Campaign to Save Siansimba Gains Momentum

Campaign to Save Siansimba Gains Momentum

Campaign against the development of the Zambezi National Park campsite, Siansimba, as a private tourism concession gains momentum whilst the deadline for public consultation and comment is extended to 28th February.

By Peter Roberts, 17th February 2021

View of the Zambezi River from the Siansimba campsite (Image credit: Save Siansimba Facebook group).

The Magic of the Falls

Part of the magic of Victoria Falls town is that it not only offers access to the natural wonder of the Victoria Falls, enough to take anyone's breath away, but also easy access to wonderful wilderness and wildlife safari experiences for those unable to pay the 'big bucks' to visit luxury high end safari lodges and camps in more famous National Parks.

For local residents and regional travellers, budget backpackers and small independent groups, the town offers a wealth of options to experience a memorable taste of the African safari - including half-day, full-day and multi-day options for game drives, horse rides, and canoe and rafting trips (above and below the falls, with varying degrees of 'fear factor'!). With elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, and several antelope species, plus a wealth of birdlife, there is much to explore and discover.

Within half an hour of leaving your town hotel or lodge you can be driving upstream through the protected Zambezi National Park, watching elephants or listening to the grunts of territorial hippopotamus staking their claims in the river.

Until recently the Park boasted few facilities, with a series of riverside picnic spots and campsites, allowing visitors to stop and break their trips under the shade of the riverine forest that fringes the river or set up tented camps and experience the magic of the bush at night at one of seven dedicated campsites.

Overnight facilities for visitors to the park used to include three dedicated Fishing Camps (Kandahar, Siansimba, and Mpala Jena) with flushing toilet, cold shower and sleeping shelter, and four 'minimum development' picnic camps (Chundu 1, Chundu 2, Chomunzi and Siamunungu) with braai stand and bush toilet, all suitable for groups up to twelve people.

After decades of under investment and management, the camps were all in a rather dilapidated state, hardly encouraging visitors to these scenic spots, with one tourism agent describing them as suiting the more 'adventurous traveller.'

Over the last decade, however, there has been a steady trend in the licensing of these public campsites as private concessions, with tourism companies developing exclusive luxury safari lodges. Ten years ago there were no private concessions within the Park. Today there are four riverside lodges - Victoria Falls River Lodge, Mpala Jena Camp, Zambezi Sands River Camp (located at Chomunzi) and the Old Drift Lodge; and three island camps - Victoria Falls Island Treehouse Lodge (located on Kandahar Island), Chundu Island Lodge, and Tsowa Safari Island.

Zambezi National Park. Photo credit: Peter Roberts

Siansimba River Lodge

In January 2021 it was announced that Siansimba, one of only two remaining public fishing camps within the National Park, was to be developed as a private safari concession, together with an associated development at the pristine wilderness site of Siansimba Springs.

"Tusker Investments (Pvt) Ltd t/a Sansimba River Lodge, a duly registered Zimbabwean company, intends to establish a safari camp in the Zambezi National Park. The company has secured a lease from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, to lease a portion of the Zambezi National Park, measuring about 0.5 km2, located at the confluence of Sansimba River and the Zambezi River. The proposed camp will be mainly for photographic safari, picnics, bush dinners & game drives. The camp will result in the construction of semi-permanent tourist accommodation facilities with a capacity to hold not more than 24 beds. It will also see the establishment of supporting infrastructure such as site offices, ablution facilities, a central communal area which will be used as a dining or cooking area and also some staff quarters, accommodating up to 6 staff. All structures at the camp will be semi-permanent in the forms of tents. The camp will use natural sources of power (solar & gas) for lighting & heating. The ultimate benefit of the project is to promote local & international tourism & at the same time, harnessing the much-needed foreign currency as well as creating employment for the local community." (Facebook, 8th January 2021)

It would leave only one remaining pubic fishing camp available within the National Park, Kandahar, although rumours indicate it is also in the process of being allocated as a private concession (Victoria Falls 24, 5th February 2021), and two public picnic camps - Chundu 2 and Siamunungu - both of which are also surrounded by local rumours of having also been licensed as private concessions.

Unsustainable Development?

The Siansimba proposal has received negative criticism from local residents and small independent tourism operators, who yet again face loosing access to a popular camping site, which they can all use for reasonable park entry and camping fees, and further restricting access to the Park for residents and independent travellers. A Save Siansimba Facebook group has been created appealing for the campsite to remain open to the public, available to all, and a Save Siansimba online petition opened for people to register their support against the development.

