CSL 2024 Annual Report by CSLZambia

2024 ANNUAL REPORT

What We Do

Since 2003, Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) has partnered with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) to protect wildlife and mitigate human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in the South Luangwa Valley. CSL works to safeguard 1.4 million hectares of largely intact wilderness, encompassing South Luangwa National Park and its surrounding GMAs.

CSL employs an integrated approach to wildlife protection, resource management, and human-wildlife coexistence, working in close collaboration with DNPW, local communities, and conservation partners. Prioritising community engagement, CSL works with people living alongside the wildlife of the South Luangwa Valley through conservation awareness and support programmes, alongside anti-poaching foot patrols, aerial surveillance, K9 Unit tracking and detection, and 24/7 veterinary support for both domestic and wild animals.

Where We Work

South Luangwa National Park lies at the heart of Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, a vast and ecologically significant wilderness at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley. The Luangwa River, one of Africa’s last remaining free-flowing rivers, winds through the valley for 800 km, shaping an ecosystem rich in biodiversity. The park, together with its surrounding GMAs, covers 1.4 million hectares of largely intact habitat, supporting an extraordinary variety of wildlife.

South Luangwa is home to over 60 mammal species and 450 bird species, including regionally significant populations of lion, leopard, and African wild dog. The valley is also home to rare and endemic species such as Crawshay’s zebra, Cookson’s wildebeest, and the Luangwa giraffe, a subspecies found only in this region. As one of Zambia’s last remaining elephant strongholds, the valley plays a crucial role in the conservation of these iconic animals.

The unique combination of rich floodplains, woodlands, and oxbow lagoons makes South Luangwa one of Africa’s most important conservation landscapes. However, increasing pressure from poaching, habitat loss, and HWC threatens its delicate balance, making CSL’s work in this region more critical than ever.

Our Vision

The long-term survival of wildlife and habitats in South Luangwa under the custodianship of the Zambian people.

Our Mission

To work with community and conservation partners in the protection of the wildlife and habitats of the South Luangwa ecosystem.

80% OF SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK AND 19% OF GAME MANAGEMENT AREAS COVERED BY LIGHT AIRCRAFT FLIGHTS

Veterinary Anti-poaching coverage 60% OF THE SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK AND 6% OF THE GAME MANAGEMENT AREAS COVERED BY HELICOPTER FLIGHTS 35% OF SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK AND 23% OF GAME MANAGEMENT AREAS COVERAGE BY FOOT PATROLS 80% 60% 35%

Human-Wildlife Coexistence

RURAL SUBSISTENCE FARMERS SUPPORTED 513

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT RAPID RESPONSE UNIT OPERATIONS

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT INCIDENTS ASSESSED ACROSS 7 CHIEFDOMS + 3,000

63 CHILLI PATROLLERS WORKING IN 5 CHIEFDOMS 55 kms 31 hrs OF CONSERVATION HOUR RADIO REACHING + 50,000 LISTENERS 21

OF CONFLICT MITIGATION FENCING PROTECTING 606 HECTARES OF FARMLAND , 4 VILLAGES AND 5 COMMUNITY VEGETABLE GARDENS

1,107

855 FARMERS TRAINED IN CHILLI GROWING 416 kgs OF CHILLIES HARVESTED + $40,000 OF ESTIMATED LIVELIHOOD LOSS DUE TO HWC 14 ANIMALS RESCUED, INCLUDING 7 DENSARED

DRAMA PERFORMANCES FOR 9,146 AUDIENCE MEMBERS

45 COMMUNITY GAME DRIVES FOR 382 PARTICIPANTS

669

DOMESTIC ANIMALS VACCINATED AGAINST RABIES

DOMESTIC CATS AND DOGS STERILISED 24 DOGS VACCINATEDAGAINST CANINE DISTEMPER

1,016

TOTAL DOMESTIC ANIMALS TREATED

445 ANIMALS TREATED AT THE MFUWE CLINIC 571 ANIMALS DURING 23 COMMUNITY OUTREACH VISITS

RESOURCE PROTECTION

“Our anti-poaching efforts in 2024 have made significant strides, with eight new recruits joining our ground patrol force, bringing our total now to 116 scouts on active anti-poaching duty in the field. Their work has led to increased patrol coverage, more long patrols and a strengthened effort to remove illegal snares and traps from the landscape. Specialised, intelligence-led combined team operations also significantly increased this year, yielding excellent results.

