Batoka power plant expanded by 800 MW

PLANS for a hydro-electric power plant between Zambia and Zimbabwe have been expanded to 2,400 from 1,600 megawatts (MW), an industry official said on Sunday.

A recent study showed that the Batoka Gorge power plant would produce more electricity than previously envisaged, according to Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive of the company in charge of the project, the Zambezi River Authority.

"We are looking, at most, that it is going to produce 2400 MW. This is an improvement from previous studies which were talking about 1600 MW," Munodawafa told Reuters.

The completion of the project, which will involve the construction of a dam and a hydro power plant on the Zambezi River, is expected to ease an electricity shortage in the two countries and southern Africa.

Munodawafa said a feasibility study was almost complete and a report would be ready by May after which an environmental impact assessment study would be done by June.

"After we have done that we will start looking for developers," Munodawafa said.

It is expected that the plant will be built and operated by a private company for a period of years before ownership is transferred to the two states, he said.

The cost, previously estimated at $2.5 billion, would be known in May after the feasibility study, Munodawafa said. (Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: Batoka power plant expanded by 800 MW (22/02/15)

Robert Mugabe's birthday party cooks up elephantine storm before it starts

Wild animals including elephants are to be slaughtered and served at Robert Mugabe’s birthday party later this month, according to media reports, angering conservationists who branded the plans unethical.

The lavish celebration for the Zimbabwean president’s 91st will be held on 28 February on a championship golf course at the Elephant Hills Resort, a luxury hotel with spa, swimming pool and tennis courts at Victoria Falls. An estimated 20,000 people are expected to attend.

Local farmer Tendai Musasa has pledged to donate two elephants, two buffalo, two sables, five impalas and a lion worth a combined £78,000 towards the jamboree, Zimbabwe’s Chronicle newspaper reported.

“This is our way of supporting the function and to ensure a celebratory mood in our community as well,” Musasa was quoted as saying. “The total value is $120,000. This reflects the money we get annually and we thought this would be a perfect gesture.”

He added: “At the moment we are making arrangements with the Parks andWildlife Management Authority to slaughter these animals a few days before the day. We are also liaising with the hotel that will keep the meat.”

Mugabe’s government is already under fire for a plan to export 27 live elephants to China, and activists condemned the donation.

Johnny Rodrigues, chair of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said: “I am not in favour of anyone donating wild animals for a celebration or for any other reason

“They have been doing this for years now. Every time there is a celebration or on independence day, several elephants and buffalo are killed for the celebrations. This is totally unethical and should not be allowed.”

The gift has also dismayed the community near Musasa’s farm outside Victoria Falls following a wrangle over land ownership, according to the Chronicle. They allege that the animals are being handed over without consultation.

“Villagers said the animals involved were part of their annual hunting quota and donating them meant no income for the whole year. They said they were powerless because challenging the donation could be misinterpreted as unwillingness to participate towards the celebrations,” reported the paper.

Mugabe turns 91 on Saturday. Not for the first time, the extravagance of his birthday party has drawn criticism against the backdrop of a moribund economy and decaying public services.

Source: Robert Mugabe's birthday party cooks up elephantine storm before it starts (The Guardian 16/02/15)

Two elephants killed in Zim park

Two more elephants have been found poisoned near Zimbabwe's flagship Hwange National Park, the site of a mass killing of elephants two years ago, the state broadcaster said Tuesday.

The two dead elephants were found near Pelandaba village, in Tsholotsho, south of the park.
“ The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is yet to shed more light on the matter after investigations have been completed,” the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) said on its website.

More than 100 elephants were found dead around water holes in Hwange in 2013 after poachers laced salt licks with cyanide obtained on the black market.

President Robert Mugabe's government plans to export baby elephants captured in Hwange, claiming the southern African country has more elephants than it can support.

Authorities put the total elephant population at around 80 000 but conservationists say it is much lower.

Two elephants are among several animals that have been donated to feed thousands of delegates expected to attend Mugabe's 91st birthday at the end of the month, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the state national parks authority confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that two poachers were killed in a shoot-out on the southern boundaries of Matusadonha National Park earlier this month. A rifle, ammunition and 70kg of dried buffalo meat were confiscated. A third poacher got away.


One of the dead men was recently arrested for possession of four elephants tusks. Illegal ivory possession attracts a mandatory nine-year jail term in Zimbabwe.

