AWF provided direct technical and financial support to Mana Pools National Park in the Middle Zambezi Valley from 2016 to 2025. Our work was designed to meet several challenges. Unreliable communication between ranger patrols and their home base left rangers vulnerable and less effective; park infrastructure, equipment, and technical training were lacking; and communities felt excluded from conservation activities.

Through a combination of anti-poaching and human-wildlife coexistence strategies, ranger and community scout training, and investments in essential infrastructure and equipment, AWF supported Zimparks in increasing wildlife security in the park and surrounding areas. 

• Poaching declined, with the elephant population increasing and the lion population stable.
• Infrastructure was updated and modernized by AWF.
• Access to fresh water at key locations in the park and the surrounding communities was improved.
• Cross-border meetings and joint river patrols increased collaboration between Zimbabwe and Zambia, which is central to the ongoing success of transfrontier conservation.
• Stakeholder forums with traditional leaders, Zimparks, rural district councils, NGOs, and the private sector, among others, created pathways to curb poaching, improve community relations with wildlife authorities and encourage positive human-wildlife coexistence with elephants, lions and other wildlife species.