The South Luangwa K9 Unit celebrated its 10th anniversary with a record number of successful operations, including roadblocks and property searches that disrupted illegal wildlife trade. The Unit was also recognised on an international stage, earning 2nd runner-up in the Africa Conservation Awards.

The Aerial Unit remained essential to law enforcement, veterinary support, and surveillance. With numerous light aircraft and helicopter patrols, we improved our ability to detect and respond to threats across South Luangwa.

During the year, we also installed a wing camera that will enable our pilot to capture high-resolution aerial footage, enhancing surveillance, monitoring wildlife movements, and improving our ability to detect illegal activities in realtime. This addition will strengthen our aerial operations and provide valuable insights to support conservation efforts in South Luangwa.

All our work in resource protection is made possible through the dedication of our teams and the strength of the collaborative partnership between CSL, DNPW and other key stakeholders working across South Luangwa.

Looking ahead to 2025, we remain committed to strengthening our conservation impact and safeguarding South Luangwa’s wildlife. With strengthened patrol units, enhanced aerial surveillance and the invaluable support of our partners, we anticipate even greater strides in wildlife protection and anti-poaching efforts. The introduction of new technologies will further improve our ability to monitor and respond to threats, while ongoing community engagement will continue to foster a deeper connection between people and conservation.

As we step into the new year, we do so with high hopes, renewed energy, and a shared vision for a thriving, protected South Luangwa.”

Benson Kanyembo

CSL Law Enforcement Advisor

Scout Capacity Building

This year, external training providers, Frontier, continued their support for longterm capacity building among law enforcement personnel in South Luangwa. The seven-week training programme included foundational individual training, followed by team development sessions with scouts from DNPW, CSL, BioCarbon Partners, and local Community Resource Boards based in the Lower Lupande GMA.

Conservation Technology

In recent years, CSL’s Technology Department has grown rapidly, playing a critical role in supporting both day-to-day operations and the development of cutting-edge conservation solutions. The four-person Conservation Tech team provides essential infrastructure across CSL, including off-grid and back-up power systems and a communications network that includes internet, radio and satellite. The maintenance of a robust communications network throughout South Luangwa National Park and the surrounding GMAs ensures smooth coordination between the CSL-DNPW Control Room, scout camps, ground patrols, vehicles, and the CSL-ZCP aircraft.

The team also works with partners to develop and deploy innovative technologies that enhance law enforcement and intelligence gathering - for example, remote sensors placed strategically throughout the park, capable of detecting environmental and human-triggered signals that provide near real-time data to the Control Room. These insights allow for rapid, informed decision-making and enable ground teams to respond more effectively and efficiently to threats.

The team also plays a key role in managing and maintaining a Law Enforcement SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) database, integrated with EarthRanger. By compiling and analysing patrol data, incident reports, wildlife sightings, and threat indicators, SMART helps track trends over time and measure the effectiveness of law enforcement and conservation interventions whilst EarthRanger gives access to data in real-time. The CSL Conservation Tech team ensures that critical information is reliable, up-to-date, and accessible to guide adaptive management strategies across the South Luangwa ecosystem.

In 2024, four CSL law enforcement and HWCx CSL team members attended the SMART Congress in Namibia whilst Control Room Manager and the HWC RRU Manager attended an EarthRanger regional workshop in Lusaka. All team members benefited massively from presentations, training sessions and the networking opportunities with other conservationists in the region.

