ZAMBEZI societr,'a local NGO, is administering a pilot research project to
find ways of conserving sites in the
Zambezi basin which are under threat
and are not protected within the
national parks estate. The society's
partners in the project include
Biodiversity Foundation for Africa,
who will identify the vulnerable sites
and find ways of conserving their bio-diversity by enlisting help from
local communities.
The first phase of the research project has identified over 80 sites of
botanical interest, 30 of which were
identified by a study undertaken by the
National Herbarium in 1991. Among
them, 10 are considered to be of national conservation importance. These sites
were chosen for their rarity, high plant
species diversity, wide variety of habitats
and relatively unspoilt condition.
Several important sites such as the
'sidaga' grasslands in the Gokwe communal land in western Zimbabwe, are
fast disappearing due to increasing settlements and cultivation. The sites also
have plant species that have been seldom recorded elsewhere. So are the Dande
communal land northeast of Zimbabwe which are inhabited by the nyala
antelope and the rare red squirrel.
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