamilombe.

Zambian Carnivore Programme

ZCP Luangwa Manager Thandiwe Mweetwa and Assistant Manager Henry Mwape at the halfway point of the Walk Luangwa!

The walk is raising vital funds for communities and conservation organisations in the Luangwa Valley, all of whom have been deeply impacted by a drop in tourism bookings due to COVID-19. These bookings play a large part in contributing towards community and conservation efforts in the Valley. The walk covers 350km, over 17 days through 3 national parks - North Luangwa, Luambe and South Luangwa.

Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust - CWET

Nick Riddin of the Luangwa Valley Walk fame, was joined yesterday for his final stretch of five kilometres.His companions included, the District Commissioner, the Council Chair and Area Warden and the Honorable Makebi Zulu, Provincial Minister for the Eastern Province.Chipembele was represented by Anna and Steve Tolan, Corey Jeal and Thandiwe Mweetwa.

Walk Luangwa 2020 “We have reached.”

17 days, 365km, a few blisters and some great experiences later, and we have completed Walk Luangwa 2020 .

It has been an incredibly interesting and thought-provoking couple of weeks and it will be good to take some time now to reflect on the walk. Sadly, the network was not very supportive of regular updates and so we will continue to bring you images, clips and stories in the coming weeks.

It was great having Matt and Mana from Conservation Story Telling and we look forward to seeing their output and the story that they create around the people involved with the walk.

A huge thanks to everyone for your support, the people on the ground helping protect the wildlife and habitats, and the people that work hard behind the scenes uplifting the remote communities around the world.

We have been privileged to gain the support we have, to have been joined along the way by various stakeholders from the Luangwa Valley and to stretch our legs at a time when so many people are confined in cities.

Time to take the shoes off for now - but stay tuned!

Peace Parks Foundation

Super excited to welcome almost 200 Puku back to the Simalaha Community Conservancy in Zambia. Since 2013 Peace Parks Foundation has translocated more than 850 animals to Simalaha, a community-led conservation initiative. Due to increased habitat loss and poaching, more than one-third of all Puku can only be found in zoos and national parks. We are grateful to be able to add another safe haven to the list of places where the species can thrive.

Located within a wildlife corridor that reaches from Chobe National Park in Botswana to Kafue National Park in Zambia, Simalaha is fundamental to re-establishing wildlife populations and their migration routes in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area – the biggest terrestrial cross-border conservation system in the world.

Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust

Our founder Sheila and her wheelchair are all fit and ready again for the Zambian bush! As some of you know, Sheila’s wheelchair had some serious wheel bearing issues last week that left her with no transport. We are happy to share

that everything has been fixed and bearings have been replaced in both front wheels, all as a donation from Lemmer Hydraulics in Chingola.Big thank you to Wade Lemmer and Lemmer Hydraulics

Carl Beel‎ to BirdWatch Zambia Forum

The Bangweulu wetlands are not too far from Mkushi, so before leaving Mkushi for good, I went with Dries Van de Loock for a few nights at Nsobe camp in the Chikuni area. On 23rd July we went in search of the Shoebill by boat. I regretted not bringing a cushion as we had to go deep into the swamps and spent nearly the whole day in the boat. However, we were rewarded with many close-up sightings of waterbirds and eventually the Shoebill. On the way back we received another cherry on the cake with a sighting of 2 Slaty Egrets, not seen within the area for decades and with no documented records around here.

Zambian Carnivore Programme

Liuwa’s North Clan of hyenas has been particularly susceptible to snares, given their home-range is in a high-risk area. Fortunately for North Clan’s Hyena 743, the DNPW, ZCP and APN teams and our new field-based vet Dr. Brian Musalo were able to find, dart and successfully rescue her! Great teamwork by everyone to help protect Liuwa’s globally renowned wildlife! Photos by Daan Smit.

