New Report on Victoria Falls Contested Conservation Zone

Keep Victoria Falls Wild, June 2025

A new report, commissioned by Keep Victoria Falls Wild, reviews the protections given under the UNESCO World Heritage Listing and concludes the south-bank riverine fringe, and site of the controversial Baines Restaurant development, is located within the 'Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone' which affords the maximum level of protection under the Listing - and prevents all new infrastructure development.

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (June 2025) Special Report on the Riverine Fringe (pdf download, 1.8mb)

The text of the 2016 Joint Integrated Management Plan (JIMP), the latest approved plan covering the management of the World Heritage Site, definitively places riverine fringe above the Falls as being within the Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone (HESZ). (Following quote annotated with additional details in block brackets for clarity).

(i) Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone (Block 6) - Starting from... the Victoria Falls Bridge, thence north-westwards following the [fenced boundary of VFNP Area B along the road corridor past the] Victoria Falls Rainforest [entrance, following this boundary round to the turning off of the riverside road known as ‘Zambezi Drive’], thence up the Zambezi River [along the line of the road], covering the riverine vegetation strip to where it joins the Zambezi National Park boundary.” (State Parties, 2016, p.29/90)

Map showing boundary of Victoria Falls World Heritage Site management zones.

(click image for larger jpg version - 1 mb).

The report concludes "To interpret the zonation covering the riparian fringe as anything other than within the HESZ would be to conflict with the 2016 JIMP as well as with over 100 years of conservation and protection of the Falls environment... Questions need be asked as to how and why the National Park Director General, then Dr Fulton Mangwanya, could believe that this area was within the MESZ in his approval letter for the Baines Restaurant development (ZPWMA, June 2021). It is beyond belief to imagine that this was a simple mistake or oversight." (KVFW, 2025)

The report also highlights a history of manipulation of information presented in reports to UNESCO and dilution of protections to give false legitimacy to tourism developments in the south-bank (Zimbabwean) upstream riverine corridor (KVFW 2023a, 2024). These include the area of the upstream ZNP missing from the 2007 JIMP map and text descriptions, and which subsequently saw the development of the Victoria Falls River Lodge (opened in 2012), before being confirmed as being within the HESZ in the 2016 JIMP (despite which the area also saw the development of the Old Drift Lodge in 2018). In a second example the area of the upstream riverine fringe surrounding the Elephant Hills Golf Course, identified as being within the HESZ in the 2007 JIMP, is demoted to the MESZ in the map and text descriptions presented in the 2016 JIMP, without the changes being justified or explained, despite commitments by State Parties not to dilute the protections of the WHS. This area is now under threat from the proposed 'Tree Lodge' development.

In addition the report identifies the persistent failure of State Parties to report proposed developments and submit thorough independent ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessment) documents to UNESCO for comment before they are approved.

The report calls for the closure and removal of all illegitimate developments within the World Heritage Site HESZ and a full investigation into how these developments were allowed by the Zimbabwean National Park Authority.

Read More

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (2023a) 2023 State of Development Final Report.

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (2023b) Spotlight on Baines Restaurant.

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (2024) 2024 State of Development Final Report.

State Parties (2016) 2016-2021 Victoria Falls/Mosi-oa-Tunya World Heritage Site Joint Integrated Management Plan. [Available to download from the UNESCO World Heritage website here.]

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (June 2021) Application (former Railway Water-Pump Station, Victoria Falls Long Term Lease. Letter from Dr F U Mangwanya, Director-General, ZPWMA, 22 June 2021, Document Q6; Appendix A. [Available to download from KVFW website here.].

Zimbabwe And Zambia Renew Investor Search For Batoka Gorge Project

 Zimbabwe and Zambia, through the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), have revived the Batoka Gorge Hydropower Project, a 2,400-megawatt facility planned downstream of Victoria Falls, which remains one of their most ambitious initiatives.

First proposed in 1992, the site, about 54 kilometres below the falls, was identified for its hydroelectric potential.

Backed by early feasibility studies from the World Bank, the project was meant to boost power supply for Zimbabwe and Zambia and reduce regional energy shortages.

However, progress stalled due to strained international relations, environmental concerns, and a lack of funding.

The project was dormant until 2012, when renewed interest led to a 2014 memorandum of understanding between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The African Development Bank supported updated studies, and in 2019, General Electric (GE) of the United States and Power Construction Corporation of China were awarded the contract under a build-operate-transfer model.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic, questions over procurement transparency, and Zambia’s 2023 withdrawal from the deal further derailed progress.

