Academic literature on the topic 'Save valley conservancy zimbabwe'

Communities juxtaposed to protected areas (PAs) often disproportionally accrue the costs of conservation, but they can also receive benefits from the existence of a PA. The extent to which local communities benefit or incur costs as a result of residing next to PAs is of interest to conservationists and policy-makers. This study sought to understand the costs, benefits, and attitudes of local people living adjacent to Save Valley Conservancy (SVC), Zimbabwe. The purpose was to determine whether benefit and loss accrual has a bearing on the levels of illicit wildlife-based activities experienced in the SVC. Data were collected through a household questionnaire survey and key informant interviews from April to July 2014. A three-stage sampling was adopted: firstly, purposive sampling was employed to select wards adjacent to the SVC; secondly, random sampling was used to select villages within the selected wards; and thirdly, systematic sampling was used to select 71 household questionnaire respondents. Snowball sampling was used to select 9 key informants. The study results show that the majority of locals living close to SVC are not deriving discernable benefits and the costs of conservation are escalating influencing negative attitudes towards wildlife conservation, thus causing them to view wildlife as a nuisance. Overall, our results indicate that conservation losses and benefit accrual by local communities influence their attitudes toward SVC and conservation in general. We conclude that costs incurred outweighed the benefits accrued, a situation that triggers a more negative form of reciprocity towards SVC and wildlife conservation. It is recommended that a more socially and economically inclusive management approach based on a stakeholder-driven access and benefit sharing (ABS) framework be instituted to promote a more positive form of reciprocity towards SVC and nature conservation.

The long-term survival of a protected area (PA) may depend to a greater extent on the goodwill and support of the people residing around it. This study assessed local people’s support for private sector driven wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe, using the Save Valley Conservancy (SVC) as a case. Specifically, the objectives of the assessment were threefold: (i) to establish perceptions on the current nature of the relationship between SVC and people living on its edge, (ii) to ascertain the proximate and underlying causes of local resistance to SVC, and (iii) to identify strategies local people employ to resist SVC conservation efforts. Data were collected through a household questionnaire survey during the month of April, 2018. In addition, photographs showing the nature of vandalism and sabotage imposed on the SVC ecosystem by fringe communities were also collected, as part of evidential data. A multistage sampling method was adopted, and this combined purposive sampling to select study wards: random sampling to select villages and systematic sampling to select households (n=71). Our results show that local people rate the current relationship between them and SVC owners as bad, i.e., undesirable interaction. The nature of this perceived bad relationship is attributed to a host of factors, key among them being, lack of wildlife-related benefits and escalation of wildlife-induced costs, which are crucial in determining local community’s support for conservation. We conclude that the studied local community’s support for private nature conservation is marginal; hence, there is a need for increased efforts by SVC owners to devise realistic incentives including an active engagement of local communities so that they cooperate with conservation efforts.

AbstractUnder conditions of political instability and economic decline illegal bushmeat hunting has emerged as a serious conservation threat in Zimbabwe. Following settlement of game ranches by subsistence farming communities, wildlife populations have been eradicated over large areas. In several areas still being managed as game ranches illegal hunting is causing further declines of wildlife populations (including threatened species such as the wild dog Lycaon pictus and black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis), threatening the viability of wildlife-based land uses. From August 2001 to July 2009 in Savé Valley Conservancy 10,520 illegal hunting incidents were recorded, 84,396 wire snares removed, 4,148 hunters caught, 2,126 hunting dogs eliminated and at least 6,454 wild animals killed. Estimated future financial losses from illegal hunting in the Conservancy exceed USD 1.1 million year-1. Illegal hunters’ earnings account for 0.31–0.52% of the financial losses that they impose and the bushmeat trade is an inefficient use of wildlife resources. Illegal hunting peaks during the late dry season and is more frequent close to the boundary, near areas resettled during land reform and close to water. Illegal hunting with dogs peaks during moonlight periods. Our study highlights several management and land-use planning steps required to maximize the efficacy of anti-poaching and to reduce the likelihood of high impacts of illegal hunting. Anti-poaching efforts should be aligned with the regular temporal and spatial patterns of illegal hunting. Leases for hunting and tourism concessions should ensure minimum adequate investment by operators in anti-poaching. Reserve designers should minimize the surface area to volume ratio of parks. Fences should not be constructed using wire that can be made into snares. Land reform involving game ranches should integrate communities in wildlife-based land uses and ensure spatial separation between land for wildlife and human settlement. Means are required to create stake-holdings for communities in wildlife and disincentives for illegal hunting.

