The Tashinga wildlife initiative
I was alerted to this wildlife project via Zimbabwe Situation. The Tashinga Initiative outlines its project as follows:
Africa is a continent rich in natural resources, yet sustainable development and use of these resources is still to be fully realised.
In Zimbabwe, despite a severely troubled economy, protected areas still extend to 13% of the country’s land surface. Along the length of the Zambezi River and its Zimbabwean hinterland, formally protected wildlife and forest areas (Pas) form a mosaic with adjacent Communal Areas. Many of these areas also support CAMPFIRE-initiated wildlife programmes and projects. The present socio-economic crisis however, has presented numerous challenges to maintaining conservation integrity and the continuity of community wildlife protection efforts.
The Project
In full collaboration with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA), this Wildlife Protection Project seeks to address the problem of unsustainable resource use, illegal activity and the lack of operational capacity within PWMA. This will be achieved through a set of targeted outputs for The Tashinga Initiative’s selectedProtection Area Clusters (PACs) in the Zambezi Valley.
The Tashinga Initiative will operate through its USA Foundation, The Tashinga Initiative Foundation Inc., its partner UK Registered Charity, Conservation Zambezi and its local The Tashinga Initiative Trust to implement the project, which is designed to provide support to PWMA in the management and protection of its wildlife areas along and adjacent to the Zambezi River. Funding will be sought through business and philanthropic organizations and individuals, taking a business and private-public partnership approach to achieving its objectives. Geographical Coverage
The Project intends to target all PACs in the Zambezi Valley, a total area covering more than 17,000 sq miles of wild land. Four discrete Protection Area Clusters have been identified, which encompass the targeted PA system of National Parks, Safari Areas and Forest Areas (see map), namely:
Victoria Falls, Chizarira, Matusadona, Mana Pools
Social Return on Investments
Given the needed inputs (human and financial resources),
the project intends to deliver 5 outputs, each of which have an anticipated outcome. The sum or aggregation of the outcomes meets the purpose of the project. Each outcome yields an anticipated impact after the project has ended. The sum of the impacts meets the development objective, or long-term goal of the project.Thus the social return on the project investment is measured in terms of the deliverables reflected by the anticipated project outcomes and impacts. These are the intended long-term environmental, social and economic benefits following the project.
The word “Tashinga”, loosely translated means “we have been on a journey of endeavour, and despite the difficulties, we have won through”.
More on the Tashinga Initiative website here.
October 13th, 2009 10:16
This is a very interesting project which hopefully leads to the anticipated economic outcomes. Nevertheless, if the minimum economic framework conditions are not in place it is going to be a challenge to make it sustainable. I wish the Tashinga wildlife initiative all the best!