Aerial photography supports law enforcement and wildlife monitoring

The arrival of a new wing-mounted camera in late 2024 significantly enhanced the aerial team’s capacity for highresolution photography. High resolution images can now be captured during routine flights, enabling post-flight analysis to identify critical details such as injuries on animals, skeletal remains to determine species, or the size and layout of suspected poachers’ camps. These images serve as valuable evidence to support law enforcement and prosecution efforts, while also confirming wildlife sightings for conservation monitoring and research.

Helicopter support

The use of helicopter support in 2024 once again proved vital for anti-poaching operations. Building on the successes of recent years, the helicopter remained vital for rapid-response deploymentsparticularly for the Quick Reaction Force - enabling swift access to remote or high-risk areas. Alongside the Cessna 180, the helicopter also served as a strong visual deterrent to poachers and provided a notable morale boost for ground teams. A strategic trial during the driest season of 2024 - when visibility is highest due to reduced vegetation - proved especially effective, enhancing aerial surveillance and increasing detection rates.

Key results from 2024 helicopter operations:

• 112 operations over 117 flying hours, covering 18,581 km

• 60% of the South Luangwa National Park and 6% of the Game Management Areas covered by helicopter flights

• 9 suspects apprehended

• 17 firearms confiscated

• 3 elephant carcasses identified

“How do we define success? It’s a question I think about a lot with our community coexistence work. With the human population escalating and conservation efforts better protecting wildlife, human-wildlife interactions continue to increase in the villages and fields around South Luangwa National Park.

We put people at the heart of conservation, and in recent years our focus has shifted from conflict to coexistence. We spent much of 2024 consolidating our work, and training a growing team. While we can’t prevent all conflicts, we are getting better at teaching people how to minimise the cost and negative impacts, thereby improving tolerance for South Luangwa’s wildlife.

Despite the daily difficulties of this work, noticing the successes brings us hope - for example, when all seven Community Resource Boards actively participate in collaborative quarterly meetings; when we discover a farmer has independently and successfully used a smelly fence to protect his field from crop raiding elephants; or the number of people killed by wildlife dramatically reduces year on year.

In 2023, 12 people were killed by wildlife. This number dropped to 3 in 2024, but it’s still 3 too many. The reduction in fatalities can be credited in part to the CSL-DNPW Rapid Response Unit - an elite, highly trained team with a mission to reduce the loss of lives and livelihoods by wildlife, which we expanded in early 2024. Whether it’s helping move elephants from farming areas, rushing people injured by crocodiles or elephants to medical care or starting a new radio show to spread reliable information and answer caller questions, they are effective and deserved to be recognised as the African Conservation Awards’ ‘Best Ranger Team’ in November. This award also underscored the importance of community coexistence efforts in conservation.

Looking ahead to 2025, I feel optimism for new programmes, strengthened partnerships, and the evolution of the Tetezani Luangwa Alliance with the Zambian Carnivore Programme and Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust. As a team, we are adaptable, committed and determined to build a future where people and wildlife coexist peacefully.”

Emma Robinson HWCx Program Manager

HUMAN WILDLIFE COEXISTENCE

Building conflict-free livelihoods

Protecting people and wildlife in real time

Since its launch in October 2021, the CSL-DNPW HWC Rapid Response Unit (RRU) has been on call 24/7 to respond to high-risk incidents where lives and livelihoods are under immediate threat. In February 2024, the unit was expanded to include 16 specially trained scouts and two dedicated Community Liaison Officers. The full team underwent intensive training delivered by external service provider Frontier, significantly improving their capacity to respond swiftly and effectively to urgent conflict situations.

Throughout 2024, the RRU hotline received 892 calls (an increase of more than 60% from the previous year) with 513 cases classified as severe enough to warrant immediate intervention. These included urgent responses to crop-raiding elephants, wildlife entering densely populated areas, and other situations requiring rapid de-escalation. In addition to mitigating active threats, the RRU also played a critical role in community support, providing emergency transport to medical facilities for 22 individuals injured as a result of wildlife conflict.

