This project will support 340 wildlife Rangers and their families in Zimbabwe's critically under-served Hwange and Mana Pools National Parks by providing them with nutritious daily meals, patrol rations and drinking water. The project will also build a new picket base and sponsor 8 additional Rangers to improve the reach and effectiveness of anti-poaching patrols as incidents of wildlife crime spike.
Zimbabwe's National Parks are underfunded and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused their need for assistance to become urgent. With Parks closed there is no income and incidents of poaching are rising rapidly. Tourism operators are closed and there is therefore no additional presence to act as a deterrent to poachers. Many Rangers' family members formerly earned an income through tourism. Parks cannot afford to provide food for the 340 Rangers and their families nor increase anti-poaching operations
This project will provide patrol rations and nutritious meals to all 340 Rangers as well as their families for at least one year. The project will also ensure that an additional picket base for anti-poaching operations is built and eight additional anti-poaching Rangers sponsored to boost operations and combat the rising wildlife crime in National Parks.
If we do not act, the poaching and funding crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe's National Parks could have devastating long-term impacts on delicate wildlife numbers. By boosting the park's anti-poaching operations and securing food and patrol rations for their 340 wildlife and anti-poaching Rangers, we can secure the Park's operations beyond this crisis. The long-term well-being of the Ranger's families will also be secured.