Campaign spokesperson Chenai Dodzo said the proposal to lease the site as a private concession should be of concern to all Zimbabweans. They argue that affordable access to National Parks for residents is part of the birth-right and heritage of all Zimbabweans, and it is time to speak up “before it’s too late.”

“This is more about public spaces. There are fewer and fewer spots that we can go to. If Siansimba can go, what’s next? All the public campsites in Hwange, Nyanga, Mana Pools? Where does it stop? The Falls themselves? Zimbabweans should be very concerned.”

At a time when the country's tourism sector is trying to re-align itself to local and regional tourism to survive it seams counter-intuitive that these private concessions should be announced - and which will result in some of the prime visitor sites in the Park becoming exclusive safari camps outside of the financial reach of most local and regional tourists.

“Concessions have a place in our parks - we are not anti-development,”  Dodzo added. “We are simply asking that public campsites remain just that, public. Why should I have to pay $200, $300, $400 a night to go and access something that should be my right?"

"How will we attract local and regional visitors to the Park if these sites are all private concessions aimed and priced at international tourists? How will we educate tomorrow's decision makers and defenders of our natural heritage to support their National Parks and respect wildlife if they have never had the opportunity to experience these places?"

A local stakeholder's organisation, Victoria Falls Enviro Watch, has been campaigning for clearer regulation of private concessions in the Park, calling for a comprehensive management and monitoring plan regarding their benefits and impacts.

"Several lodges have been built in the Zambezi National park (ZNP) over the last few years. The building of these new lodges is beneficial to the park in many ways, but most importantly is the fact that they reduce the amount of poaching, due to more presence in the park. However, there is a limit as to how many lodges the Park can handle, before there is an adverse effect, due to over-tourism. VFEW feels that there is a desperate need for a Zambezi Park plan to understand and deal with this issue. To compile such a plan, there needs to be a professional in-depth study done on the ZNP, which analyses the impact on the environment of more lodges" (Victoria Falls Enviro Watch, February 2019)

Victoria Falls Enviro Watch Chairperson Tony Peel said the Siansimba allocation raised serious concerns.

“This sets a dangerous precedent for further unsustainable development within the park. When will these allocation sites end? The need for a comprehensive Zambezi Park Plan is now greater than ever. The site is already allocated as a public campsite and turning it into an exclusive site contravenes the Constitution of Zimbabwe.” (Victoria Falls 24, February 2021).

Local Victoria Falls lawyer, Paul Connolly, is bringing a lawsuit against the company behind the Siansimba development, Tusker Investments. His application states that the allocation of Siansimba contravenes the constitutional rights of the Zimbabwean public.

Zimparks Public Relations Manager Mr Tinashe Farawo has indicated the licensing of private concessions was essential for an Authority suffering significantly decreased tourism revenues due to the global pandemic.

“If we don’t do that, where will we get resources to look after our wildlife? We have no other avenues of making money... we have no tourists coming to do activities with us, so what they are pushing for is not something that we can say is a community uproar but instead saves to benefit some few individuals.” (cite.org.zw, February 2021)

Sunrise in the Zambezi National Park. Photo credit: Peter Roberts

Deadline for Comment Extended 

The original deadline for comments on the proposal has been extended to 28th February.

"Please note that those who still wish to participate in the Stakeholder Consultation exercise for the Siansimba Tented Safari Camp Project you can still participate by sending your comments to info@greenspace.co.zw or via WhatsApp 0772618130. However, due to low response so far, we have extended our deadline for receiving responses to the 28th of February. This is to give all those interested time and chance to participate. NOTE: Those wishing to participate, you can request for a questionnaire form to fill in your comments and details. Requests should be sent to the above details." (Facebook, 11th February)

You can download the Stakeholder Consultation questionnaire here.

References

cite.org.za (February 2021) Uproar over privatisation of campsites in Victoria Falls.

Facebook (January 2021) EIA Stakeholder Consultation For Siansimba Tented Safari Camp - Zambezi National Park. 8th January 2021.

Facebook (February 2021) Comment on EIA notice, 11th February 2021. 

Victoria Falls 24 (February 2021) Battle To Save Last Remaining Public Campsites In Zambezi National Park. 5th February.

Victoria Falls Enviro Watch (February 2019) Zambezi Park Plan. 1st February 2019.