AbstractThe prevalence and impacts of the illegal trade in bushmeat are under appreciated in Southern Africa, despite indications that it constitutes a serious conservation threat in parts of the region. Bushmeat trade has emerged as a severe threat to wildlife conservation and the viability of wildlife-based land uses in Zimbabwe during a period of political instability and severe economic decline. We conducted a study around Savé Valley Conservancy in the South-East Lowveld of Zimbabwe to investigate the dynamics and underlying causes of the bushmeat trade, with the objective of developing solutions. We found that bushmeat hunting is conducted mainly by unemployed young men to generate cash income, used mostly to purchase food. Bushmeat is mainly sold to people with cash incomes in adjacent communal lands and population centres and is popular by virtue of its affordability and availability. Key drivers of the bushmeat trade in the South-East Lowveld include: poverty, unemployment and food shortages, settlement of wildlife areas by impoverished communities that provided open access to wildlife resources, failure to provide stakes for communities in wildlife-based land uses, absence of affordable protein sources other than illegally sourced bushmeat, inadequate investment in anti-poaching in areas remaining under wildlife management, and weak penal systems that do not provide sufficient deterrents to illegal bushmeat hunters. Each of these underlying causes needs to be addressed for the bushmeat trade to be tackled effectively. However, in the absence of political and economic stability, controlling illegal bushmeat hunting will remain extremely difficult and the future of wildlife-based land uses will remain bleak.

An assessment of the natural resources on Chapungu Ranch, Zimbabwe, was undertaken for the purpose of incorporating this ranch into the larger Sango Ranch. The geological description was based on literature, whilst the soils were classified using the soil taxonomic system described for Zimbabwe. The seven soils types on Chapungu Ranch were from the Amorphic, Calcimorphic and Natric orders and varied considerably in terms of depth, texture and chemical composition. Most soils were fertile and supported a herbaceous layer generally referred to as sweetveld. A phytosociological classification and structural analysis of the vegetation identified nine plant communities and 15 subcommunities on Chapungu Ranch. Separation of plant communities was mostly influenced by the geological formations and soils. Each community was described in terms of its species composition and structure. The dry mass of the herbaceous layer was quantified using the disc pasture meter and the composition of the herbaceous layer using the step-point method. The veld condition ranged from moderate (30.1%) to very good (60.4%) and the biomass production ranged from very low to high. The browsing capacity was determined using the BECVOL method. On Chapungu only 15.4% of the total browse was available to browsers, 5.0% of the browse was available for herbivores up to 2 m and 10.4% of the browse was available to browsers feeding between >2 – 5 m in height. Grazing capacity of different plant communities ranged from 7 GU/100 ha to 38 GU/100 ha with a mean of 25 GU/100 ha. The browsing capacity ranged from as low as 0.3 BU/100 ha to 13 BU/100 ha with a mean of 9 BU/100 ha. In 2003,Chapungu Ranch had the capacity to carry 3 331 GU and 1 169 BU whereas the stocking density was 2 199 GU and 3 029 BU. After the integration of Chapungu Ranch into Sango Ranch seven management units were identified. Animal populations were described in terms of population size and their spatial and temporal trends for the entire Sango Ranch. The populations of bushbuck, bushpig, Livingston’s eland, hippopotamus, impala, greater kudu, warthog, leopard, cheetah, baboon and vervet monkey were already at ecological capacity when monitoring commenced, however, populations of black rhinoceros, common duiker, African elephant, klipspringer, sable antelope, Sharpe’s grysbuck, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, Burchell’s zebra, black-backed jackal and wilddog reached ecological capacity within the past 14 years. The populations for African buffalo, giraffe, nyala, white rhinoceros, lion and spotted hyena had still not reached ecological capacity. Evaluation of the long-term monitoring program indicated that the stocking density for the grazer units (GU) exceeded the grazing capacity during the 2006/2007 season whilst the browsing capacity has been exceeded since the inception of the monitoring program in 2000. Recommendations are made towards improving artificial water provision, erosion control and road management. Additionally, recommendations are presented on fire management, alien plant control, stocking density, elephant impact, vegetation harvesting, waste management and wildlife utilization. Finally, four research priorities were identified which included studies on sable antelope, lion, spotted hyena and brown hyena and small mammals on Sango Ranch.
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Animal and Wildlife Science
MSc
Unrestricted

