Conservation Development Programmes in Protected Areas: Perspectives of Land-Use in Game Management Areas in Zambia

Abstract

"Zambia has one of the largest protected areas in Southern Africa. The area under protection cover a total of 23 million hectares representing an estimated 30 percent of the country's total land area. The protected areas in Zambia consist of 19 national parks and 34 Game Management Areas (GMAs). The GMAs alone cover 16.6 million hectares accounting for 22 percent of the total land area. The Game Management Areas (GMAs) span some of the most deprived areas in Zambia vis-à vis socio-economic development. The GMAs are often considered marginal agricultural regions. They are remote and characteristically poor in social services and communication infrastructure. Because these areas were considered marginal regions, the Zambian Government in collaboration with some donors and international conservation agencies saw wildlife utilisation as a potentially viable land-use option. Thus, wildlife utilisation programmes such as the Administrative Management Design (ADMADE) and the Luangwa Integrated Rural Development Project (LIRDP) were conceived and promoted with an inflexible premise that wildlife utilisation was a requisite for successful and sustainable development in the GMAs. This paper argues that instead of improving the livelihoods of the local communities, these programmes have in fact accentuated their economic marginalisation as they have ignored the development of agriculture the main livelihood strategy for the majority of the people in these regions. The critical questions the paper raises are: to what extent have these wildlife utilisation programmes being promoted in the GMAs been shaped by local priorities and patterns of resource use? To what extent do international donors, international conservation agencies, government agencies, private sector agencies and national political interests influence land-use in these GMAs?"