Source: Two elephants killed in Zim park (The Guardian, 17/02/15)

Sub-Saharan African countries are failing to plan for climate change

Failure to factor climate change into long-term investment and planning risks leaving countries across sub-Saharan vulnerable to droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea-levels

A broken bridge over the Licungo river after flooding in Zambezia province, Mozambique

Communities around the world are feeling the impacts of climate change already, but many of the most severe effects will be felt in the decades to come, particularly from mid-century onwards. Nowhere is this more apparent than in sub-Saharan Africa which will be one of the hardest hit regions of the world.

Right now, African countries are busy investing in infrastructure and development to help support current economic growth. Many of these long-lived investments – such as ports, large dams, and social infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools – will most likely last well beyond 2050. But by then, Africa’s climate may look quite different to what it does today. Factoring climate change into long-term investments and planning decisions is essential for supporting climate-resilient development – but it’s not happening.

New research, coordinated by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), shows that governments and businesses across sub-Saharan Africa are failing to consider long-term climate information in their investments and planning decisions. This includes studies from Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana and Mozambique. The worst case scenario is that poor use of climate information could lock societies into patterns that make them highly vulnerable to droughts, floods, high temperatures or sea-level rise in the future.

Why do decision-makers have this blind spot? First and most importantly, other challenges such as eradicating poverty and promoting access to primary and secondary education are extremely pressing, forcing decision-makers to think and act in short time frames.

Secondly, long-term climate information is often ill-suited to informing local economic, social and environmental contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Knowing what the average temperature in 2050 will be for rural Nakuru County, Kenya, is of little practical use. What decision makers really want to know is how higher temperatures are likely to influence water resource availability or crop yields: outcomes that affect local people most. But what decision makers ask for is not often technically possible as there is a lack of information that combines knowledge of future climate with other disciplines such as hydrology or ecology.

Full Article: Sub-Saharan African countries are failing to plan for climate change (The Guardian, 13/02/15)

Vic Falls Council sets aside $10m development fund

THE Victoria Falls Town Council has set aside a $10 million capital budget for infrastructural development in the prime resort town to boost the tourism sector.

MTHANDAZO NYONI
OWN CORRESPONDENT

In an interview with Southern Eye Business, Victoria Falls town clerk Christopher Dube said the funds would be used to develop road infrastructure, sewer and water reticulation services.

“The council is working hard to improve the tourism sector in the town and we expect a lot of tourists to visit us,” he said.

“This town is a tourist destination and our roads have to be standard. To that cause, we have set aside $10 million for capital budget, but it is not enough. We expect these projects to be completed in three years’ time.”

Dube said sewer and water reticulation services needed at least $12 million while solid waste management needs about $1,6 million.

Roads infrastructure need a capital of $10 million. He said they needed to redo all the roads, especially in suburbs that were not well done, and to refill all potholes. The council has set a $20 million budget for 2015, an increase from the 2014 budget of $17,5 million.

Tourism contribution to the economy is expected to grow to 15% this year.

Zimbabwe’s tourism sector is slowly recovering from a decade of negative publicity triggered by the political and economic crisis that resulted in the country suffering a world record inflation that was only reversed following the demise of the local currency and adoption of a multiple currency.

In the last quarter of 2014, the government introduced a 15% value added tax on foreign receipts; a development players in the industry said would hit the tourism sector hard at a time it was showing signs of recovery.

In the first half of 2014, Victoria Falls received 867 163 tourists, 1% increase from 860 995 tourists recorded during the same period in 2013.

A report by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation released late last year revealed that tourist arrivals worldwide during the first 10 months of 2014 reached 978 million, an increase of 5% from the corresponding period in 2013.

The report also indicated that there were 45 million more visitors from January to October 2014 than those recorded in 2013.

Growth was strongest in the Americas where an 8% increase was recorded followed by Asia and the Pacific and Europe who recorded a 5% and 4% increase respectively.

Source: Council sets aside $10m development fund (10/02/15)

80 elephant calves captured from wild as Zimbabwe goes ahead with export plans

Image of captive elephants from first batch of calves 
captured from Hwange National Park in December 2014 - link 
(Image credit ZCTF)

Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's government said on Monday it is going ahead with controversial plans to export live elephants despite resistance from animal rights groups, the state ZBC broadcaster reported.

