Abstracts
and Reports
of the
AHEAD Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Conservation Area
Seed Grant Awardees:
*Skills Development for Disease Monitoring in the Greater Limpopo
Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA): Capacity Building
for Wildlife Disease Diagnostics – Emily Lane, Antoinette Kotze,
Rosa Costa, Mary Louise Penrith and team, National Zoological
Gardens of South Africa and collaborating institutions
emily@nzg.ac.za,
Antoinette@nzg.ac.za, rosa.cost@gmail.com, marylouise@sentechsa.com
The
AHEAD initiative in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation
Area (GLTFCA) aims to provide a forum to address the risks
of disease transmission between humans, domestic animals and
wildlife as well as ways in which the developmental needs of
Africa can be realistically met without compromising its environmental
heritage. This project aims to take important steps to improve
our knowledge of wildlife diseases in the GLTFCA. While serological
surveys detect pathogens that we already know are present,
pathological surveys help monitor both infectious and non-infectious
diseases and identify emerging diseases. Collection of veterinary
pathology diagnostic samples is currently restricted by practical,
capacity and resource limitations. This project is designed
to develop the skills and resources of veterinarians and veterinary
pathologists working with wildlife diseases in the GLTFCA,
and maintain databases and stored research samples for retrospective
and prospective research. The joint funding received from the
Wildlife Conservation Society and US Fish and Wildlife Service
will enable 6 veterinarians each from Mozambique and South
Africa to attend a practical wildlife disease investigation
course offered by the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University
of Pretoria in 2009, and to equip them each, as well as the
laboratory of the Agricultural Research Institute in Maputo,
with a necropsy tool kit. In addition, a training course on
wildlife and exotic disease pathology will be developed for
veterinary pathologists by the National Zoological Gardens
of South Africa and the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University
of Pretoria, and funds secured will enable 4 Mozambican pathologists
handling cases from the GLTFCA to attend the course in 2009.
The grant also covers the processing costs of 30 GLTFCA wildlife
cases each for Mozambican and South African pathology laboratories.
We hope that that this seed money will facilitate successful
applications for funds from other sources for long-term wildlife
disease monitoring in the GLTFCA.
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*Land Use Alternatives and Livelihood Viability
in Ecosystems at Risk of Emergent Animal Diseases – Brian Child,
Gregory Parent and Jessica Musengezi, University of Florida
bchild@africa.ufl.edu,
gparent@ufl.edu, msengezi@ufl.edu
Many southern African countries have moved beyond cattle and
agricultural systems to promote wildlife utilization as a strategy
to improve environmental sustainability and to expand economic
opportunities in dry savannas. These countries are using wildlife’s
biophysical and economic advantages to generate a steady stream
of benefits to landholders and local communities, thereby incentivizing
the conservation of wildlife and the ecosystems in which they
are present. This has led to a substantial uptake of wildlife
enterprises on private land, as well as in some communal lands.
In the GLTFCA, for example, large areas of park and private land
are used for wildlife, and there are vast plans to improve the
connectivity of wild areas by taking down fences and to extend
this land use model to more communal areas. This connectivity
also increases the opportunities for interactions between wildlife,
livestock and humans.
As wildlife utilization and conservation programs expand in
southern Africa, this changes ecosystems and land uses, and in
turn alters the interaction between disease pathogens and various
hosts. Such alteration can lead to emergence of infectious animal
diseases that have substantial economic and biological costs.
Our contribution to understanding this changing human, wild and
domestic animal interface requires understanding how livelihoods
systems are adapting, and the vulnerability of these changing
systems to emerging diseases. Therefore, working on private and
communal lands in the GLTFCA, we will:
1. evaluate the economic trade-offs and synergies between agro-extractive
(i.e. livestock and agriculture) and bio-experience (i.e. tourism
and hunting) land-use enterprises using the Policy Analysis Matrix
(PAM) framework;
2. investigate how institutional policy (e.g. resource entitlement
structures) affects the magnitude and adaptability of enterprises
and livelihood systems at different scales; and
3. assess the vulnerability of livelihoods to disease emergence
through the building of econometric models.
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*Balancing Ecotourism And Livestock Production-
Implications For Livelihoods And The Environment – Cheryl McCrindle
and Petronella Chaminuka, University of Pretoria and Wageningen
University
cheryl.mccrindle@up.ac.za, petronella.chaminuka@wur.nl
Diversification of rural livelihoods through ecotourism is a
possible strategy to address problems of low income and unemployment
in rural households in South Africa. However, the engagement
in ecotourism by rural communities in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier
Conservation Area (GLTFCA) will likely exacerbate competing claims
on land and capital investment by a range of stakeholders in
these areas. The AHEAD conceptual framework highlights
the need to carefully examine alternative land-based livelihood
options through research on alternative options and via community
engagement. The main objective of this study is to develop, in
consultation with various local stakeholders, a framework for
evaluating land-use options and trade-offs related to improved
livelihoods that combines socio-economic and bio-physical considerations.