Zambia Primate Project

A milestone day for ZPP. After passing their health screening with flying colours, yesterday we trapped the primates we have rescued over the last year at the rehab facility and early this morning we set off for the bush. Freedom calls!!

Upon arrival these ex captive primates will undergo predator avoidance training and following a period of acclimatisation to the sights and sounds of the bush at the new ZPP primate pre-release facility in Kafue National Park, they will be released back to the wild. An exciting day for us all at ZPP. The journey to the bush is going smoothly - it’s as if the primates sense they have a big adventure ahead.

This week ZPP supported the rescue of 2 young, 1 year old male vervet monkeys from illegal captivity. We have named them Madaliso (meaning ‘many blessings’ in Nyanja) and Chifundo (meaning ‘kind’). Immediately upon receiving them we carried out health screening checks and removed the rope tethers from around their waists. We later transferred them to our new primate pre-release facility in KNP to undergo 30 days quarantine before being integrated ready for release with other rescued monkeys. The ropes that bound them to a post were tight and they were very dehyrdated. Thank you to DNPW for confiscating them from their illegal owner and for bringing them all the way to Lusaka from Nakondi on the Zambia-Tanzania border for ZPP to get them ready for a life back in the wild. Great teamwork.

ZIMBABWEWalking for Wild - The Victoria Falls Challenge

The runners and walkers did it! 140kilometers in 24 hours! The walkers relayed through the night and made it to the finish with even a few minutes to spare.

Bhejane Trust

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Pieter and Anthea Erasmus, through Shop, to Shop in Cape Town, we have received 1000 food parcels from South Africa for National Parks rangers, Bhejane staff and associated conservation bodies. This represents four months supply, with the Parks stations to benefit being Zambezi and Katombora, Kazuma Pan, Sinamatella and Robins. This will represent a morale boost for struggling wildlife custodians.Thanks also to Andrew Lane who had an extremely frustrating time dealing with Zimbabwe import bureaucracy. It took two and a half months and 41 permits to import these packs which are essentially Covid relief - we even had to certify the peanut butter as “non GMO”!!!. Zimbabwe certainly cannot qualify as an investment friendly destination!!

Hwange villagers given 4-months’ eviction noticeNews Day

Villagers in Batoka, Hwange, Matabeleland North province have been given four months to vacate their communal lands to pave way for the establishment of a new township, a replica of Kariba town.Situated on the south bank of the Zambezi River and built on the twin hills of Boterekwa overlooking Kariba Gorge and Lake Kariba (one of the world’s largest man-made lakes), the town was established in 1957 by the Federal Power Board to accommodate Kariba Dam construction staff as well as settlers.Batoka Town will house workers and settlers at Batoka Hydro Power Plant, a joint venture between Zimbabwe and Zambia. …

The project was mooted in 1992 and construction is expected to start this year.Through Statutory Instrument 188 of 2020, Local Government minister July Moyo said the villagers had up to December 31 to vacate the area, without giving them alternative land.The SI, however, does not speak about any compensation for loss of land and improvements.

GE and Power China are in a consortium that was shortlisted to build the facility. The project involves construction of a dam, powerhouses, roads, transmission infrastructure and houses in both Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This comes at a time when scores of villagers in Hwange and Binga districts are facing eviction from their ancestral land to pave way for an influx of Chinese nationals eyeing fortunes from untapped mining fields.In Hwange, a proposed Chinese mining project at Dinde dip tank caused so much anger that locals have even sought the help of Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to block their evictions.Mudenda hails from the same province.“This notice may be cited as Communal Land (Setting Aside of Land) (Batoka Township) Notice 2020. The area of land specified in the schedule shall be set aside with effect from January 1, 2021 for the purposes of establishing a township,” the Local Government minister said in the notice.“Any person using or occupying the land specified in the Schedule, otherwise by virtue of a right held in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act (Chapter 21:05) is ordered to depart permanently with his or her property, from the said land by the 31st of December 2020 unless he or she acquires rights of use or occupation to the said land in terms of section 9(1) of the Communal Lands Act (Chapter 20:04).”Moyo was not reachable for comment yesterday.However, the Hwange Residents Trust (HRT) reacted angrily to the planned evictions.“We strongly condemn any evictions that will take place to the local people without compensation. The government should at all times ensure that the displaced have an alternative place where they will stay and also pay them adequate and timely compensation,” HRT co-ordinator Fidelis Chima said.