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is one of the most endangered large carnivores. Gonarezhou National Park (GNP) and Savè Valley Conservancy (SVC) that hold part of the few remaining viable populations report that wild dog populations continue to decline due to high rates of habitat loss and fragmentation. This leads to low pup survival rates due to predators and reduced formation of new packs as the wild dogs have become reluctant to leave the safety of their original packs in pursuit of mating partners in fragmented habitats where higher risks of danger exist. Consequently, this reduces population growth for Lycaon pictus. Therefore, the study sought to identify additional suitable habitat for wild dog outside GNP and SVC and a corridor connecting the two areas using the ecological niche theory. Wild dog satellite collar data from the African Wildlife Conservation Fund (AWCF) was used with spatial and climate data for GNP and SVC from PeaceParks and WorldClim. This data was used to firstly, identify dens using ArcGIS 10.1. Secondly, map geographic and temporal distributions using Time Local Convex Hull (T-LoCoH). Thirdly, to assess biotic and abiotic drivers of different packs and sexes movement and distribution patterns using ARCGIS 10.1 and lastly, map probability distributions (corridor and re-location sites) using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). Den locations are in areas away from predators and human settlements. Wild dog geographic distributions are smaller in the cold and dry seasons and differ according to sex whilst temporal distributions depend on their use of resources. The most influential biotic and abiotic variables within reserves were distance to human settlements and elevation whilst the least influential were roads and temperature. However, outside the reserves, the most influential variable was distance from reserve. Malilangwe is a potential corridor between GNP and SVC, whilst Masvingo, Beitbridge, and Mwenezi districts have suitable habitat for re-location sites.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Afrika-wildehond (Lycaon pictus) is een van die mees bedreigde groot karnivore. Gonarezhou Nationale Park (GNP) en Savè Vallei Conservancy (SVC) wat deel van die min oorblywende lewensvatbare bevolkings hou rapporteer dat wilde hond bevolkings voortgaan om te daal as gevolg van die verlies en fragmentering van habitat. Dit lei tot 'n lae pup oorlewingsyfer te danke aan predasie asook dalende vlakke van nuwe troppe. Omdat as die wilde honde het huiwerig geword om die veiligheid van hul oorspronklike troppe te verlaat in die soektog na paarmaats in gefragmenteerde habitatte waar hoër risiko van gevaar bestaan. Gevolglik verminder die bevolkingsgroei vir Lycaon pictus. Daarom onderneem die studie addisionele geskikte habitat vir wilde hond buite die GNP en SVC te vind en die stigting van 'n gang Om die twee gebiede te verbind met behulp van die ekologiese nis teorie te identifiseer. Wildehond satelliet kraag data van die African Wildlife Conservation Fund (AWCF) is gebruik met ruimtelike en klimaat data vir die GNP en SVC van PeaceParks en WorldClim. Hierdie data is gebruik om eerstens, kuile te identifiseer met behulp van ArcGIS 10.1. Tweedens, kartering van geografiese en temporale verspreiding met behulp van Time Local Convex Hull (T-LoCoH). Derdens, die ondersoek van biotiese en abioties dryfkragte van verskillende troppe pakke en geslagte bewegings en verspreidingspatrone met ArcGIS 10.1 te evalueer en laastens, kartering van waarskynlikheidsverdelings (korridor en hervestigingsgebiede) van die Maksimum Entropie (MaxEnt). Kuile is in gebiede weg van roofdiere en menslike nedersettings. Wildehond geografiese verspreiding is kleiner in die koue en droë seisoene en verskil volgens geslag, terwyl temporale verspreidings afhang van die gebruik van hulpbronne. Die mees invloedryke biotiese en abioties veranderlikes binne reserwes was die afstand vanaf menslike nedersettings en hoogte, terwyl paaie en temperatuur die laagste invloed gehad. Buite die reserwes was, die mees invloedryke veranderlike afstand vanaf reservaat. Malilangwe is 'n potensiële korridor tussen die GNP en SVC, terwyl Masvingo, Beitbridge en Mwenezi distrikte geskikte habitat bied vir hervestiging.

Please read the abstract in section 11summary (pp 246-251) of this document
Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007.
Centre for Wildlife Management
unrestricted