We are urging you to immediately halt the illegal activities by subsidiaries of the Lake Group in Kasanka National Park and Kafinda Game Management Area (GMA), and ensure that Zambia’s first wind energy plant is not an ecological disaster!

In contravention to the Wildlife Act the Gulf Adventures game farm has encroached into Kasanka National Park by approximately 30ha and introduced non-native wildlife species to the area. Prior to the approval of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) by ZEMA, Lake Agro Industries has cleared over 560ha of pristine woodland in Kafinda GMA without permission. Government issued three stop orders before closing the farm, all of which have been ignored.

Lake Agro Industries proposes to clear a total of 7,000ha of forest from within the GMA and abstract water for irrigation from the Luwombwa River, which feeds the wetland habitats of Kasanka National Park and supports local communities.

Aside from being illegal actions, these projects threaten important biodiversity and water security for this Key Biodiversity Area, and further threatens our aspirations for Kasanka National Park to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for hosting the largest mammal migration in the world.

Every year up to ten million straw-coloured fruit bats migrate to Kasanka National Park from across Central Africa. This brings in tourists from all over the world, making Kasanka one of Zambia’s greatest ecological assets.

Straw-coloured fruit bats migrate from countries including DRC, South Sudan and Tanzania. Along the way they deliver invaluable ecosystem services, such as seed dispersal and the promotion of reforestation. While roosting in the Park during the day, the bats make nightly excursions to feed up to 100km beyond the Park boundaries, promoting the reforestation of Zambia in the process.

Kasanka National Park employs 132 local people annually and, with the assistance of international partners, Kasanka Trust supports approximately 22,000 local farmers in the Kafinda GMA with the implementation of sustainable and efficient farming techniques and livelihoods. Kasanka Trust also supports 20 schools with environmental education programmes and has sponsored 180 young people through their education.

The actions of Lake Group in the area undermines the community outreach work undertaken by the Kasanka Trust and threatens to compromise the capacity of the Trust to support the long-term sustainable livelihoods of local communities.

Another threat to Kasanka is the proposed Pensulo Wind Farm, located approximately 50km from Kasanka National Park on the nightly flightpath of the foraging fruit bats. Wind turbines pose one of the largest threats to bat populations, with mass mortality of bats recorded at wind energy plants worldwide.

Individually, these developments would be detrimental to the biodiversity value of Kasanka National Park and threaten to derail your government’s tourism growth strategy. Cumulatively, the impact would be catastrophic and would be felt by both local communities and the Zambia tourism industry, and would negatively impact reforestation across Central Africa.
 

Please join the Kasanka Trust in urging the Zambian government to promote more inclusive and sustainable development that delivers food security, jobs and renewable energy to the Zambia people only in appropriate locations that will not result in the destruction of the country’s natural resources.

Please sign this petition to urge President Hakainde Hichilema to refuse development that threatens Kasanka National Park, its wildlife and the local communities.

Learn more about these threats here: https://kasanka.com/news/save-kasanka-national-park/ 
Learn more about Kasanka here: https://www.kasanka.com