Pictures: Biggest Conservation Area Created in Africa

King of the Delta
Photograph by Roy Toft
A male African lion wanders Botswana's Okavango Delta, part of a new international conservation area that will be the world's largest, organizers announced earlier this month.
Spanning an area of Africa almost the size of Italy, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA, will encompass 36 national parks, game reserves, wildlife-management areas, and tourism areas, according to WWF, a conservation organization offering both technical and financial support to the initiative.
In 2011 presidents of five African nations—Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—signed a treaty establishing the huge protected region, which has been in the works for several years. (See "Five-Country Conservation Area Would Aid Africa's Largest Elephant Herd.")
"It's quite unique, in that you have five countries coming together with a shared vision, and it's a vision based on conservation," said Lisa Steel, director of WWF's Namibia Program.
"The intent is to make it a leading conservation area and tourist destination in the region ... where communities are the main beneficiaries."
Conservationist Brian John Huntley, a professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, has worked in the region for four decades. He said KAZA has "noble intentions."
However, such transfrontier conservation areas have previously "been launched with great fanfare [and] political posturing at the level of presidents and prime ministers, and even though they've attracted a considerable amount of donor funding, very few—if any—have actually succeeded in their goals, simply because of lack of capacity in various countries," Huntley said.
"Like many other grandiose schemes foisted upon Africa, KAZA is an invention of the imagination of a few conservationists who believe that big is beautiful, have little experience of institutional realities or responsibilities, but enjoy the fun of grand design."
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published March 27, 2012
Victoria Falls
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
Situated on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls (pictured) is the world's largest waterfall and is easily accessible to tourists. (See more waterfall pictures.)
With the exception of Angola, the KAZA countries are already well-known for their successful ecotourism and wildlife-viewing industries.
In terms of tourism, KAZA "promises a great deal, and could bring enhanced economic benefit to an area that already does well for ecotourism, and could do a lot better," said Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecologist at Duke University who is also a contributor to the National Geographic News Watch blog. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)
KAZA houses "one of the most spectacular areas of wildlife in Africa," he added. (Read Pimm's blog post on protecting African wildlife outside national parks.)
Published March 27, 2012
Morning Snack
Photograph by Michael Poliza
Silhouetted by the morning sun, antelope graze in Zambia's Kafue National Park, part of the newly launched conservation area.
KAZA is a "wonderful achievement for the region," said ornithologist and conservationist Steve Boyes, of the University of Cape Town's Percy FitzPatrick Institute.
But now, "after almost ten years in the making, [KAZA] needs to convert good intentions and memoranda into community-based conservation action, investing local towns, villages, and settlements in the future management of the region's natural resources, most especially the wildlife," Boyes said via email.
Boyes is also a contributor to the National Geographic News Watch blog and an expert for National Geographic Expeditions.
Published March 27, 2012
Elephant Nuzzle
Photograph by Beverly Joubert
A young African elephant nuzzles another in Botswana's Okavango Delta. KAZA now shelters approximately 325,000 elephants—nearly half of the continent's total population.
Yet a major challenge facing KAZA is how to reduce conflict between people and a growing elephant population, Steel noted. For instance, elephants near human settlements often raid farmers' fields, according to WWF.
In the tiny village of Kakwenga, Zambia, one solution supported by WWF seems to be working. Placing pungent "chili bombs"—a water-based mixture of chilies and elephant dung—around the fields not only keeps the pesky pachyderms away but also provides a potential new source of income for farmers: growing chilies.
(Related: "Elephant Crop Raids Foiled by Chili Peppers, Africa Project Finds.")
Published March 27, 2012
Underwater Garden
Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic
A diver explores an underwater cavern created by floating papyrus in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Transfrontier conservation areas exist in other parts of Africa, notably in South Africa, WWF's Steel said. "What makes KAZA unique is the community focus."
Other transfrontier areas have "been much more top-down, [but] this time [they're] making sure communities are an active part of the process." (Related: "Africa Park Sets Stage for Cross-Border Collaboration.")
However, recent studies show that few local people benefit from large conservation initiatives, according to the University of Cape Town's Huntley.
"If it was just a straightforward process of someone at the gate receiving funding and dividing it between local communities, it would be quite simple," Huntley said.