This framework will then be applied to evaluate ecotourism and
livestock production land-use options. The potential economic
benefit of ecotourism is investigated through choice modeling
techniques, and then integrated into a bio-economic model to
discern possibilities for improved livelihoods, together with
data collected earlier on the economics of livestock production
as a land-use possibility. The study area is the Mhinga traditional
authority on the north-western side of the Kruger National Park,
where livestock- and wildlife- based tourism ventures are competing
for land and capital investment. The key project members are
a multidisciplinary team comprising agricultural and environmental
economists, public health veterinarians and animal production
specialists. The project, which combines key themes in the AHEAD programme,
is expected to input into sustainable land-use decisions locally
and also facilitate capacity building at various levels. Overall,
this programme will contribute towards better understanding of
the range of sustainable socio-economic opportunities available
to communities living in the GLTFCA.
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Report | View/Download
PDF of Final Report
*A Comparative Study of Institutional Arrangements
for Small-Scale Livestock Farmers in Communities in the Great
Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area – Jeanette Manjengwa and
team, University of Zimbabwe Center for Applied Social Sciences
jmanjengwa@sociol.uz.ac.zw, jmanjengwa@gmail.com, jmanjengwa@hotmail.com
Generally, communal livestock farmers have weak structural organisation
and this has negative impacts on local ability to respond in
times of crisis and change. Most communal farmers do not have
the institutional capacity to organise for the procurement of
dipping chemicals, market livestock or manage disease at the
local level without external support. Consequently, the ability
of local communities to address the challenges of ticks and diseases
is limited, and herd growth and quality are negatively affected.
This project investigates local institutional arrangements and
capacity in small-scale livestock communities in the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) to manage livestock
and control livestock diseases so as to enhance production and
marketing. The study will be carried out with two communities
in the GLTFCA, namely Combomune Rio on the edge of Limpopo National
Park in Mozambique, and Ward 15 in Chiredzi, next to Gonarezhou
National Park in Zimbabwe. The project seeks to understand the
institutional arrangements around livestock production and the
factors affecting effective disease management and control in
the selected communities. The project will explore the two communities’ problems,
challenges and opportunities concerning cattle-raising in the
GLTFCA, as well as determine attitudes of small-scale livestock
producers towards wildlife and the GLTFCA. Information gathered
will contribute towards creating local-level scenarios and improved
management plans. Finally, through dissemination workshops, meetings
and literature, the project hopes to facilitate engagement between
various types of stakeholders in order to assist communities
to develop improved management plans and more effectively manage
livestock and control animal disease in the GLTFCA. A better
understanding of animal husbandry practices and examination of
current practices, particularly in relation to disease prevention
and problem animal control, will assist in the development and
introduction of mitigating strategies.
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*Zoonosis at the Interface: Lion (Panthera
leo)
Bovine Tuberculosis Overview and Analysis Workshop – Yolan Friedman,
Brenda Daly, Markus Hofmeyr and Peter Buss, Endangered Wildlife
Trust and South Africa National Parks
brendad@ewt.org.za, PeterB@sanparks.org,
MarkusH@sanparks.org, yolanf@ewt.org.za
Bovine tuberculosis has been diagnosed in a number of species
in the Kruger National Park. Historically, however, the primary
concern for South African National Parks (SANParks) has been
determining and monitoring the disease prevalence, incidence
of new infection, and spatial and temporal spread of tuberculosis
in the main wild maintenance host, the Cape Buffalo (Syncerus
caffer). As the primary predator of buffalo in the region, lions
(Panthera leo) experience high levels of exposure to Mycobacterium
bovis and this, together with their social structure, may facilitate
transmission of the disease within and between lion prides. A
Disease Risk Assessment Workshop will be held from 16 to 20 March
2009 at Kruger National Park Veterinary Wildlife Services facilities
in Skukuza, South Africa, to thoroughly evaluate the current
status of lions in the park, review and discuss current research
and clinical findings, and investigate potential population outcomes
through predictive simulation modelling efforts. The workshop
will be facilitated by the International Union for Conservation
of Nature’s (IUCN) Conservation Breeding Specialist Group
Southern Africa (CBSG SA) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT),
and will be hosted by SANParks. Expected workshop outcomes include
strategic directions for dealing with the threat of bovine tuberculosis
in lions and improved decision-making for the management of bovine
tuberculosis.