ZRA is now intensifying efforts to attract new investors to the Batoka Gorge project.

ZRA Chief Executive Officer Munyaradzi Munodawafa confirmed that a dedicated project team has been established to spearhead the resource mobilisation campaign. He said:

The ZRA has formed a team that will court investors in the proposed 2,400-megawatt facility. This facility will be located near the World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls.

He said the resource mobilisation drive is expected to run for the next 12 to 18 months, depending on investor interest, market conditions, and ongoing political backing from both Zimbabwean and Zambian governments.

Zambia and Zimbabwe have also set a September 2025 deadline to pick new bidders, following the cancellation of the 2019 deal.

Source: Zimbabwe And Zambia Renew Investor Search For Batoka Gorge Project (1/6/25)

Zimbabwe's Tourism Revival Falters

(26th May 2025, updated 8th June)

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Tourism Trends and Statistics Report for 2024 records a meagre one percent growth in national tourism arrivals against 2023, following a 54 percent rise in 2023 over 2022 (Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs, 4th June 2024). 

The report records 1,613,901 national tourism arrivals over 2024 against 1,602,781 in 2023 (Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, 2025). The figures are a reality check for over-ambitious government plans to develop of US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025, a core part of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy. 

The figures mark a sudden pause in the country's post-Covid recovery, with levels still significantly short of pre-pandemic highs of 2,579,974 arrivals recorded in 2019, while global tourism levels have largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2024. Across the river Zambia recorded a record 2,199,820 foreign arrivals over 2024, a 35.3% increase on the 1,392,153 international arrivals recorded in 2023.

Breakdown of the Zimbabwe figures for 2024 record 217,017 European arrivals (against 208,710 in 2023), 134,879 from the Americas (121,953 in 2023), 100,637 Asian arrivals (99,638), 51,153 from Oceania (29,979) and 7,042 from the Middle East (8,960). Oceania markets (Pacific island region, including Australia and New Zealand) recorded a significant increase of 71% against 2023, with traditional markets such as Europe and the Americas recording only small percentage increases.

Zimbabwe Immigration data, however, recorded just 267,845 self-identified tourist or 'leisure' visitors (with 453,091 arrivals identified as 'in transit,' 456,061 visiting friends and relatives and 281,299 on business).

The sector is estimated to have generated approximately US$1.18 billion in 2024, reflecting a 2% increase from the US$1.16 billion recorded in 2023, but still a long way short of government ambitions for a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025.

Additional figures show the south-bank Victoria Falls visitor park (the 'rainforest') received 394,681 visitors over 2024, against 302,626 in 2023, including 295,084 international visitors. The total for 2024 is just short of the record of 397,436 visitors to the Falls recorded in 2019, indicating that tourism to the Falls has recovered to pre-Covid levels. The Zambezi National Park recorded 202,618 visitors, up on the 170,605 visitors in 2023. Jointly, the Victoria Falls and Zambezi National Park recorded a combined 597,299 visitors. 

Despite branding itself under the banner 'A World of Wonders,' Zimbabwe's national tourism strategy has increasingly focused on exploiting the Victoria Falls as its sole focus, neglecting once well established tourism centres across the country, such as the Matopas, Kariba, Hwange and the Eastern Highlands. Across the country, Zimbabwe's National Parks recorded at total of 998,877 visitors, with visitors to the Falls and Zambezi National Parks accounting for 59.8 percent of this total. Figures for foreign visitors show an even stronger dominance, with the Falls and Zambezi National Parks receiving 435,191 international visitors against a national total of 497,149, or 87.5 percent.

The Baines Factor

The country's over-reliance on overseas tourist arrivals to Victoria Falls also increases the tourism sectors' sensitivity to negative international headlines regarding the over-development of the Falls and negative impacts on the UNESCO World Heritage Site caused by contested tourism developments such as the Baines Restaurant, constructed within the WHS 'no new development' zone during 2022/3 and generating widespread negative headlines and legal challenges against its development (KVFW, 2023, 2024). Three years later the legal case remains to be heard and the Baines Restaurant remains open for business, while the country's reputation as responsible custodians of the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site hangs in the balance.

