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ZIMBABWE: Ecoguard post opens in Hwange National Park

Boris Ngounou
ZIMBABWE : un poste d’écogardes voit le jour au sein du parc national de Hwange

The Zimbabwe government has officially opened Hwange National Park’s first modern-era ranger station - establishing a permanent base to prevent wildlife crime and safeguard communities in the remote southern region of the iconic sanctuary. The US$ 0.5 million base – a milestone project of the US$5-million five-year conservation agreement between IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare and ZimParks - puts rangers at the centre of what was once a wildlife poaching hotspot. Makona is now a fully-fledged permanent ranger base covering over 5000 km2 southern section of Hwange National Park which shares a long and open boundary with both community lands and neighboring Botswana. Including an office complex, operations centre, recreational facility, and 12 housing units accommodating more than 24 rangers and their families. The Makona base is situated approximately 15 kilometers from the Tsholotsho community, which enables rangers to swiftly deploy to respond to incidents of human-wildlife conflict.

Security in Hwange National Park is going up a notch. The 14,651 square kilometre natural protected area in northwestern Zimbabwe now has a base camp. Opened on Saturday 15 April 2023 by Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa, in her capacity as Zimbabwe’s tourism and wildlife ambassador, the Makona Ecoguard Station comprises several offices, an operations centre, a recreation area and 12 accommodation units for more than 24 ecoguards and their families.

The base is located about 15 kilometres from the riverside community of Tsholotshlo, to which missions are assigned. In addition to preventing wildlife crime, the ecoguards at this base also have the task of protecting the local communities. The proximity of these communities to the base allows the rangers to be deployed quickly in the event of human-wildlife conflicts.

Over 120 elephants poisoned with cyanide

The opening of the Makona base is the result of a partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

This IFAW-ZimParks partnership has invested over $3.5 million in the Hwange-Matetsi-Zambezi landscape. These funds have been spent on wildlife crime control, protection and welfare of rangers, park management (infrastructure improvements, management of water resources used by wildlife), tourism development, wildlife rescue and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

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These actions, in addition to the opening of the Makona game warden post, are intended to turn the page on the disastrous poaching in this area, as well as in the rest of Hwange National Park. In 2013, cyanide poisoning killed more than 120 elephants and other wildlife in the southern part of Hwange National Park, near Makona.

Boris Ngounou

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