Another make over for Hwange National Park
A ONE-STOP ACCESS PAVILION is under construction at the entrance of the Hwange National Park and is expected to change the face of Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve.
Jointly sponsored by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), the project is part of the 25-year long-term conservation agreement, where the former will invest US$50 million into the Hwange National Park.
The pavilion will comprise a visitors’ centre, tourism offices, car park, housing for wildlife rangers and a new gate.
During the groundbreaking ceremony of the pavilion in Hwange on Friday, Environment, Climate and Wildlife Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said construction of the state-of-art facility will significantly improve the country’s tourism sector.
“When you look at the infrastructure before 2018, it really had not received enough investment in light of the product that it carries, but since we have partnered IFAW, we have upgraded a lot within this park,” he said.
“This one-stop access pavilion will change the face of Hwange National Park. Even visitors will begin to feel that they are now entering a holy land, where we have the Big Five animals, and this really speaks to the vision of the President (Mnangagwa), who keeps on emphasising on modernisation of every facility we have.”
He commended the works being done by IFAW in mitigating human-wildlife conflict in Hwange.
“The demand-driven support has targeted investments towards crucial conservation, game water management, community engagement, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and tourism development.
“Communal livelihoods are a vital aspect of conservation, because, if they are well taken care of, we become confident that our heritage is well-protected. The vulnerable groups in society cannot continue to be disadvantaged by bearing the costs of living with wildlife, and l am glad IFAW recognised that,” he said.
ZimParks director-general Mr Fulton Mangwanya said they have so far invested US$450 000 in the pavilion.
“We have seen serious development at Hwange National Park ever since we got into partnership with IFAW. To date, IFAW has poured in US$3,5 million in other projects and now we are talking of a one-stop access pavilion, which we are going to develop together here, and this will actually put Hwange National Park on the map.
“So far, we have put in US$450 000 in the project and we are expecting it to be complete by June 2024,” said Mr Mangwanya.
IFAW’s country director Ms Alleta Nyahuye said their top agenda is to co-create and design solutions that protect people and wildlife.
“Our main agenda is to co-create and co-design solutions in enhancing efforts in expanding and protecting iconic species through robust law enforcement, effective land use planning, community engagement, applied research and tourism development through our Room-to-Roam initiative, a visionary and ambitious approach where people and animals thrive together,” she said.
“We are very excited that together, we are going to build a better home for the people and animals, and that our tourism is going to be improved greatly, in line with our Vision 2030.”