National Parks of Zimbabwe

Communal areas harbouring significant wildlife resources or bordering National Parks were given Rural Council status and as a result CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) was born. CAMPFIRE has developed into an important conservation strategy, ensuring that significant financial earnings revert to rural communities for their benefit. This philosophy has been adopted on a Pan-African basis and is slowly being implemented in Asia and South America too.

Many of Zimbabwe's National Parks, such as Victoria Falls, Mana Pools and Hwange, are renowned worldwide, though the country also has lesser-known gems such as Chizarira and Gonarezhou. Parts of the Rhodes Estate, established in Rhodes' will of 1902, were bequeathed to the nation for farming, forestry and agricultural research. This land later became part of the rocky Matobo and mountainous Nyanga National Parks.

Zimbabwe's Parks offer a wide variety of accommodation, and it is best to check availability with the Parks Department Reservations Office in Harare (popular parks, such as Mana Pools, get booked up). Accommodation varies from fully equipped lodges, cottages and chalets, to camping and caravan facilities.

The 1975 Act not only nurtured a change in attitudes to wildlife but also fostered the development of one of Africa's best tourism infrastructures. It saw the need for experienced and trained professional guides and hunters (another much-copied initiative), the establishment of long-term leases for operators in both National Parks and Safari Areas, the development of conservancies on private land and co-operation with rural communities. It was the precursor for eco-tourism in the truest sense.

However, the Department of National Parks has always been a 'Cinderella' branch of government and has had to contend with under-funding - a grave error of judgment when one considers the Parks' earning capacity. In recent years the Department has been granted parastatal status whereby it is able to retain a significant proportion of the revenues it generates, in theory at least.

The current volatile situation within Zimbabwe and the resultant reduction in tourism will have serious consequences for the running and maintenance of the National Parks and the wildlife they are supposed to protect. One immediate result of the past year's turmoil has been a harrowing increase in poaching in many NPs. Unless this stops soon, the NPs may not be the backbone of the country's economic recovery.