Harewelle Archive

PMTC (Zambia) Develops Business Plan for Kafue National Park

PMTC (Zambia) has recently completed an assignment working with the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to develop a Tourism-based Business Plan for Kafue National Park (KNP).  KNP is Zambia’s largest National Park and, if its surrounding Game Management Areas are included, the entire ecosystem is over 64,000 square kilometres - twice the size of Belgium, approximating to 40% of Zambia’s total protected area estate and making it one of the largest protected areas in all of Africa.  Although illegal poaching and lack of investment have led to a decline in wildlife numbers over recent years the KNP still has a diverse wildlife resource, including 158 species of mammal; 515 of birds; 70 of reptiles; 36 of amphibians and 58 species of fish.  It is classified as having more antelope species (21) than any other park in Africa and it is also listed as one of Zambia’s “Important Bird Areas” by the Zambia Ornithological Society.

Despite its size and enormous potential KNP has not received the attention and investment that other National Parks in Zambia have received over recent years and much of its potential as a tourist destination has yet to be realised.  Under an ongoing World Bank Programme, PMTC (Zambia) was contracted to research and develop a Business Plan for the KNP building on its competitive advantages of easy accessibility to both Lusaka and Livingstone and large size and diversity of habitats.  The resulting Plan forecasts a steady growth in revenue arising from new investment in tourism and novel approaches to public private partnerships for management of the Park including the private sector, local communities and philanthropic interests.

Following the adoption of the Plan last October, PMTC (Zambia) was further contracted to roll out its initial implementation including identification of specialist brokers to work with ZAWA to identify investors for large tourism investments and development of tools for ZAWA to manage its concessioning processes for the Park.

This work by PMTC (Zambia) builds on extensive experience of Harewelle in the areas of Natural Resource Management, Environmental Protection, Protected Areas Management and Game and Wildlife Planning in Southern Africa and elsewhere.  Harewelle’s experience includes the planning and management of major national parks, community-based natural resource management in protected areas, responsibility for a programme to conserve one of the world’s most endangered species, and a major regional training programme in wildlife management.