"We are going ahead with selling the elephants, we have done our studies and we are going to do every transaction under the [global wildlife trade treaty] CITES parameters," Prince Mupazviriho, who is the permanent secretary in the environment, water and climate ministry, told ZBC.

Up to 80 elephant calves are now believed to have been captured in Zimbabwe's western Hwange National Park since November, sparking international outrage.

The cash-strapped state national parks authority says Zimbabwe has too many elephants and it needs the money it can raise from elephant sales to fund its operations. Each elephant can fetch up to $60 000 on the international market.

Conservationists say that it is cruel to separate the calves from the rest of the herd. Activists also say that the sales of 60 to 100 calves will make a very little dent upon Zimbabwe's total elephant population, which the government puts at 80 000.

"The government is going ahead with its plans and will not be derailed by groups which do not have an understanding of the situation in the country's national parks," ZBC said in a report posted on its website.

Seven Zimbabwean elephants are already known to have been exported to the United Arab Emirates.

But the authorities in Harare confirm France has cancelled its order for between 15 and 20 elephants following pressure. China is also reported to have elephants on order.

Source:  80 elephant calves rounded up as Zim goes ahead with export plans (09/02/15)

Background on this issue:

Zimbabwe to sell excess elephants (08/01/15)
Zimbabwe’s baby elephants getting sold to China zoos (29/11/14)

World Heritage stakeholders come together to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls

World heritage site managers and tourism stakeholders from Zambia and Zimbabwe came together for the first time to initiate the process to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage site. The workshop was held in Livingstone, Zambia from 22 to 24 January 2015.

The workshop takes place within the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme. A key goal of the project is to provide capacity building tools and strategies for site managers to help them manage tourism at their sites more sustainably. Victoria Falls is one of four priority Africa nature sites included in the initial phase of the project. Others sites include Maloti-Drakensberg Park in South Africa/Lesotho, Lake Malawi National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania.

Full article: World Heritage stakeholders come together to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls (UNSECO 02/02/15)

Vic Falls: Africa's Adventure Capital Terrifying or awesome?

Janine Maré, Africa Geographic Magazine

As  we lined up for the canopy tour, one of my fellow flyers asked our guide, ‘On a scale of one to white water rafting, how scary is this?’ I laughed because I didn’t understand her question. Yet.

Not far away, another group lined up for the gorge swing. Hysterical screams echoed across the Batoka Gorge as a woman (or perhaps it was a man) jumped off the cliff to swing over the wild waters of the Zambezi River. I had booked my white water rafting adventure with Wild Horizons for a few days later – New Year’s Day at 7am to be exact. Maybe not the best timing, but trust me, I was wide awake and decidedly sober by the end of the first rapid. In fact I may as well have fastened my lifejacket, put on my helmet, grabbed my paddle and jumped headfirst into the raging waters beneath Victoria Falls because I tumbled out before we even reached the first rapid.

So there I was heading towards what is known as The Wall – a rock face that turns the cascadng water up into a perpetually exploding white froth, holding on to my paddle for dear life with a finger that was broken in three places (in a sailing incident a few days before). But I made it, and I made it down nineteen more raging rapids, passing under the Victoria Falls Bridge where bungy jumpers put their faith in elastic cords, between the cliffs of the Batoka Gorge where people leapt to swing like pendulums over our heads, and past the smallest crocodile in the world, watched over by its much, much larger mother.

As we floated between rapids with names like The Washing Machine, The Devil’s Toilet Bowl and The Three Ugly Sisters and Their Mother, I marvelled at a place that can only fully be experienced in this way. Sheer cliffs covered in emerald foilage towered on either side of the dark green water, baboons watched from the branches laughing at our white-knuckle antics, and a fish eagle sat in a tree, picking at the catch of the day. Apart from the daredevils in the boats, not another soul could be seen. This was bliss. Not the same bliss we had experienced on the Zambezi pleasure cruise along the calmer waters above the falls, replete with G&Ts and bathing hippos. Not the colonial, high-tea that the brochures advertised. This was the Vic Falls adventure we had come for.

Full article and images here - Africa Geographic Magazine

398 poachers nabbed in Victoria Falls in 2014

THE Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU) says its surveillance programmes in the tourist resort town led to the arrest of nearly 400 poachers and recovery of 158 snares last year.