View/Download PDF of Mid-Year
Report | View/Download
PDF of Final Report
*Alternative Sustainable Futures for Post-Resettlement
in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique – Ken Giller and Jessica
Milgroom, Wageningen University
ken.giller@wur.nl, jessica.milgroom@wur.nl,
jessica_milgroom@yahoo.com
The Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique was established
as an important step in the creation of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier
Conservation Area (GLTFCA). The park is home to 27,000 people
who depend primarily on natural resources for their livelihoods.
Human-wildlife conflict and efforts to develop tourism in the
park have necessitated the resettlement of eight villages situated
along the Shingwedzi river to areas along the margins of the
park. The first of these villages has been resettled near the
village of Chinhangane in the Massingir district, and will be
the location for the activities of this project. Resettlement
commonly brings with it a set of risks for both resettled and
host communities, including impoverishment and natural resource
degradation. This integrated research and development project
aims to improve understanding of the changes in livelihoods and
subsequent impacts on natural resources of population resettlement.
It aims to explore the opportunity for increasing food security
through improved seed security and therefore mitigate some potential
risks of resettlement. Seed security has been identified through
previous research to be one of the key obstacles to attaining
food security that does not depend on continued external support.
To explore how residents adjust their livelihood activities in
short-term response to resettlement, we will specifically monitor
changes in dependence on natural resources, as well as livestock
health. In order to put in place measures to improve seed security
for both resettled and host residents, we will: (1) collect and
describe local germ plasm of agricultural crops, (2) train farmers,
SDAE and local NGO staff in techniques of seed multiplication,
conservation and participatory varietal selection, among other
topics, and (3) initiate a participatory varietal selection process
comparing improved and local varieties. This project also aims
to bring together researchers, NGOs, donors and farmers in a
coordinated development effort.
View/Download PDF of Mid-Year
Report | View/Download
PDF of Final Report
*Community Theatre as a Communications and Outreach
Tool to Support Local Level Scenario Planning Initiatives within
the GLTFCA – Kule Chitepo, Webster Whande, Simon Anstey and team,
Resource Africa
kule@resourceafrica.org, whandew@googlemail.com,
wwhande@uwc.ac.za, simon.anstey@gmail.com,
simon.anstey@resourceafrica.org, mudzananidp@yahoo.com
This project seeks to provide support to two ongoing processes
in the village of Bennde Mutale and along the Madimbo Corridor
focused around a local-level scenario planning initiative and
communication between Makuya Park management and local communities
through the Makuya Forum. The project builds on ongoing scenario
planning initiatives in the GLTFCA and aims:
To use culturally appropriate and creative communication and
facilitation tools such as theatre, dance and storytelling to
support ongoing scenario planning processes in the Bennde Mutale
community.
To facilitate the articulation of local residents’ views
and perspectives regarding the management of the Makuya Park.
A combination of methods will be used to achieve the objectives
of this project. Firstly, theatre produced in consultation with
local residents and performed by local youths will be used to
provide support to the scenario planning initiative and the Makuya
Park Forum. Secondly, facilitated thematic discussions will be
used to refine the messages conveyed through theatrical productions
and obtained through ongoing livelihoods research. Thirdly, productions
will be used to communicate local people’s realities, needs
and aspirations to broader planners of the GLTFCA and to the
management at Makuya Park.
To facilitate the enhanced articulation of local voices, the
project will work with theatre practitioners trained in facilitation
and outreach skills. In particular, the practitioners will train
a team of six local youths in theatrical and facilitation skills,
so that they will be able to conduct similar work in future as
well as generate potential income through performances in the
tourism sector. Experiences from Bennde Mutale will be shared
with other communities in Mozambique and Zimbabwe that are part
of the GLTFCA scenario planning initiatives.
View/Download
PDF of Mid-Year Report | View/Download PDF of Final Report
*Improvement of Village Poultry Health and Production
by Communities in the Limpopo National Park Support Zone in Gaza
Province, Mozambique – Robyn Alders and team, International Rural
Poultry Centre, KYEEMA Foundation
robyn.alders@gmail.com, celiag@kyeemafoundation.org,
mena.anjos@libero.it, bagnolbrigitte@icon.co.za
With the aid of an AHEAD Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation
Area Seed Grant, the International Rural Poultry Centre (IRPC)
will contribute to food security and poverty alleviation through
the improvement of husbandry practices and disease control related
to village chickens. Specific project objectives include:
a) The control of Newcastle Disease (ND) in village poultry;
b) Improved village poultry husbandry and management;
c) The development of poultry products suitable for sale to tourist
centres; and
d) Improved household welfare, including improved nutrition and
food security.