"But implementation has a number of layers of problems [with] actual transfer of benefits."
Published March 27, 2012
Lunch on the Go
Photograph by Roy Toft
The new conservation area is home to more than 600 species of birds, such as the European bee-eater, seen above catching a snack in Botswana's Okavango Delta. (See a picture of an Okavango sunset submitted to National Geographic Traveler's 2011 photo contest.)
Other than human-wildlife conflicts, the biggest challenges facing KAZA are wildlife poaching, unregulated logging for the charcoal industry, and lack of tourism infrastructure in more remote areas, the Percy FitzPatrick Institute's Boyes noted.
The University of Cape Town's Huntley added that, overall, the millions spent on KAZA would have been more effective as funds to build smaller conservation programs within individual countries.
But when "I point out to [other conservationists that] it would be far better to tackle something more focused, their response is, The big donors in Europe are primarily impressed by very big numbers."
Published March 27, 2012
Speedy Cat
Photograph by Chris Johns
Thousands of species will be given new freedom to roam throughout KAZA, including cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, wild dogs, lions, buffalo, hippos, and leopards. (Pictured, a cheetah racing through Botswana's Okavango Delta.)
"There are some positive spin-offs" from transfrontier conservation areas, Huntley added, "in [that] these grand designs do attract the attention of political leaders to the need for conservation—though it's very seldom followed up by action on the part of the political leaders."
(See big-cat pictures.)
Published March 27, 2012
Pretty in Pink
Photograph by Beverly Joubert
A flock of lesser flamingos gathers on Botswana's Chobe River, which runs through Chobe National Park (map), now part of KAZA.
The park's wildlife-filled riverbanks provide tourists many opportunities to view animals, especially elephants. The park also has rich grasslands, floodplains, and forests of acacia, baobab, and mopane trees.
(Explore a 360-degree panorama of elephants in Namibia.)
Published March 27, 2012
Hippos From the Air
Photograph by Michael Fay
Hippos dot the clear water of Namibia's Upper Okavango River.
Poaching is still a struggle in many parts of KAZA. (Related: "Elephant Pictures: Killed Female Highlights Poaching Rise.")
"Escalating poaching in the region will be an ongoing problem that will not go away without significant investment in alternative livelihoods, education, and antipoaching units," the Percy FitzPatrick Institute's Boyes said.
Countries such as Namibia have had recent success combating poaching, largely due to community-based conservancies that employ game guards to protect wildlife, according to WWF's Steel.
As more tourists visit Namibian-conservancy areas to see the big five—leopard, elephant, buffalo, lion, and rhinoceros—more income goes to local people who have the incentive to protect their wildlife, and are more likely to tip off game guards about suspected poachers, Steel said. KAZA managers hope this model will now spread to the area's other members countries.
(Read about a Kenyan community conservancy that protects an endangered antelope.)
Published March 27, 2012
Hyena at Sunset
Photograph by Pete McBride
A spotted hyena surveys a watering hole in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
"Continuing to develop [KAZA] is the hope for the future, but we need so much more to happen before we rest assured this amazing wilderness is adequately protected," the Percy FitzPatrick Institute's Boyes pointed out.
For instance, "achieving [UNESCO] World Heritage status for the Okavango Delta—a remote wilderness visible from space—should be noted as the most important next step to developing meaningful 'transfrontier' partnerships [in] this region in perpetuity."
(See pictures: "Four Natural Wonders Added to World Heritage List.")
Published March 27, 2012
Birds of a Feather
Photograph by George Steinmetz
Cattle egrets congregate in trees in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
One of the world's largest inland water systems, the headwaters of the Okavango begin in Angola's highlands. The water then flows through Namibia's Kavango River before ending up in Botswana.
(Watch a video about the Okavango Delta.)
Published March 27, 2012
Midnight Snack
Photograph by Beverly Joubert
Lionesses feed at night in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Despite the challenges facing KAZA, "I'm still of the belief that any conservation agenda should be encouraged," Huntley said, "but the expectations should be kept extremely realistic."
(See National Geographic Traveler's 2011 Best Tours in Africa.)
Published March 27, 2012
Next: Zambezi River Photos >>
Photograph by Chris Johns
Published March 27, 2012