VFAPU operations co-ordinator Charles Brightman said the poachers targetted 19 different game species including elephants.

“It was shocking to experience our first case of cyanide poisoning, where poachers placed this poison in a mineral lick and sadly, five elephants lost their lives,” Brightman said.

“It’s a new method of poaching, the use of poisons rather than shooting, with the main object being to get tusks for black market sale.

“Arrests have been made and court cases are pending, following the ‘brazen’ incident in Zambezi National Park in July,” he said.

“The investigation was a joint effort by the Environmental Management Authority, Zimbabwe Republic Police, National Parks and Wildlife Management, VFAPU and the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust,” Brightman said.

Of the 398 people apprehended last year, 358 were wood poachers, 11 fish poachers, a thief, eight illegal miners, two bush meat dealers and five parks estate trespassers.

Brightman said bush meat poaching in Victoria Falls, was still a bit of a problem.


Interestingly, Brighton said a total of 158 snares were recovered last year, a dramatic drop from the more than 4 000 found in 1999, when VFAPU was formed.

Africa Albida Tourism, a Zimbabwe-owned hospitality group, which operates hotels and restaurants in Victoria Falls and Chobe, Botswana, co-founded and finances VFAPU programmes.

Source: 398 poachers nabbed in Victoria Falls in 2014 (04/02/15)

VFAPU website

Theme park to be constructed near Victoria Falls

It's a multi-million dollar vision which some have laughed off but that hasn't stopped Walter Mzembi from dreaming.
"Call it Victoria Falls modern them park or Africa Disney and as the media has named it. We want to make sure that the Old Victorian setting as it currently exists today will co-exist with ultra-modern Victoria Falls," said Walter Mzembi, the Zimbabwean Tourism Minister.
And that means setting up amusement parks, casinos and specially themed zones to target visitors from different parts of the world the idea has already won over potential financiers.
"From what I am seeing now there is huge international interest. What we need to do now is complete the conceptualisation of the project in the manner that I am saying now that we must align it to other projects internationally before we issue an international expression of interest," said Walter Mzembi.
Current estimates put the cost of 300 hectare development at 460 million dollars. A massive investment that will pay off, when the millions who visit this crown jewel of Zimbabwe's tourism industry spend more money here.
"We want to be able to say they can stay beyond 24 hours. Now they fly in through South Africa. They do a day plus one and off they go because there is nothing else to capture their imagination for the rest of the week so we want to introduce this diversity of products," said Walter Mzembi.
And this not the only big news in town. A 150 million dollar upgrade of the Victoria Falls airport is near completion and has aviation industry players excited.
"We can increase our frequency into Victoria Falls because the capacity to take more passengers is now there, the runway is bigger we can open the airport for longer because now we have runway lights and we can do night flights into Victoria falls," said Matipedza Karase, the Country Manager of Fly Africa.
While the international tourist seems to be the main target locals will get in on the action too.
Source: Theme park to be constructed near Victoria Falls (01/02/15)

KAZA "Univisa" - working well in Victoria Falls, but there are problems elsewhere.

First feedback from visitors to the Victoria Falls area indicates that the newly-introduced KAZA UNIVISA (which was launched in November last year and allows entry to both Zimbabwe and Zambia for a single visa payment of US$50) is working well – PROVIDED that your travel focus is the Victoria Falls/Livingstone/Kazungula area.

Visitors from 40 eligible countries are able to obtain the new 30-day KAZA Visas at Harare, Victoria Falls, Lusaka and Livingstone airports, the Victoria Falls road border (Zimbabwe/Zambia) and the Kazungula road border (Zimbabwe/Zambia/Botswana). 

However, visitors who want to cross between Zimbabwe and Zambia but who are not entering or exiting in the Victoria Falls/Kazungula area are having challenges. 

It seems that the immigration authorities at the Kariba and Chirundu road borders are not operating the new visa system.  This means that visitors who have already obtained a KAZA-Visa are being inconvenienced in having to pay extra for another visa if they wish to cross the border at these points. 

Full article: Wild Zambezi Blog (02/02/15)

Victoria Falls primed for boon. . .airport works proceed on schedule

THE resort town of Victoria Falls, the country’s flagship tourism destination, is primed for rich pickings, particularly during the 2015 festive season, as expansion of the international airport there is set for completion within revised timelines.