Three In Court After Found In Possession Of US$11 395 IvoryNew Zimbabwe

HWANGE: Three men suspected to be part of a poaching syndicate that has been illegally hunting elephants for their ivory at the Hwange National Park and Binga district both in Matabeleland North have been arrested after being found in possession of ivory worth US$11 395.

Enos Mudenda (35) of Mankonkole village under Chief Saba in Binga, Joseph Ngwenya (32) of Siantele village in Chief Shana area in Hwange and Mark Sibanda (38) of Bulawayo’s Mahatshula suburb appeared before Hwange magistrate Sekai Chiwundura to answer to a charge of illegal possession of elephant ivory.

The magistrate remanded the three in custody to next week Friday.

They face charges of violating the Parks and Wildlife Act.

G: These are just the little guys. Authorities need the big ones who are providing the route out of Zimbabwe.

New greenbelt to boost grain productionThe Herald

Maize production is to be boosted by an additional one million tonnes a year within three years through the development of 100 000 hectares of new irrigated land under the Agriculture Recovery Plan in the Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme in Binga, Masvingo and at Kanyemba, with both Government and the private sector being involved.

The initial phases of the huge investment will be done in three years, with the Government roping in the private sector, and will ensure almost half of Zimbabwe’s maize requirements are met from the new lands, even in a bad drought. In subsequent phases citrus, macademia and pecan nuts will be added to these low altitude irrigated schemes in a new greenbelt. The combined phases will produce for export, as well as local demand and local processing.

Speaking during a tour in Binga of Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said the programme, which is expected to run till 2023 is key in terms of investing in food security and will ensure that the country preserves foreign currency by reducing the food import bill“Government proposes to create a maize belt in the lowveld areas of Masvingo, Bulawayo Kraal and Kanyemba through the Agriculture Recovery Plan where the country will be able to do two maize cycles per year under irrigation,” he said.“I am glad that land clearance has commenced at Bulawayo Kraal and corporate farming will be promoted.”

Government was eager to incentivise the private sector to consider seriously investing in the envisaged greenbelt project in a smart partnership. ...

G: This is The Herald and we all know The Herald. I tend to take their stories with a pinch of salt. I do hate to see the vast lands of Africa cleared for crops. We know so much better these days. Especially in Africa, we need to allow nature to provide us with all those little creatures which give our crops so much natural protection. I assume this field will be sprayed with insecticide and fertiliser used. Considering that the holistic approach to farming was actually started in Zimbabwe, we should have hoped for better.

It reminded me too of the Hwange-Sanyati Corridor which is go through this area and provide a corridor for the elephants between Hwange and the wildlife areas along Lake Kariba. Or maybe that has been forgotten, but, if not, those beautiful mealies will be a big draw for the elephants.

Mysterious Cause of Hundreds of Elephant Deaths in Botswana Finally Comes Into FocusScience alert

Hundreds of elephants that died mysteriously in Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta probably succumbed to natural toxins, the wildlife department said Friday.

The landlocked southern African country has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000. Around 300 of them have been found dying since March.

Authorities have so far ruled out anthrax, as well as poaching, as the tusks were found intact.

Preliminary tests conducted in various countries far have not been fully conclusive and more are being carried out, Wildlife and Parks Department boss Cyril Taolo told AFP in a phone interview.

“But based on some of the preliminary results that we have received, we are looking at naturally-occurring toxins as the potential cause,” he said.“To date we have not established the conclusion as to what is the cause of the mortality”.

He explained that some bacteria can naturally produce poison, particularly in stagnant water.