Rural farmers will be the clients of the ND control program
and their participation in the implementation and monitoring
stages of the project is critical to its success. The community
will be involved with the selection of local farmers who will
be trained to be community vaccinators. Community vaccinators
will benefit from their work by protecting their own birds against
ND and by receiving a small fee from neighbours when vaccinating
their birds. Special attention will be given to ensure women’s
participation and that they share in benefits during all stages
of the interventions.
A participatory rural appraisal will be conducted at the commencement
of the project, and then a year later, to monitor progress in
a participatory way. IRPC training will be based on adult learning
processes and use methods that benefit from and respect the knowledge
and experience of participants.
The IRPC is a subsidiary entity within the KYEEMA Foundation,
a not-for-profit organization based in Brisbane, Australia. It
offers teams of specialists involved in village poultry production
and the control of Newcastle disease (ND) under village conditions
available to deliver services and capacity-building for rural
poultry development activities internationally.
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Report | View/Download
PDF of Final Report
*Exploring Future Ecosystem Services: A Scenario
Planning Approach to Uncertainty in the South East Lowveld of
Zimbabwe – Cees Leeuwis, Chaka Chirozva and team, Wageningen University
Cees.Leeuwis@wur.nl,
chaka.chirozva@gmail.com, cchirozva@sociol.uz.ac.zw,
cchirozva@yahoo.co.uk
Scenario planning is a promising tool for dealing with uncertainty
surrounding the future, but one that has been under-utilised
in ecology and conservation. The use of scenarios to explore
ecological dynamics of alternative futures is currently being
promoted by a range of donors and scientists in the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). This study explores
the use of participatory scenario planning in three selected
wards in the South East Lowveld of Zimbabwe. The overall study
objective is to develop insights on the dynamics surrounding
local level participatory scenario planning and to explore how
this methodology can enhance self organisation, learning and
empowerment of marginalised stakeholders, as well as promote
negotiation in the evolution of the GLTFCA. Scenarios are seen
as a means of empowering marginalised local populations and facilitating
a more equitable balance of power among communities within the
GLTFCA on the one hand, and governments, technical planners,
et al. on the other. The study will explore the livelihood strategies
of the area, develop community scenarios and relate them to other
scenarios developed at a technical level. Concerns such as livestock/veterinary
disease control and tourism will be addressed, with the aim of
developing multi-scale scenarios in the long term. The study
will collect a block of data on key system processes, drivers
and interactions that will likely impact the future of the Lowveld
as a social-ecological system. This is critical in exploring
alternative scenarios for the GLTFCA at several scales, from
the local to regional, in order to promote dialogue and negotiation
amongst stakeholders in the evolution and development of the
GLTFCA.
View/Download
PDF of Mid-Year Report | View/Download
PDF of Final Report
*Pathogens, Parks and People: The Role of Disease
in TFCA Development- Elissa Cameron, Claire Geoghegan and team,
University of Pretoria Mammal Research Institute
ezcameron@zoology.up.ac.za,
cgeoghegan@zoology.up.ac.za, getz@nature.berkeley.edu, cumming@icon.co.zw
Disease is a major burden for conservation and regional development
in sub-Saharan Africa. Many countries struggle to control human
infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, and consequently
underestimate the impact that emerging and zoonotic diseases
have on livelihoods, the environment and economic sustainability.
As the development of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation
Area continues, it is essential that the potential for disease
transmission between wildlife, livestock and human populations
is assessed and that information gathered is used to inform disease
management programs and policies. Using a range of participatory
health techniques, and in collaboration with partners and stakeholders
in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, this project will quantify
the roles of local agriculture and other land uses, livelihood
strategies, and cultural practices on disease risks within the
GLTFCA. We will delineate the practical risk factors for bovine
tuberculosis and other zoonotic disease transmission between
wildlife, livestock and human populations, as well as record
the current disease concerns and levels of awareness of local
people and health service providers in proximity of protected
areas. Finally, we will provide: estimates of the current and
potential impacts of zoonotic disease on the health of communities
and livestock; a summary of community perceptions of the GLTFCA
initiative; and an assessment of how these linkages may affect
the long-term success of the GLTFCA from a multi-stakeholder
perspective. In summary, this project will encourage the incorporation
of a health perspective into conservation planning in southern
Africa, supporting livelihood needs in the context of the development
of one of the largest transfrontier conservation areas in Africa
and the world.