References

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (September 2023) Spotlight on Baines Restaurant. 11th September (revised). (pdf download)

Keep Victoria Falls Wild (July 2024) 2024 State of Development Final Report (pdf download)

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (2025) Tourism Trends and Statistics 2024. (pdf download)

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (4th June 2024) Focus On Victoria Falls As Unrealistic Government Target Drives Unsuitable Development Rush.

US$43million Victoria Falls project takes shape

 ZIMRE Holdings Limited (ZHL) has commenced construction of the highly anticipated US$43 million Eagle Heights Mixed-Use Development in Victoria Falls, under the Eagle Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

This project is expected to create numerous job opportunities for the local community in the resort town.
Located on a 12,3-hectare site, Eagle Heights is set to transform the tourism capital into a modern investment precinct with a combination of hospitality, medical, retail, and residential infrastructure.

Civil works comprising roads and storm-water drainage are nearing completion, with 95 percent of this phase already done.
The project is a major milestone in the country’s drive to position Victoria Falls as a Special Economic Zone for tourism and offshore financial services. Backed by early-stage investor commitments of US$24 million, Eagle Heights is set to redefine the city’s urban landscape with a blend of tourism, hospitality, health, retail and residential developments.

Unveiling the progress during the listing of the Eagle REIT on Friday, ZHL Chairman Mr Desmond Matete said the development marks a key step in the company’s infrastructure rollout strategy while supporting national priorities.

“The civil works are currently underway, roads and stormwater drainage works are already being executed, and they are at 95 percent completion. These are within budget and with no loss of time or injuries. This development is targeted for completion in 36 months from the commencement of work on superstructures,” he said.

Mr Matete said the Eagle Heights project aligns with the Government’s vision for Victoria Falls as a high-impact investment zone.

“We are responding to the Government’s policy of designating Victoria Falls as a Special Economic Zone for tourism and offshore financial services.

“The REIT enables us to pool resources and crowd in other investors to realise this vision,” he said.
Eagle Heights development sits on 12,3 hectares and includes a 120-key internationally branded mid-scale hotel (US$25,5 million), a 36-bed high-end tourism hospital (US$8,1 million), a service station (US$1,5 million), and 154 mid-range residential units (US$7,7 million)

These developments are tailored to serve tourists, business travellers, and patients seeking top-tier medical services.
This project follows the successful completion of the US$12,7 million Phase One of the REIT’s Mazowe development.
That phase includes a shopping centre and residential apartments, currently being handed over to tenants with an anticipated yield of six percent.

Zimpapers visited the Victoria Falls construction site and observed several complementary developments underway in the vicinity, including a new cricket stadium in Masuwe, part of preparations for hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2027.
The Government has allocated 271,5 hectares in Masuwe, from a total of 1  200 hectares, to stimulate investment in upmarket tourism and support infrastructure.

Mr Matete said these ongoing developments dovetail well with the Eagle Heights project.
He said their mid-scale hotel and tourism hospital will support the area’s growing demand for hospitality and health services.
ZHL chief executive officer, Mr Stanley Kudenga, said the Eagle REIT projects are already delivering social and economic value.

“Mazowe Project has created 120 local jobs, while Eagle Heights peaked at 275 local jobs during the civil works phase alone. In total, the Eagle REIT will create between 500 and 900 construction jobs, including 450 post-construction jobs,” he said.
Mr Kudenga noted that Mazowe is evolving into a key satellite town for Harare, while Eagle Heights will become a new precinct in Victoria Falls.

“The residential offerings at Eagle Heights are premium and tailored to support the hospitality sector. The combined developments — 108 villas and 54 apartments — will add at least 550 new hospitality beds to the city,” he said.

Mr Kudenga said through the Eagle REIT, ZHL is playing a critical role in shaping Victoria Falls’ future by delivering catalytic developments that align with National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1: 2021–2025), the upcoming NDS2 (2026–2030) and Vision 2030, which aims to position Zimbabwe as an upper middle-income economy by the end of the decade.

Victoria Falls was granted city status in 2019, driven largely by its tourism potential and growing investment profile. To accelerate growth, the Government designated it a Special Economic Zone in 2020, focusing on tourism, finance, and infrastructure development.

The Eagle Heights project comes as part of this broader vision to transform the city into a smart, globally competitive urban hub.

Mr Kudenga said the tourism hospital would fill a critical gap in medical services in the region, while the overall development would enhance Victoria Falls’ appeal as an international investment and tourism hub.