Government has so far established that 281 elephants died, although independent conservationists say more than 350. ...

BOTSWANA

Riverbed Mining

I was sent some information about a proposed mining venture on the border of Mana Pools World Heritage Site. The map was not clear for me, so I made my own using the old online maps from Rhodesia.me. The black outline shows the riverbed where the mining is proposed to take place. I think this is something that the Zimbabwe people need to be aware of.

We need rivers to flow normally. We cannot keep taking from the environment and then expecting it to support us in the future. What sort of legacy are we leaving for the next generation?

Here is a bit of the proposed mining:The Government of Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) grants special rights to carry out mining operations on riverbeds according to Statutory Instrument (SI) 92 of 2014 and the amendment SI. 258 of 2018. Government has thus delineated riverbed mining as its own area of responsibility and anyone who intends to venture into riverbed mining has to get into partnership with ZMDC. Falvect mining (Pvt) Ltd has got into partnership with the ZMDC and intends to carry out riverbed mining and processing of gold and other heavy minerals on the confluence of Angwa and Maura rivers, in Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe, under a “Special Grant No 7848”.

Namibia Wild Horses Foundation

Brigette Bartsch, 73 years, walked for 300 km between Windhoek and Garub, the home of the Wild Horses of Namibia to raise funds for the Foundation.Here are some of her photographs and comments.

Dear all.Tuesday evening. Day two completed. Filled with and fuelled by a great hearty meal.

Today is only the second day.I am totally living in the present.Am absorbing every moment to make it part of my life.Yesterday 27 km.Today 33 km.

Day 4, to Isabis and some different scenery. Still going strong - look at her striding out! Cold wind after lunch (east wind on its way again) so the jacket came out. Isabis at last, day done!

Thank you Ingrid Stengel for keeping up with the images and somehow finding enough signal out there to keep sending.

The walk has ended today.What an amazing experience.

I can only recommend the following to everyone:

Start to make your dream come true.Something will happen on the way which will enrich you, your family and friends, your environment, and maybe even your country and beyond.

I’d like to thank you all for your interest, your calls, your support and encouragement! I feel truly blessed.

To Christine Wulff-Swiegers, a big Thank You for allowing me to be part of the Wild Horses familyHelen, thank you for your pleasant and professional PR support.

And to my two human ‘guardian angels’, Ingrid and Barbara, a special Thank You for supporting me day after day on this trip, with your never ending humour and laughter and abundant supplies of good food and your persistent urge for me to drink and drink and drink...

Some wise person once said:Live in the present. Look to the future. Make peace with the past.

Shalom.Brigitte Bartsch

NAMIBIA

Mukwe Communities oppose removal of their livestock out of Bwabwata National ParkNBC

Communities in the Mukwe Constituency of the Kavango East Region are at loggerheads with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism over the removal of their livestock out of the Bwabwata National Park.Hundreds of Hambukushu people gathered at Mukwe to reject the Ministry’s order to move their livestock from the park land.The watershed meeting also decided to drag Government to court to reverse a decision of proclaiming Bwabwata as a national park.Chief’s Council chairperson, Erwin Disho is of the view that the proclamation of Bwabata as national park in 2007 is against the Communal Land Reform Act.“We do not know how the park started. We were not consulted. All we heard was that it has been proclaimed. But proclaimed how, without the consent of the traditional authority? We want to know who gave them that consent. Our Mfumu did not approve it. Then who did? We want to know that person,” said Erwin Disho, Chairperson of the Hambukushu Traditional Authority Chief’s Council.Kyaramacan Association runs a conservancy in the park to benefit the San Community there but the Hambukushu are not party to that arrangement.The Hambukushu and San communities both claim indigenous rights to the wildlife-rich lands of the former Caprivi Strip.“We, the Hambukushu, are not getting any benefits from these parks, including Mahango National Park and Bwabwata, which they have now taken. All we hear is that Kyaramacan is the one benefiting.The park also overlaps into the Zambezi Region and is an important wildlife corridor of the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area.Residents expected the ministry’s regional officials to attend their meeting, but they did not turn up.Calls to Regional Director Apollinaris Kanyinga’s mobile phone, to verify the community’ information, went unanswered.Kanyinga did also not respond to text messages sent to his cellphone.

