Great progress with BIOPAMA Grant

The Biopama Grant which kicked off in the first quarter of 2021 is progressing well. The Southern African Wildlife College is very proud to have the support of the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States through the BIOPAMA Programme. 

In support of the grant, the SAWC has partnered with the Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance, resulting in the joint collaboration with Zambeze Delta Safaris who work on the ground in the area. The main goal is to bring much-needed food security and capacity for effective conservation and counter poaching in the area. 

The Zambezi delta ecosystem is one of the most important intact coastal forest/wetland systems in Africa. Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a terrible impact in the region, due to the loss of tourist-based income which helps support salaries for those working in conservation based tourism and in counter-poaching. Loss of income and jobs, in addition to the effects of the virus, have added immense pressure on the landscape. Increasing numbers of people have been forced to turn to poaching for bushmeat, often using snares which kill and injure non-target key species such as recently reintroduced lion, and leopard. In addition, pristine sand forest and miombo woodland is cleared for slash-and-burn agriculture to try and grow food. At the same time as poaching and forest clearing was on the increase, the funding for anti-poaching and important wildlife monitoring was greatly reduced through loss of tourism income. The generous funding awarded by Biopama has allowed for better food production, the ranger function to return to normal, monitoring and anti-poaching activities to continue so that wildlife can effectively be protected and conserved. 

With the support of the Biopama grant, a great deal has been achieved thus far in 2021. Prof Alan Gardiner and Peter Hamming from the SAWC’s Research & Development department, as well as Clive van Rooyen from the Protected Area Integrity field ranger training department, have spent considerable time onsite in the Zambeze Delta working with the Zambezi Delta Safaris team. Together they have now implemented data collection using handheld devices and SMART (Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool) to assess and plan ranger movements, collect valuable data, automate, and standardise reporting from the field to the managers. This method allows rangers and managers to track their progress and work efforts in a highly visual and easy to interpret fashion. Together, the mixed patrols and standardised data collection, and consequent planning and monitoring represents current good practice for conservation management.