Our Mission: To work with community and conservation partners in the protection of the wildlife and habitats of the South Luangwa ecosystem.
Our Vision: The long-term survival of wildlife and habitats in South Luangwa under the custodianship of the Zambian people.
Since officially registering in 2003, Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) has worked in partnership with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) on the frontline of wildlife conservation and human-wildlife coexistence in the South Luangwa Valley. We work to protect the 1,400,000 hectares of largely intact wilderness in eastern Zambia that make up the South Luangwa National Park and the surrounding Upper and Lower Lupande game management areas. The Luangwa Valley is home to over 60 species of mammals and 450 species of birds. Species include the unique Crawshay’s zebra, Cookson’s wildebeest, and a geographically isolated population of Luangwa giraffe (G. t. thornicrofti), a subspecies of Masai giraffe. The Valley is known for its high densities of lion, leopard and wild dog, and it remains a stronghold for elephants in Zambia.
CSL practices a multi-faceted approach to wildlife resource management and protection, working in collaboration with DNPW to implement counter trade/trafficking measures including anti-poaching foot patrols, aerial surveillance, sniffer dog detection and tracking work, alongside direct community engagement with people living alongside the wildlife of the South Luangwa Valley.
Snaring is wildlife’s silent killer which quietly kills thousands of animals in the Luangwa Valley annually. CSL tries to combat this by deploying regular anti-snaring patrols to remove snares from the bush and by immobilizing and rescuing snared animals. We work closely with partners including the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DPNW) and the Zambian Carnivore Program (ZCP) to achieve this.
Community Coexistence
Increasing human population growth in the areas adjacent to South Luangwa National Park has resulted in an increase of human–wildlife conflict. When wildlife damage crops, human properties, or even lives, this negatively influences the attitude toward wildlife and conservation issues. Preventing damage by wildlife (particularly elephants) and mitigating conflicts between farmers and wildlife has been the goal of CSL’s Community work for over a decade.
CSL supports 93 community scouts to help the Department of National Parks and Wildlife protect the flora and fauna of the Luangwa Valley. We do this by paying salaries, providing technical support, patrol equipment, rations, training and transport. We assist with aerial surveillance and monitoring to help detect any illegal activities including carcasses, poachers’ camps, illegal fires and drying racks.
K9 Detection Dog Unit
Detection dogs are increasingly being used to reduce wildlife trafficking by detecting wildlife contraband. Set up in 2014, in partnership with DNPW, the CSL Detection Dog Unit was Zambia’s first sniffer dog unit that works to detect illegal wildlife products and firearms being used and smuggled within and out of Zambia.