G: As an interesting side-line to this story, some conservationists are advocating introducing controlled cattle grazing in Kafue National Park. Seems odd, but really it isn’t. Kafue National Park used to be full of wildlife. Now, it is not, especially in the south. For this reason, the grass grows and there are no animals to eat it. So, when someone starts a bushfire, the fire rages out of control. If cattle are allowed to go into the park on the edges, the grass would get eaten and the bushfires would not have all that added fuel. There are, of course, many challenges to this suggestion. Who keeps control? And, what if a cow is killed by wildlife – is there compensation? Getting back to Bwabwata National Park in Namibia, the authorities need to look at how the cattle there may, in some way, be contributing to the environment, not destroying it. Bwabwata had most of its wildlife killed during the South African years when they were fighting Angolan forces on the border. The numerous forts and camps there are reminders of this occupation. Bwabwata faces many of the same challenges as Kafue. The conservancies around Bwabwata are suffering, as we all are, from COVID-19, so this is definitely not the time to introduce draconian laws which are likely to make the people’s lives even worse. And, as I said, maybe the cattle are actually improving the environment.

OTHER STUFFCOVID-19 Stats as at 16 August (WHO)

Country Total con-firmed cases

Total con-firmed new cases

Total deaths

Total new deaths

Zambia 1,632 0 30 0Zimbabwe 734 18 9 1Botswana 314 39 1 0Namibia 350 57 0 0Mozambique 1,012 25 8 0Malawi 1,818 76 19 0Angola 328 13 18 1Tanzania 509 0 21 0DRC 7,431 21 181 0South Africa 205,721 8,971 3,310 111

Painting eyespots on cattle’s backsides deters predators like lions and leopards, Botswana study findsDaily Mail, UK

Painting a pair of eyes on the rear of a cow could help protect it from being attacked by lions and leopards, a new study has found.

Scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who conducted their research in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region, found cattle painted with eyespots were more likely to survive an approaching predator than those who were unmarked.

The research, which has been published in the scientific journal Nature, could now prove to be a cost-effective tool in reducing the number of livestock that are killed by lions in rural communities.

According to the study, looking at the painted pair of eyes created the illusion that a predator had been spotted and deterred them from approaching their prey.

Scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who conducted their research in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region, painted one-third of the cattle with an artificial eyespot +3Scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who conducted their research in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region, painted one-third of the cattle with an artificial eyespot

In their four-year-study, scientists painted a total of 2,061 free-ranging cattle from 14 herds in the Delta region that were prone to attacks from lions.

One-third of each herd were pained with an artificial eyespot on their backside, one-third had cross-marks painted on their rear and the remaining third were left unmarked.

Country Total con-firmed cases

Total con-firmed new cases

Total deaths

Total new deaths

Zambia 9,186 165 260 4Zimbabwe 5,176 104 130 2Botswana 1,214 0 3 0Namibia 3,907 181 35 4Mozambique 2,791 83 19 0Malawi 3,709 45 103 4Angola 1,879 27 86 0TanzaniaDRC 9,637 33 239 1South Africa 583,653 4,513 11,677 121

COVID-19 Stats as at 28 July (WHO)

EXCHANGE RATESUS$1 K18.60

P11.70Nam$17.40Zim$82-96

WEATHERMin Temp Max Temp

14°C (57) 34°C (93)

Have a safe maybe-two weeks

Gill

SMILE

Finally, it has started to warm up. Actually sitting in a T-shirt!

Conservation Lower Zambezi Mondays are always hard but sometimes it’s just not your day! Lev Kaytsner (Royal Zambezi Lodge)