This work had a measurable impact: human fatalities resulting from wildlife conflict dropped from 12 in 2023 to three in 2024 - a 300% reduction. As the first unit of its kind in Zambia, the CSL-DNPW RRU has set a new benchmark for collaborative, community-focused conflict response. The outstanding work of the team was recognised on the international stage when it was awarded the Best Ranger Team at the 2024 African Conservation Awards.

In 2024, CSL continued to promote elephant friendly farming practices, with a strong focus on chilli, a proven natural deterrent for elephants. A total of 855 farmers (514 women and 341 men) were trained in chilli cultivation and harvesting techniques. To further support local producers and strengthen mitigation efforts, CSL purchased 416 kg of chilli from established farmers for use in elephant deterrent strategies.

For the first time, CSL also supported the drilling of a borehole for the Longa Cooperative in Malama Chiefdom. This pilot initiative aims to enable year-round chilli farming and assess the potential for scaling up production in 2025 and beyond.

Beyond chilli, CSL expanded its sustainable livelihoods work by suppor ting the installation of protective fencing for community vegetable gardens. By partnering with existing community groups and cooperatives, and providing technical training, materials, and conflict mitigation tools, CSL is helping households develop long-term, wildlife-safe sources of income that also enhance food security.

Increasing community engagement in conservation

Spreading key conservation messages across communities remained a major focus for the HWCx team in 2024. Outreach efforts included 32 hours of local radio broadcasts - including the weekly Conservation Hour and new ‘RRU Breakfast Show’ - as well as 21 interactive theatre performances that reached more than 9,000 people across five Chiefdoms. These platforms not only raised awareness but also encouraged open dialogue around human-wildlife conflict and coexistence.

In 2024, 45 game drives brought 382 community members into the South Luangwa National Park — 62% of whom had never been inside the park before. This year also introduced initial trials of our new, specialised ‘Elephant Experience’ Community Game Drives, which will be further developed in 2025 to deepen community understanding of elephant ecology and behaviour.

Rescuing wildlife in a landscape under pressure

Alongside habitat encroachment, snaring remains the greatest threat to wildlife in the South Luangwa ecosystem. Seasonal snaring trends have remained consistent in recent years, snaring typically increasing annually during the drier months. Interestingly, as snare recoveries have increased over recent years, the number of de-snares has reduced. This indicates the positive impact of ongoing, rigorous and strategic anti-snaring activities with both CSL-DNPW ground patrols, Community Clean Sweeps and critical data provided by partners at ZCP. Throughout 2024 the CSL-ZCP wildlife veterinarian, Dr Mwamba Sichande, received a total of 15 reports of snared animals. Alongside CSL, ZCP and DNPW

team members, Dr Sichande subsequently led the de-snaring of a total of seven animals – four elephants, one lion, one hyena and one leopard. An additional seven rescue operations were made including: helping transfer a very young elephant calf to the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust (sadly the calf died two days later); one sick vulture and one sick fish eagle rescued (sadly neither survived); a female giraffe who had failed to give birth due to a stillborn calf (the mother survived); two elephants and one buffalo stuck in the mud none which survived after rescue due to prolonged dehydration, a lack of blood circulation and organ failure.

Collaborative efforts save Kamini

In June, the CSL team received a report from the staff at Remote Africa Safari’s Tafika Camp about a female leopard, known locally as Kamini, with a young cub who was found with a snare around her left hind leg. Dr. Sichande quickly mobilized a team and, the following day, traveled to the location where the Tafika team was monitoring Kamini. Leopards are notoriously difficult to dart, but Dr. Sichande and his team successfully immobilised the female leopard and began treatment within minutes.

