By Annie
Zulu
“My husband
gave up on poaching and joined my crop farming and livestock business which I
set up using my savings,” Maureen Kayula, a 53-year-old a famer and member of
the Natwafwane Community Conservation Bank (COCOBA) group established with
support of the North Luangwa Conservation Programme, told her group in
Katibunga, a small community in Mwila village, Mpika District.
The members
applauded Maureen´s announcement, as poaching is one of the major issues that
the group strongly advocate against, aside from empowering its members with
economic security.
Mwila
Village is in Mukungule Game Management Area (GMA) located on the western
boundary of the North Luangwa National Park, one of Zambia´s wildlife rich
national park.
Members of
the Natwafwane COCOBA group, consisting of 30 women meet once every week under
a shady mango tree to hand in their savings contributions, get loans and
discuss wildlife conservation.
According to
the group´s Secretary Loveness Mumbi ,55, the group has been in existence since
2015, and like any other savings group has helped its members improve their
economic livelihoods.
Loveness
said the group has also played a key role stopping poaching and advocating for
wildlife conservation in the area.
She
acknowledged that this has been made possible with the support from the North
Luangwa Conservation Programme, a partnership between the Frankfurt Zoological
Society and the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife to conserve
the North Luangwa National Park and its adjoining GMAs.
“After
setting up the group, members were trained on conservation by the North Luangwa
Conservation Programme and since then we have been conducting activities aimed
at sensitizing the community on the negative effects of poaching, deforestation
and the benefits of conservation.
“We do door
to door campaigns, organise meetings with community members and sometimes we
get invited to speak on conservation at local meetings. Wildlife conservation
has more benefits, compared to poaching and cutting down trees,” Loveness said.
Community
Liaison Assistant Davis Chanda told this reporter in an interview that the
North Luangwa Conservation Programme, together with the Frankfurt Zoological
Society has been working with women in GMA communities through initiatives such
as COCOBAs to stop poaching.
“The purpose
of the COCOBA groups is to help women venture into different sustainable
financial pathways and prevent them from engaging in poaching activities. We
offer the groups with financial help when setting them up and also equip
members with knowledge on conservation,” Mr Chanda said.
He added
that women in GMAs tend to interact with wildlife more than men through
activities such as fetching water, harvesting crop and collecting firewood,
hence the need to engage them in conservation initiatives.
“These
experiences make women observe and learn from animal patterns and behaviours
and that knowledge is critical when it comes to solving conservation dilemmas.
As primary caregivers at home and in their communities, women are also uniquely
positioned to share their deep knowledge of local wildlife,” he said.
