Watering Hope: Conservation and Community Resilience in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
A new grant will protect thousands of wild elephants within the Hwange National Park while also helping local communities thrive
Hwange National Park, located in western Zimbabwe near the border with Botswana, is the country's largest national park and one of Africa’s premier wildlife destinations. Known for its diverse ecosystems and abundant wildlife, the park spans around 14,600 square kilometers and offers habitats ranging from dense woodlands to open grasslands and seasonal wetlands.
Hwange is particularly famous for its large elephant population—one of the largest in Africa, estimated to include tens of thousands of elephants. It's also home to a rich variety of other wildlife, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs, and various antelope species.
Given the park's abundance in wildlife and close proximity to people, there is immense competition for food and water which results in intense human-wildlife conflict. People living along Hwange National Park’s southern boundary are predominantly subsistence farmers who inhabit a geographically and socially isolated area of poor soil fertility and erratic rainfall. In hard times, desperate people have turned to bushmeat poaching in the park to feed their families.
The recent drought has made matters worse. With very limited natural surface water, Hwange National Park relies on NGOs to pump groundwater to the surface for animals to drink. There are over 25 pumps both inside and around the Park that sustain thousands of animals. These units need constant maintenance and require services and repairs.
The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund granted $15,000 to help provide water for wild animals in the southern part of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park while also supporting the communities in establishing irrigated and fenced communal food gardens. The grant will help cover the salaries and food packs for pump attendants at remote watering holes, ensure repairs for solar hybrid units that pump water for wildlife, and provide a solar pump and irrigation system for a communal food garden. These efforts will empower local communities to become self-sufficient despite drought conditions, reduce human-wildlife conflicts, and sustain the area's iconic wildlife, including large herds of elephants, enhancing both conservation and cultural harmony in the region.
“This project focuses on two parallel elements: First, keeping wild animals, including thousands of elephants, inside Hwange National Park and providing them with plentiful water by pumping at several watering holes along the southern stretch of the park and second, empowering local communities to grow their own food by improving access to water and facilitating irrigation schemes. During a drought year like the one we are currently enduring, these sorts of activities have never been more important and more impactful and we are incredibly grateful for support for these projects.”
To learn more about this grant, check out this post.
