The flagship Utariri (meaning Stewardship in Shona) programme, targets geographies where increased human settlement has interfered with traditional biodiversity conservancies, and corridors through for example, agrarian land use, firewood extraction, and illicit wildlife trading. Failing livelihoods and high poverty levels have contributed to massive loss of forests, declining megafauna (the big five) through poaching and other harmful practices. Shrinking biodiversity habitats amid increasingly dry conditions owing to climate change, and prevailing macroeconomic challenges have exacerbated biodiversity losses in important biosphere reserves such as the mid-lower Zambezi valley. The valley is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bushlife Africa Trust strives to protect endangered species within the Mana Pools and Zambezi Valley areas of Zimbabwe from human threat. Enforcement of anti-poaching efforts and community education projects ensures a future in which the area’s elephants, pangolins, painted dogs, and other wildlife flourish without risk of human-caused extinction.
