Chapter 8

A History of Wildlife Conservation and Management in the Mid-Luangwa National Park, Zambia

Astle, W. L. (1999). A History of Wildlife Conservation and Management in the mid-Luangwa Valley, Zambia. British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. http://luangwavegetation/conservation

European travelers are known to have settled in the Zambezi Valley since the 15th century and there are accounts of Portuguese trading posts in the 18th and 19th centuries. From c 1810 to c 1820 a Portuguese trading post was active at Malambo – some 100 km north of Mfuwe in the Luangwa Valley. This was on the main trade route from Tete to Lake Mweru which was opened by Lacerda in 1798. Later travelers included Baptista (1810), Da Silva, (1854), Monteiro and Gamitto (1830), Livingstone (1866), Weise (1890), Sharpe (1890), Thompson and Grant (1890), Glave (1894), Hoste (1896).

A Luangwa Game Reserve was declared on 31st. Dec. 1904 on the east bank of the river. The Lusangazi Sector was included. No development took place and it lapsed after a few years. The modern Luangwa Valley Game Reserve was declared on 27th May 1938. The Southern Section of this was approximately the area of the present Park except for Nsefu and Chifungwe Sectors, these were included when the Reserve was declared a Park on 15th February 1972. Villages were allowed to live within the Reserve, and they remained there until they left voluntarily in 1960. The Colonial conservation policy, which was also followed after Independence in 1964, was that Game Reserves were surrounded by inhabited buffer zones, initially termed Controlled Hunting Areas (CHA), now Game Management Areas (GMA), within which wildlife was utilized for the benefit and under the control of the local inhabitants, including licensed hunting.

The first camp for tourists was opened in 1949 by Senior Chief Nsefu in what was then a CHA. Revenue from this enterprise was paid into the Tribal Treasury. Nsefu and other Chiefs since 1946 had leased parts of the CHA to Safari Hunters. Following the success of Nsefu, a Reserve Development Unit for the South Luangwa Reserve was formed. The first two visitor camps were built near Chilongozi in 1955 with access from Petauke. Big Lagoon was opened in 1957 and Old Mfuwe in 1960, at which time an access road and pontoon across the Luangwa River was opened from Chipata. In 1966 the New Mfuwe lodge was opened, followed by Luamfwa in 1967 and Chichele in 1972. The new airport, Luangwa bridge, and all-weather roads were opened in 1975.

Contents

Map Luangwa Valley National Parks and Game Management Areas 1990

i

Preface

ii

Glossary

iv

Chronology

vi

Acknowledgments

x

Contents: Chapters and sub-sections

xi

List of maps and diagrams

xii

List Of Notes

xiii

Photographs

xv

Introduction

1. Portuguese expeditions and settlement, Livingstone, 1796-1864

3

2. Chartered Company Administration and some later developments

7

3. The Protectorate and later

24

4. The War Time Years, 1939-1945

40

5. Post war consolidation

41

6. Conservation Practice in the Eastern Province Controlled Areas and the Munyamadzi Corridor

51

7. Development of Tourism in the South Reserve

57

8. Management and Research in the Reserve

67

9. Wildlife and Land Use Planning

78

10.Epilogue, 1974-1992

82

11. An Historical perspective

85

Notes

96

References

118