The snare was unusual - a small trap made of twisted sack threads, typically used to capture smaller animals like guinea fowl, rather than the wire snares more commonly found in the bush. The team worked swiftly and carefully, closely monitoring Kamini’s condition. They removed the snare, cleaned the wound, and administered antibiotics before leaving her to recover, under the vigilant care of the Tafika team. By 4 a.m. the next morning, Kamini regained consciousness and immediately walked to find her cub, which had been safely hidden nearby. Kamini made a full recovery and has since been sighted with her cub back in the area.

Expanding reach and impact with the Mobile Vet Clinic

A major boost to CSL’s veterinary operations came in February 2024 with the addition of a new veterinary vehicle. This vehicle has significantly enhanced the efficiency and reach of the CSL vet team, enabling faster emergency responses, more reliable access to remote areas, and easier transportation of essential medical supplies. Throughout 2024, Dr. Sichande traveled over 18,600 kilometers in the field, providing critical veterinary care and wildlife support across the region.

2024 saw the return of CSL’s annual Fun Run, held in June and drawing over 6,000 participants. This year’s event was hosted by the newly formed Tetezani Luangwa Alliance, a partnership between CSL, CWET, and ZCP. The event also garnered additional support from Wildlife Crime Prevention, Project Luangwa, and the Elephant Charge. The theme for the 2024 Fun Run was “Tetezani zachilengedwe chifukwa cha anthu ndi nyama” (Protecting the environment for people and wildlife), emphasizing the importance of preserving the region’s natural resources for both local communities and wildlife.

One of the standout moments of the event was the participation of renowned Zambian footballer Collins Mbesuma. He joined the Tribal Textiles team in the highly anticipated tug-of-war final, facing off against the Zambia Police Service. The competition was intense, and after a thrilling match, the Zambia Police Service emerged as the champions. Collins Mbesuma’s presence added to the excitement, helping to further raise awareness and engage the community in conservation efforts.

Fun Run

CSL Team

This year, CSL employed 147 full-time employees: 116 community scouts on active duty (including 26 female scouts), 11 senior management and a further 20 programme and support staff. CSL also provided volunteer stipends to 15 community data collectors for HWC assessments and 63 chilli patrollers.

2024 FINANCIALS

Over US $100,000

U.S.

Tusk

U.S.

Mfuwe Lodge and The Bushcamp Company

Dazzle Africa

Howard

Lacey Miller

$50,000 - $99,999

Angela & Norbert Nelde Elephant Crisis Fund

Jane Stiran Lacey

$10,000 - $49,999

Africa Hope Fund Deepak Raghavan Family Foundation

EJF Philanthropies

Flatdogs Camp Frankfurt Zoological Society High Five Club

Humane Society International

Mark & Julie Mills

Painted Dog Conservation Inc.

Robin Pope Safaris

Sharron Sylvester

Shenton Safaris

$5,000 - $9,999

$1,000 - $4,999

Abendsonne Afrika Alec Lindsay

Bud the Wonder Dog Edward Selfe Photo Safaris

Smithson

Petrus

Opie Safaris How Many Elephants

Shenton

Anton Allegra Saggese

Alysa Emden

Amaurie Riske

Andrew Patterson

Anna and Steve Tolan

Artists for Painted Dogs

Bryan Morgan

Caitlin Costa

Chris Brown

Christèle Teilla

Christina Gullberg

Christopher Moriarty

Cole Stirling

Courtney Legum-Wenk

Craig Campbell

Community Vet Clinic Diane Ponsio

Donna

Julie

Jay Hersh

Jean-Michel Pavy

Jennifer Hall

Jirov Zejval

Josh Earhart

Judith Foord

Judith Sinnott

Thank you to Edward Selfe, Mjose Jozie, Chanda Mutuna, Sara Goñi Martínez, Nick Riddin, Moses Mbewe and Simon Mumba for the photographs used in this report and to Joe Graham (Balancing Act Design) for the report design.

Theresa