Activities in Bangweulu Swamps Zambia — Gorilla tracking and Permits

Activities in Bangweulu Swamps Zambia – Viewing Black Lechwe and shoebill stork in Africa

Activities in Bangweulu swamps – The Bangweulu Wetlands and is the best place in the world to see the mighty shoebill, especially in season. There is a staggering variety of other bird species and the major species to be sought out here from a wildlife point of view are the black lechwe which are found in their hundreds of thousands.

Game viewing

Due to effective park-management black lechwe, which are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and are only found in Bangweulu, have increased from 35,000 in 2010 to over 50,000 today.

Translocations are bolstering Bangweulu’s wildlife. A 2017 translocation saw 250 animals including impala and zebra released into the park; in 2019, another introduced 95 buffalo with the aim of increasing genetic diversity.

Bird watching

Bangweulu is home to over 400 bird species, including 10% of the world’s wattle crane population and the globally important population of the endangered shoebill stork, both also listed as vulnerable.

Community visits

Bangweulu’s community programmes and enterprise development projects range from bee-keeping to fisheries management and impact more than 50,000 people living within the protected area. In 2018, our beekeeping programme distributed more than 300 beehives to communities, with two tonnes of honey harvested. The project garnered strong local support and is currently being rolled out across other chiefdoms.

The reproductive health education programme, implemented in 2016, has garnered enormous support from local communities. During 2018, the programme conducted 26 family planning sessions in local chiefdoms that reached 1,007 women and more than 1,800 adolescent school children.

In 2019, Bangweulu supported four schools, impacting more than 800 students. Forty ZeduPads (a solar-powered pre-loaded tablet with multiple curriculums with over 13 languages) have been distributed amongst the schools and are delivering educational material to students.

Shoebill safaris

In 2012, a Shoebill Nest Protection Plan was developed with support from local communities. Approximately eight local fishermen are employed as guards to protect shoebill nesting sites, preventing poachers from stealing eggs and chicks to feed the illegal wildlife trade. To date, these guards have helped protect over 30 fledglings.