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Report | View/Download
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*DVD and Accompanying Brochure on Balanced Rural
Development In and Around Transfrontier Conservation Areas in
Southern Africa: The Influence of Animal Disease Management – Koos
Coetzer, Gavin Thomson and Bedelia Basson, University of Pretoria,
TAD Scientific and M & M Productions
koos.coetzer@up.ac.za, gavin@tadscientific.co.za, bedelia@pixie.co.za
The establishment of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs)
aims at securing a future for some of the world’s remaining
wilderness and wildlife conservation areas. The underlying objective
is re-establishing ‘connectedness’ among biota, including
restoration of wildlife migration patterns. There is, however,
a perception among some stakeholders that commercial livestock
production and conservation of wildlife are mutually incompatible
due to animal diseases that impede access to regulated markets
for commodities and products derived from animals. This notion
is reinforced by international trade standards that seriously
inhibit livestock production in southern Africa, and therefore
prevent the integration of wildlife conservation and livestock
farming necessary to achieve balanced, resilient rural development.
The goal of this project is to contribute to a better understanding
on the part of political and public service decision-makers of
the conflicts that exist between livestock development and conservation
initiatives, the impact that these have on rural development
in southern Africa, and the possibilities for resolving the current
impasse. The project objectives are: (1) to produce a professional
quality DVD and accompanying brochure (packaged together) to
explain this dilemma through an easily understandable audio-visual
narrative based around one or two representative characters /
situations where wildlife, livestock and communities in TFCAs
interface; (2) to demonstrate with a powerful visual message
that current concepts and approaches can be modified to the advantage
of proponents of both biodiversity conservation and livestock
production, and (3) to provide non-technical decision-makers
with a succinct, easily understandable and scientifically sound
source of information to help with ongoing evaluation of policy
options. Potential project beneficiaries include communities
inside and nearby both the Great Limpopo and the Kavango-Zambezi
(KAZA) TFCAs, conservation and livestock authorities, and associated
interest groups – all of whom will benefit from improved
communications and the potential for more balanced approaches
to rural development policy.
*A Strategic Review of Fencing Policies and
Impacts in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area:
Lessons Learned and Applicability to the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier
Conservation Area – Ken Ferguson and John Hanks, FIRM,
University of Pretoria Mammal Research Institute
selousgame@hotmail.com, hanksppt@iafrica.com
Fences represent a pervasive and increasingly important keystone
structure that divides ‘natural’ and ‘human-derived’ landscapes
in southern Africa and more specifically separates wildlife from
livestock production areas. Permeable fences allow a flow rate
of large mammals that leads to problems associated with the primary
intended functions of the fence: blocking wildlife-livestock
disease transmission (an indirect form of human-wildlife conflict),
and reducing direct human-wildlife conflict (e.g., human-elephant
conflict). The history of fencing policy in southern Africa is
inconsistent with more recently developed long-term transfrontier
conservation aims. Policy options for guiding fencing decisions
must be explored and set within the context of disease containment
options and, more generally, human-wildlife conflict mitigation
goals. We aim to conduct a strategic review as a ‘stepping-stone’ to
the development of a more comprehensive knowledge base related
to the needs for fence management and maintenance, fence monitoring,
and implementation of allied policies (such as corridor development)
in transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs). Ultimately, this
should lead to the drafting of Transfrontier Fence Management
Plans for individual TFCAs. Our goal is to deliver a comprehensive
and strategic overview of the current role of fencing and the
impacts these structures have on agricultural and conservation
objectives. This Strategic Review will ideally yield information
on planning, implementation and evaluation of the impacts of
fencing policies (and alternatives). The conservation and developmental
success of the Great Limpopo TFCA and Transfrontier Park (GLTFCA
/ GLTP) and the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA will depend upon
a solid understanding of the complex issues surrounding approaches
to the containment (and release) of wildlife and livestock. We
hope this review will facilitate strategic discussion and increase
regional knowledge transfer among transfrontier stakeholders
with regard to the long-term resolution of fencing issues. The
harmonization of fencing policy and the exploration of viable,
science-based alternatives among a TFCA’s partner countries
will be a complex and time-consuming process that will require
the involvement of a variety of stakeholders representing divergent
interests. These stakeholders require a cross-sectoral review
of the evidence pertaining to fencing successes and failures
that can inform future actions and research. Recognizing
and fully respecting the sovereignty of each country, this analysis
aims to explore means of improving collaboration, between sectors
and among the partner countries, on fences and the social, political,
economic and biological forces that shape them.
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