How Systems Change Over Time

LANSCAPE STEWARDSHIP SERIES

A record of conservation and land management across Zambia’s Game Management Areas

These articles document how conservation works in Zambia’s Game Management Areas—not in theory, but in practice. They reflect the combined efforts of government, communities, conservation organizations, and licensed concession operators working within a shared system over time.

Understanding the System

Why Wildlife Must Be Valued to Survive: Zambia’s GMA Conservation Model

In Zambia, the GMA framework was designed to create that connection between wildlife and local economic benefit. It does this through a structured set of mechanisms that run through the concession system.

Understanding the System

Feb 25

How Conservation Actually Works in Zambia’s Game Management Areas

Most safari operations describe conservation as something they support. A program. An initiative. A percentage of revenue directed toward a cause. Something that runs alongside the core business. In working landscapes, that framing does not hold. In working landscapes like Mumbwa West and Chifunda, conservation is not something that happens alongside operations. It is the operations — or it should be. The decisions that determine whether a GMA holds wildlife over time are not

Understanding the System

Feb 13

How Zambia’s Game Management Areas Work, And Why They Matter for Conservation

Zambia’s Game Management Areas were established as buffer zones around national parks — legally designated mixed-use areas where wildlife and human settlement coexist under a framework governed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife. They are not parks. Hunting is permitted. Farming is permitted. Communities live within them, and their elected Community Resource Boards co-manage natural resources alongside DNPW and traditional Chiefs.

Understanding the System

Feb 4

HOW SYSTEMS CHANGE OVER TIME

What Happens When Game Management Areas Fail

Conservation in a GMA depends on presence. Not just policy or designation — but people, movement, and consistent activity across a large and often remote landscape.

How Systems Change Over Time

Mar 4

STEWARDSHIP IN PRACTICE

Holding the Line: Anti-Poaching in Zambia’s GMA Buffer Zones

Anti-poaching is not a single program. It is not owned by any one organization or funded through any one channel. In Zambia’s Game Management Areas, effective protection is the product of a system — one that functions when its parts are aligned and degrades when they are not.

Stewardship in Practice

Apr 1

Mumbwa West GMA: Conservation in One of Zambia’s Most Pressured Buffer Zones

Mumbwa West is not defined by any single intervention. It is shaped by structured obligations, the quality of partnership between operator, conservation organizations, and community governance structures, and the kind of continuous engagement that working landscapes require.

Stewardship in Practice

Mar 30

North Luangwa’s Most Important Buffer Zone: Conservation in Chifunda GMA

North Luangwa is one of Africa's most intact wilderness areas. It is also one of the most dependent on the integrity of the surrounding landscape. Chifunda functions as that buffer. It absorbs pressure, supports movement, and provides space for wildlife beyond the park boundary. Without it, the park becomes exposed.

Stewardship in Practice

Mar 28

Boreholes for Wildlife and Communities: Water Development in Chifunda GMA

Managing that pressure is one of the central challenges of conservation in Zambia’s Game Management Areas. In Chifunda GMA, in 2025, working alongside the licensed operator, a focused effort on strategic water development addressed both sides of that challenge — for wildlife and for surrounding communities.

Stewardship in Practice

Mar 24