Aerial Surveillance in Luambe National Park

Tags: Conservation Action, Zambia

Implementing Partner: Conservation South Luangwa, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Zambia

Air surveillance Luambe National Park

The road network of Luambe National Park extends mainly in the western part along the Luangwa River. More than 75% of the park, however, is difficult to access for vehicles, even during the dry season. In the rainy season, boats are the only means of transport in the national park.

The size and inaccessibility of the park make it difficult to monitor wildlife populations solely from the ground. Regular foot patrols by DNPW game rangers also take place in the rainy season, but cannot permanently cover nor reach major parts of the protected area.

SUPPORT OUR CONSERVATION WORK IN LUAMBE NATIONAL PARK

Aerial surveys are, therefore, a key component to conserving and understanding the environment. They enable the National Parks Authority and Conservation South Luangwa to gain valuable data on animal carcasses, fishing activities, bushfires, deforestation, and other habitat destruction, etc. Aerial surveillance also plays an important role with regard to poaching, as it allows poachers to be spotted from the air, deterred from escaping, and ground patrols to be directed to them. In addition, the flights also serve to spot and document species that do not live in the accessible area of the national park, such as roan antelopes.

Between 2019 and 2021, weekly aerial surveillance flights were carried out in Luambe National Park by Conservation South Luangwa’s aircraft. Currently, the flights are more infrequent. The aerial surveillance work is sponsored by C4C Fund. These flights also allow the collection of data for the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) such as tracking collared wild dogs and lions.