CONSERVATION NEWS
Bee Fencing Coming together!
We’re using what we can to get the job done!
The Nsefu Team is working on the Bee Keeping Fencing. It's starting to come together.
Your Nsefu Wildlife Rangers are getting the Job Done!
The Nsefu Rangers are getting the job done!
Your Nsefu Wildlife Rangers are getting the job done in our game management area in the Nsefu Sector! Fresh from meetings with Rangers, Chief Nsefu, scouts, and those in the safari industry, without a doubt...our ranger team has DECREASED the number of incidents of poaching in the sector since our inception! Yes, we have done well, but there is still much to do. We are working hard to find consistent funding to expand our ranger team and equip them with all they need to be efficient, effective, and safe on patrols. We have been 100% donor based our entire existence and we need to get to the next level in being even more effective against poaching and black market crimes.
Items we always need are as such...
•Two (2) new 4WD vehicles (Terrain in Zambia is BRUTAL).
•Funding for vehicle maintenance i.e. tires, engine work.
•Small and large base radios and handheld radios.
•Fuel allowance.
•Camping gear for long patrols - 2-man tents, cooking items, flashlights, water containers and an abundant supply food to stay embedded in their surveillance work.
•Uniforms, boots, hats, utility belts and etc.
•Funds for village scouts doing intel work.
2018 has been a busy year in arrests, convictions and data gathering. 2017 saw 50 poacher arrests and as of 2018, we have 20 arrests on the books with 12 prison sentences and 8 pending in court. Some arrests have been MAJOR but we are not at liberty to disclose these just yet as they are in the court system currently.
Again, imagine what your foundation could do if we were able to secure excellent and consistent funding? You would be very happy to hear that your donations and what they have achieved is amazing everyone in Zambia and others in the conservation industry. No one will make your hard-earned donation work harder or go further.
We have 8 years at the outset to stop extinction for many of Africa's majestic animals and we cannot do this alone. Join Team Nsefu and SEE the change you are creating on the ground and in the minds of Zambians. It takes all of us to save elephants, lions, giraffes and more. The time is now to take action...so join the team!
June Rhino Champions: Rhino Protection Units
See what the Rangers in Indonesia are doing to protect Rhinos!
Our featured Rhino Champions for June are the Rhino Protection Units who patrol the forests of Indonesia to protect Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
Javan Rhinos
Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP) is Indonesia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest remaining tract of lowland tropical forest on the island of Java, and home to the world’s last surviving population of the Critically Endangered Javan rhino.
For nearly twenty years, IRF and our partners have funded Javan Rhino Protection Units in Ujung Kulon National Park – highly-trained, anti-poaching teams that patrol the forests, monitoring wildlife, removing traps and snares, and identifying and apprehending illegal intruders. As the Javan rhino population expands, it is critical that this intensive protection continue.
Why Zambia has not benefited from its rosewood trade with China!
Find our more about Zambia’s Rosewood Trade.
Story by: Paolo Omar Cerutti & Davison Gumbo
Rosewood is the generic name for several dark-red hardwood species found in tropical regions across the globe. It fetches very high prices because it’s strong, heavy, has a beautiful red hue and takes polish very well – and because the trees are becoming increasingly scarce. On the Chinese market in 2014, for example, prices were in excess of USD$17,000 per ton. That’s ten times higher than the price of more standard tropical hardwood.
There’s a huge demand in China for rosewood logs to make hongmu – antique furniture. Hongmu was used historically by the imperial elite and is now coveted by China’s rising middle class. Supplies of the wood from markets in Latin America and South-East Asia have dwindled in recent years, so Africa has become a key source. Within Africa, Zambia has become one of China’s main rosewood exporters in the past decade.
But the harvesting of rosewood is often not done sustainably. Several African species have already received protection under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.
Keep the Luangwa River Wild and Free - Stop the construction of the proposed Ndevu Gorge dam
Help protect the Luangwa River in Zambia!
From World Wildlife Fund petition page.
Wild and Free, the Luangwa River...
The South and North Luangwa National Parks are known as two of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world—evidenced by the wide range of wildlife supported by the Luangwa River.
The Luangwa River is the only refuge for reintroduced black rhinos in Zambia, and is home to some of the largest concentrations of elephants and hippos in Africa, massive buffalo herds, and over 400 species of birds.
Amidst the abundant wildlife and a booming tourism industry, the Luangwa faces many threats—including hydropower development, deforestation, and unsustainable commercial agriculture. The most threatening challenge is a proposed dam at Ndevu Gorge, which would transform the river and put all those who depend on it at risk.