The airport’s runway is close to completion, while works on the control tower and terminal building has progressed satisfactorily.

Government has set a September deadline for the project, which is being funded from a US0 million loan from China.

Permanent Secretary for Transport and Infrastructural Development Mr Munesu Munodawafa told The Sunday Mail Business, “We are excited about Victoria Falls Airport. The runway itself is about 71 percent complete, but when you look at everything that happens on the airside – and by airside I mean the runway, the control tower and other facilities that relate to that – overally we are at 62 percent. And the terminal building, which is the land side together with the fire station, we are at about 52 percent.”

Government anticipates huge positive spin-offs once Victoria Falls International Airport is capable of handling large aircraft.

It is projected that the upgrade will enable the airport to handle more than two million visitors per year.

For the first time, Victoria Falls will be able to receive transcontinental flights from Europe and Asia. Added Mr Munodawafa: “In terms of business, from a statistical point of view, the airport will be able to handle more than two million visitors per year compared to the current half a million, so we will have increased its capacity four-fold, that is on the terminal building side. On the runway we will still have additional capacity to receive other aircraft.

“Secondly and critically, currently we have been able to only land medium size aircraft that is in the mould of the Boeing 737, the Airbus A320s and A319, but come end of September when we have completed the biggest planes in the world. So, we are likely to see transcontinental flights flying directly from Europe and landing in Victoria Falls,” said Mr Munodawafa.

Rehabilitating and upgrading the country’s infrastructure is one of the major undertakings of Government under the economic blueprint, Zim-Asset.

Relatedly, Mr Munodawafa noted that Government will make an announcement on the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway in the next three weeks.


Although the project is considered critical, the standoff between Government and Zimhighways, a consortium of local businesspersons initially given the concession go to develop the road, has stalled the progress.

Source: Victoria Falls primed for boon. . .as works proceed on schedule (31/01/15)

'S.A and Botswana drop Yellow Fever requirements for Zambia travellers

THE Tourism Council of Zambia (TCZ) is pleased that South Africa and Botswana have finally agreed to drop yellow fever certification as a requirement for travellers from Zambia, following the World Health

Organisation (WHO) declaring Zambia a yellow fever free zone.

TCZ chairperson Felix Mulenga said the decision which was long-awaited, would significantly increase international tourist arrivals.

South Africa is Zambia's leading source market for international arrivals, accounting for around 20.1 per cent of total arrivals in 2013.

Health Minister Joseph Kasonde announced on Monday this week that South Africa and Botswana had with immediate effect lifted the requirements of yellow fever certification for travellers from Zambia.

Mr Mulenga said in an interview that the removal of the yellow fever certification for travellers from South Africa or through South Africa to Zambia would significantly improve the tourist arrivals from that country.

"We are happy that South Africa and Botswana have decided to drop their demands on the yellow fever certification because this was creating a negative impact on the growth of the tourism sector in

Zambia. As you know South Africa is an important market for Zambia and currently is Zambia's leading source market for tourists," Mr Mulenga said.

In 2013, the Southern Africa region recorded total arrivals of more than 22 million representing a market share of global arrivals of approximately 2.5 percent and a 39.9 percent share of Africa's total arrivals.

South Africa accounted for 191,048 tourist arrivals in the year under review, followed by Tanzania with 184,187.

Mr Mulenga said the yellow fever issue was an impediment to tourist arrivals as it affected the growth of the sector and that with the new development Zambia would attracted desired levels of tourists and compete favourably in the region and beyond.

Source: S.A, Botswana Yellow Fever Move Welcome (28/01/15)

Zim courts China to boost tourism

The Zimbabwean Government is courting China to fund its ‘Disneyland in Africa’, a tourism and conference theme park in the resort town of Victoria Falls and is also in talks with Beijing to build a new bigger airport in the other resort town of Kariba.

The government has set aside 300 hectares of land to build a state-of-the-art conference centre to house hotels, businesses, shopping malls, banks and exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casinos near the Victoria Falls International Airport and now seeks investors for the project.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Walter Mzembi recently said government was in negotiations for a US$460 million facility for the development the project seen as crucial to boosting tourism.

The permanent secretary in the ministry Florence Nhekairo recently led a visiting Chinese delegation – which was in the country to follow up on agreements signed between China and Zimbabwe last year – to the land near Masue River Bridge, about 10km outside Victoria Falls town and the site for the proposed recreation park and conference centre.