ZHL has previously contributed to infrastructure in Victoria Falls through projects such as the Sawanga Mall, which houses banks, offices and retail firms, and played a major role in the city attaining municipal status.

Source: US$43million Victoria Falls project takes shape (20/05/25)

Zambezi Helicopter Company Invests US$2.1 Million in New Victoria Falls Aviation Hub

 The Zambezi Helicopter Company (ZHC), a division of Shearwater Adventures, is nearing completion of a US$2.1 million aviation facility in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Set to open in May 2025, the new hub in the Chinotimba Industrial Area replaces the company’s previous base near the Elephant Hills Hotel and forms part of wider efforts to support Zimbabwe’s target of growing its tourism sector to US$5 billion.

The development features an Air Management Organisation, hangars, helipads, a VIP lounge, restaurant, pilot training facilities, and maintenance services for external operators. It is expected to generate local employment and enhance operational capacity amid surging demand for helicopter tours over the falls. According to Shearwater’s Dr Clement Mukwasi, the project addresses the need for expanded infrastructure and reflects broader investment trends turning Victoria Falls into a leading African tourism destination.

Source: Zambezi Helicopter Company Invests US$2.1 Million in New Victoria Falls Aviation Hub (07/05/25)

International visitors flock to Vic Falls as tourist numbers surge

 

The Victoria Falls Rainforest has seen a rise in tourist arrivals during the first quarter of 2025, recording 61 139 visitors compared to 59 718 over the same period in 2024.

In a statement released on Monday, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said the increase was largely driven by a surge in international tourism, with arrivals reaching 47,633 in 2025, up from 44,110 the previous year.

However, domestic tourism declined, with numbers falling from 15,608 in 2024 to 13,506 this year.

“Key source markets driving international interest in Victoria Falls include Europe—particularly the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany—largely due to the availability of dedicated tour packages,” said Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo.

Farawo added that enhanced accessibility, following the expansion of Victoria Falls Airport and the introduction of new routes including direct flights from Frankfurt, had further fuelled interest from German tourists.

“The implementation of the KAZA UniVisa, which simplifies cross-border travel between Zimbabwe and Zambia, has also played a pivotal role in encouraging visitors to explore both sides of the Falls, offering a more seamless experience for tourists from many countries,” he said.

Farawo noted that regionally, South Africa remains the largest source of visitors, followed closely by Botswana, contributing to the continued growth of the tourism sector in Victoria Falls.

Source: International visitors flock to Vic Falls as tourist numbers surge (06/05/25)

Mnangagwa Administration Caught In Embarrassing Lie Over Victoria Falls Road Project

 In an embarrassing about-face, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has publicly retracted a false claim that road construction contractors were already on site for the much-anticipated Victoria Falls project. The Ministry has since admitted that the tender process is still underway and no contractors have been deployed.

The blunder, disseminated via the Ministry’s official Twitter account on April 29 at 9:18 a.m., cited a state media report titled “Victoria Falls contractors on site” — a claim that turned out to be inaccurate. After facing swift backlash, the Ministry issued a formal apology and explanation, attributing the misinformation to a breach of internal protocol.

In its public statement, the Ministry wrote:

“The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development wishes to unreservedly apologise to members of the public and all its stakeholders for posting a twitter message containing wrong information on 29 April 2025 at 0918 Hours.”

The Ministry explained that the false information had been posted without proper verification from technical officials:

“One of the officers assigned the duty to manage the Ministry’s twitter handle conceded and acknowledged that she breached the internal Standard Operating Procedures of information verification,” the statement read.

Setting the record straight, the Ministry clarified the actual status of the project:

“The tender which was issued on 17 April 2025 closed on 29 April 2025 at 1100 Hours. After the closure of the bidding period, an evaluation committee will sit, whereupon the outcome will be sent to the Special Procurement Oversight Committee for oversight of the tender process before awarding the same to successful bidders.”

Permanent Secretary Eng. P.J. Makumbe, who signed off on the statement, reinforced the Ministry’s commitment to accurate public communication:

“The Ministry remains committed to the need for sharing correct information to members of the public.”

The incident has reignited criticism of the government’s infrastructure communication strategies, with observers raising concerns about professionalism and transparency within key departments.

Source: Mnangagwa Administration Caught In Embarrassing Lie Over Victoria Falls Road Project (01/05/25)