The Chizarira Wilderness Support Project (CHIZPRO) aims to help secure the long-term ecological future of the Chizarira Wilderness Area, Zimbabwe, one of the most bio-diverse regions of Southern Africa.
Southern Africa, especially the Zambezi Valley and its surrounding highlands and forests, represents one of the largest unbroken wilderness areas in Africa, and indeed, the world. Chizarira National Park and its surrounding tribal areas lie at the heart of this region. It is one of the few areas left in Southern Africa where local people, wildlife and flora still live side-by-side without compromising the surrounding ecology. In a changing world, this fragile balance is always at risk. CHIZPRO will assist the region in adapting to the inevitable changes and securing its continued future as a working wilderness area.
Over the next few years, CHIZPRO will help secure the wilderness's core area - Chizarira National Park - from poaching, helping it gain the status of an Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ). In addition, CHIZPRO will need to create health and school facilities for its own staff but which could also benefit local people and park workers. A secure zone will be created at the eco-concession area adjacent to the park (Chizarira Lodge), where two endangered species endemic to the region - black rhinoceros and roan antelope - will be bred for re-introduction into other Southern African reserves and into Chizarira National Park itself.
Project
Website: www.CHIZPRO.org
Project Director: Laurence
Isaacson
Website
Credits
Modified: 2006-07-26