“This is the land where we want to build state-of-the-art conference centre to house conference rooms, hotels, shopping malls, finance houses and many other economic activities. 

We are looking for people like you (China) to partner government to make our dream come true,” she told the delegation leader Cao Wenlian, who is director of the International Cooperation Centre of the National Development Reform and Commission of China (ICC-NDRC).

The senior principal director in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mary Mubi said the visit to Victoria Falls by the Chinese delegation was meant to identify areas where the Asian country could chip in financially and with technical expertise to develop the resort town into a one stop economic hub.

“We have identified areas which we need to develop as the government and Victoria Falls becomes one that has to be turned into a special economic zone. Government has already made plans to set a tourism hub in Victoria Falls. Our hope is now on the ministers of tourism, transport and that of water to make sure we get more visitors into the country to keep our tourism going,” said Mubi.

Cao said Victoria Falls had potential to be the country’s economic hub.

The conference centre is one of the capital projects the government has lined up in the resort town as it strives to turn it into its conference capital with state of the art facilities.

The other projects are the $150 million refurbishment of Victoria Falls International Airport being funded by the China-Exim Bank.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Munesu Munodawafa said construction of the airport was well within its schedule.

“We are well on schedule and we target to be finished by September. 

The runway is now 74 percent complete and it will handle heavy category aircraft,” he said.

Also under construction is a control tower, car park, fire station, water reservoir and the VIP pavilion.

Munodawafa said they had already started marketing the airport in anticipation of getting more aircraft coming in.

In a related matter, Harare also plans to build a new bigger airport in the resort town of Kariba and is in talks with the Chinese government to fund the project.

The Chinese government, through China Exim Bank is funding the $150 million upgrade of the Victoria Falls International Airport. 

The expansion work is being carried out by China Jiangsu.

Munodawafa told The Source that a new site had been identified away from the existing airport where a much bigger facility will be built.

“After Victoria Falls we want to develop national aviation infrastructure and plans are underway to look at Kariba Airport. 

We have identified a site where we want to build a much bigger airport,” said Munodawafa.

He added that “our discussions with China are taking us somewhere” but declined to give more details.

The existing Kariba Airport has limitations owing to its size and equipment, which needs upgrading, he said.

“Kariba is a busy tourist destination and needs a proper airport,” Munodawafa said.

Besides the Victoria Falls Airport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) is upgrading Joshua Mqabuko International Airport in Bulawayo, Harare International Airport and Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi.

At the Harare international Airport, Munodawafa said, the plan is to upgrade it to handle seven airlines at any given time up from the current four. 

Source: Zim courts China to boost tourism (02/02/2015)

Conserve Vic Falls says UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has urged Zambia and Zimbabwe to conserve the Victoria Falls to ensure that the local communities benefit from the world heritage site.

At a sustainable tourism workshop held in Livingstone recently, UNESCO programme officer from France Peter Debrine said sustainable tourism in world heritage is vital as the sector is the life blood of communities.

“How we approach sustainable tourism in world heritage sites destination is very important. Tourism needs to be managed sustainably for local communities to realise the benefits and conserve world heritage sites,” he said.

Victoria Falls is one site that attracts the largest number of tourists in Zambia.
Earlier, National Heritage Conservation Commission chief executive officer Collins Chipote said Zambia and Zimbabwe are working to ensure that the value of the Victoria Falls are preserved as a world heritage site.

He said there is need to invest in human resource to sustain Africa’s heritage endangered by environmental and anthropogenic factors, inadequate legislative and administrative framework.
“Just as we pay attention to the conservation needs of the sites, we also need to bear in mind that local people should benefit from the site,” he said.

Mr Chipote said the workshop was timely as it will strengthen capacity of site managers and staff in promoting sustainable tourism at the Victoria Falls and ensure its universal value is preserved.
Officiating at the function, Livingstone mayor Milford Mambo said Livingstone is an active model of sustained tourism taking into cognisance that the Victoria Falls attracts thousands of tourists annually.

“Zambia and Livingstone in particular, is endowed with a wide range of natural and cultural heritage resources that are under threat, hence the need for training to equip site managers and staff in the best ways of conserving these resources,” he said.

Source: Conserve Vic Falls says UNESCO (29/01/15)