Liwonde National Park and the Chikolongo Community – SDG 2, SDG 4, SDG 5, SDG 6, SDG 8, SDG 15
Description
Liwonde National Park in Malawi is surrounded by impoverished human settlements that rely on the park for resources contributing to degradation and conflict in and around the park. IFAW is collaborating with the leadership of Chikolongo, one of the surrounding villages, in a project designed to improve food security while reducing human-wildlife conflict. Beginning in 2013, the project has included the building of an electrified fence between the park and the village, a water pump for irrigation, drinking water, and fish farms; as well as community farming plots, chicken coops, and an apiary.
The project’s primary objective is to reduce human-wildlife conflict in Chikolongo whilst improving food security and nutrition, all in a sustainable manner. The project is meeting these goals by combining elements of wildlife conservation, environmental protection, development, and human wellbeing. It centers on eliminating the need for people to go into the park illegally and preventing wildlife from entering the village while improving the lives of the villagers in a holistic fashion. Only by considering both environmental and human needs can the project be sustainable and effective.
To initiate the project, IFAW carried out a baseline evaluation in order to identify the major causes of human-wildlife conflict in the Chikolongo community surrounding the Liwonde National Park. Once the baseline evaluation was concluded, it was derived that the specific objectives of the project were the following: to establish a community-developed boundary fence to project Chikolongo village from animal attacks and to alleviate human-wildlife; improving food and nutritional security of the Chikolongo villagers to further prevent poaching for bushmeat; to improve the livelihoods of Chikolongo villagers through income generation, access to water and food security; and to reduce the residents' of Chikolongo village reliance on poaching animals and fish for protein and income through the provision of protein and reduced requirement to enter the Liwonde National Park. Once the baseline evaluation was completer, IFAW and its partners (including Chikolongo community members) carried out the aforementioned objectives. To facilitate meaningful comparison to the baseline evaluation to monitor the project, IFAW has carried out a similar sample of the project’s direct and non-direct beneficiaries, members of the external community, project management staff and partner organization staff were interviewed. The same sets of topics addressed in the baseline evaluation were evaluated alongside additional topics which considered the project’s growth over the years.
The project has also helped develop economic growth and work opportunities in the village. For example, various community members “bought in” to the fish ponds by building them. Specifically, twenty-five families in the community worked on the ponds and now own a share of the fish output. Among direct beneficiaries, fish are reportedly consumed up to 20 times per month, and 70.8 percent sourced their fish from new fish farms which is comprised of seven fish ponds (holding approximately 50,000 tilapia). Additionally, animal husbandry and beekeeping have expanded, and surplus crops are being sold to the park lodge. Jobs have also been created to guard the electric fence against poachers.
Moreover, the differential impacts of the project leave no-one behind since the project provides trainings to community members on improving agricultural productivity, money management, and other practical topics. The project also developed and provided schools supplies and materials on elephant ecology and human-wildlife conflict. Notably, the construction of the pump has also allowed many more girls to be able to attend educational opportunities as they do not have to spend hours each day retrieving water from the river.
The project has also prevented further wildlife poaching. In the past, villagers would go into the park to poach wildlife in order to provide for their families, resulting in thousands of snares littering the landscape and leading to painful injury and death for wildlife. Recent surveys have found reduced poaching and fewer snares on the landscape, allowing wildlife populations and important ecosystem services to recover from the initial park degradation assessment. Additionally, the creation of fish farms provided a reliable source of protein as an alternative to bushmeat.
Additionally, incorporating community input in a structured and profound way has led to unique interventions tailored for this specific community and interventions that are sustainable and popular among the community. Both the local chiefs and the Malawi government have been heavily involved since the beginning of the project.
A challenge that the project ran into, in particular, was the lack of infrastructure, equipment, and training for some of the interventions and alternative livelihoods promoted in the project. For instance, the village does not have access to sophisticated agriculture equipment and construction tools; therefore, in order to bypass this issue, the project ensured that the community agriculture intervention only taught methods that could be used without expensive or unavailable equipment. In addition, the project made it a priority to build capacity within the village to build, repair, farm, or otherwise manage any of the interventions. The end result is a sustainable project where locals, not off-site contractors, are running the programs.
Long term cost efficiency and economic sustainability have been primary goals of the project from initial planning. After substantial investment in capacity, the project largely is run by community members who now have the skills to maintain and expand the infrastructure and initiatives. Because of the local capacity, benefits are clearly outweighed by costs.
As of today, the project has grown significantly to include more irrigated land, additional water access points, modified fish ponds, a solar powered pump, a grain storage shed, beekeeping infrastructure, and a sports field as well as a meeting point for community engagement. In addition, a new rotation plan has been implemented to ensure fair use of irrigated plots amongst Chikolongo community members.
Through the implementation of conservation initiatives in Malawi, the Chikolongo Community had the opportunity to establish alternative food security practices and better access to clean water, which has contributed to more sustainable livelihoods and food resources. With access to food security and clean water, the Chikolongo Community has been able to expand animal husbandry and beekeeping, which has also helped create economic growth in the community since surplus crops are sold to the park lodge for revenue. Moreover, in order to further protect the elephants of Liwonde National Park, the project has helped enable decent work for the local communities by creating jobs to guard the electric fence against poachers. By improving the food security, employment opportunities, and wellbeing, the project has reduced bushmeat poaching and reduced environmental degradation of the park and surrounding ecosystems.<br />
In addition, by improving the community’s access to water, IFAW helped improve the safety and education of women. Prior to the water pump, it was most frequently girls and women retrieving water from the river for the community, which unfortunately exposed them to animal and human attacks. Since the water pump, more girls and women have been able to avoid the aforementioned attacks, and girls have more time to attend school. <br />
IFAW was able to simultaneously reduce human-wildlife conflict and park degradation while improving food security and nutrition at the Liwonde National Park and the Chikolongo community. This project proves that sustainable conservation efforts often rely on sustainable human development practices and vice versa. Wildlife and environmental conservation initiatives were a valuable tool to improve the long-term success and sustainability of the Chikolongo community and helped improve the lives of the community in a holistic manner. Beyond the positive influence the project has had on developing sustainable livelihoods for the Chikolongo community, it has also resulted in demonstrable positive attitudinal change (88 percent positive change in perception of the park and the wildlife surrounding the community). There is evidence to suggest that this is even driving prominent behavior change in the community including greatly reduced park entry, an increase in willingness to report human-wildlife conflict, and even (albeit limited) instances of poachers changing their vocations.
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Mark Hofberg, Campaigns Officer