Zambia and Zimbabwe have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of the Lower Zambezi-Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area.
Speaking on arrival at Rainbow Tower Hotel, the venue for the event, Minister of Tourism Rodney Sikumba said this marks the start of the two countries’ joint collaboration of the signing ceremony in ensuring the sustainable development of wildlife resources in the Lower Zambezi – Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area (LOZAMAP- TFCA).
He said Zambia and Zimbabwe have always been in close collaboration, working together to foster unity not only with our people but as well as in other aligned national and regional targets.
Hon. Sikumba said the LOZAMAP – TFCA will not be the first landscape in which the two neighbouring countries will be jointly managing a conservation area, but the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation area is another landscape in which the two sister countries have been working closely together in the sustainable management of natural resources.
And Zimbabwean Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndhlovu, said the signing will bring development to the area as it will unlock the potential of the area by attracting partners who bring funding to the landscape.
He said the two countries should be more deliberate in fostering the other shared natural resources such the Zambezi River in the same manner as that of the Victoria Falls which remain as jewels and endowments to the two neighbors.
Zimbabwe has since assumed chairmanship following the signing and will hand over to Zambia after two years.
Meanwhile, Peace Parks Foundation Chief Executive Officer Werner Myburgh said the signing ceremony is significant as it creates a platform for collaboration and that his organization is ready to support such transfrontier initiatives.
The event was also attended by Zambia Ambassador to Zimbabwe Derick Livune and Tourism Permanent Secretary Evan Muhanga.
