Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

The semi- evergreen, evergreen and deciduous forests cover 66 per cent of the total area of Zambia. The country has eight wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites) covering over 40,000 km 2 [ ] 238 Strict regulations for forest reserves The network of Zambia’s statutory protected areas comprises 20 Nation- al Parks (NPs) covering 63,630 km 2 , 36 Game Management Areas (GMAs) covering about 16,7557 km 2 and 490 Forest Reserves (FRs) covering 74,361 km 2 . The Protected Area net- work map was overlaid on the vegeta- tion map for a preliminary overview of vegetation-based ecosystem rep- resentation in NPs and FRs. There are two main categories of forest reserves in the country: local forests (306) and national forests (184). The manage- ment objective in local forests is to meet the needs for forest products for present and future generations of local people. The objective for estab- lishing national forests is to protect and conserve major water catchments and their biodiversity. For these rea- sons, both local and national forests fall in the IUCN conservation area category VIII (multiple use manage- ment area or managed resource area). Regardless of the type of forest reserve, no permanent settlements are allowed there. Within each cat- egory of forest reserve, two func- tional sub-categories are recognized: production (107) and protection (383) forests. Licensed exploitation of forest products is allowed in produc- tion forests while protection forests are intended for the protection of water catchments, biodiversity and cultural values. In addition to forest reserves, there are also 59 botanical reserves that are located either within or outside forest reserves. Botanical reserves were established to preserve relic vegetation types and/or promote the in-situ conservation of important plant genetic resources. They are also sources of germplasm for multiplica- tion and breeding programmes. Although FRs are classified as either protection for the conservation of biodiversity and watersheds or production for sustainable utilization of forest resources, in practice there is no difference in the way that they are managed. The Zambia Wildlife Authori- ty (ZAWA) administers NPs and oversees the protection of wildlife. The Wildlife Act of 1998 provides for the establishment of Community Resources Boards (CRBs) that provide for the involvement of local commu- nities in the co-management of wild- life in GMAs. At the time of writing, there were 54 CRBs in the country. Since the Fourth National Report, the key changes in the status of National Parks and Game Management pro- tected area systems is the creation of a new national park. The Lusaka Na- tional Park was established in 2011 on tracts of land that were forest reserves, and have since been de-gazetted to pave way for the establishment of the park. The Park is stocked with 827 animals comprising nine species. Z ambia is endowed with an abundance of natural resources and a rich biological diversity. The importance of biodiversity for Zambia lies mainly in its contribution to the provision of ecosystem goods and services for national economic development and livelihoods. At the ecosystem level, forests, agro-ecosystems and wetlands can be distinguished as the key ecosystem components that have a relatively greater bearing on the country’s natural system integrity upon which the national economy and the livelihoods of the population depend. The current assessment recorded a total of 12,505 species in the country compared to 7,884 in a 1998 assessment. Elephants at the Lower Zambezi Ellen Weiss Zambia