Project African Wilderness
Encyclopedia
Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve
With an area of 135km² Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve is Malawi’s smallest national park, and its least accessible. Nevertheless it has a wide variety of habitats, including Mopane, Combretum and brachystegia woodland, as well as open savanna, dambo, and riverine areas...
in Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
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It was formed in 2004 by a South African safari company owner and an English regeneration consultant and now has a team of 48 in Malawi and as many volunteers in Europe working to protect a remote and beautiful part of Africa.
PAW is not only a conservation project - money that is raised is put into the development of projects (and infrastructure) that will benefit the local people of Mwabvi and allow them to take control of their own livelihoods through businesses and education relating to eco-tourism.
In February 2007 Project African Wilderness signed a long-term legal agreement with the Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
Government's Department of National Parks and Wildlife to take over the conservation and development of Mwabvi, which is one of the nine National Parks in Malawi and was first protected in 1928. The environmental conservation team is led by Barry Kerr, an experienced South African conservation and environmentalist. His partner Adele Kerr carries out marketing and oversees the growing and vital community development programme.
The reserve is now less than half its original size, wood and game poaching continue and PAW are first working to stop deliberate fires which destroy seedlings and saplings. If the habitat goes the animals will not come back. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife has up to 12 game scouts at Mwabvi but they have neither resources nor support to prevent poaching and protect the wilderness.
PAW has one of several 'concessions' given to various organisations by the Government to try out different ways of exploiting the natural resources for tourism. Mwabvi will never be a major tourist destination but the area lends itself to use for conservation training, and over time game scout training will take place. The former National Game Scout Training Centre at Liwonde National Park
Liwonde National Park
Liwonde National Park is a national park in Malawi. It is located on the upper Shire River plain, east of the river, 140 km north of Limbe. Its southern gate lies about 6 km from the town center of Liwonde, and is accessible by bicycle taxi or walking...
closed some time ago and the country needs more trained game scouts.
When working in this part of Malawi it is necessary to take into account that there are 60,000 people living around the edge of the Reserve - this is a highly populated area. The local primary school has 2 teachers, 2 classrooms and 250 pupils. The nearest town, Bangula, has a primary school with 6 classrooms, 8 staff and 3,000 pupils. Life expectancy is 32 - the Malawi average is 38. AIDS and malaria often kills game scouts just five years after they are trained, and hardly any of the local children know the reserve exists.
Any person or organisation working in this part of sub Saharan Africa should expect to be there for the long term and save the natural environment for future generations. It is essential to work with the local people, be involved with appropriate education programmes, and not rely on short term grants and aid.
The list of projects needed to create a sustainable programme for the long term that PAW and others are working on covers:
- Protection and restoration of the wildlife reserve
- Eco-tourism
- Small Enterprise Development
- University twinning scheme
- Secondary school education programme
- Volunteer programme
- Fundraising
Project African Wilderness has charitable status in the United Kingdom and operates through the Mwabvi Wildlife and Community Trust in Malawi with volunteers and paid professional employees in both countries. Employing over 50 local people, PAW and MWCT have significantly extended the road system within the reserve and have built a lodge and a campsite, thus opening up the park for tourism. They have also extended the facilities at Chipembere Camp, providing volunteer accommodation and facilities for their various outreach projects. They also run a growing predator breeding programme, and have enclosures for a number of lions and other cats.