What’s next for Zimbabwe’s wildlife economy? 

Zimbabwe Dialogues 2022

Recordings are available for all 5 Dialogues. Please click on the Dialogues below.

25 May - 26 Oct 2022 

In June 2019, the Government of Zimbabwe, along with the African Union and the United Nations Environment Programme, hosted Africa’s Wildlife Economy Summit at Victoria Falls. The Summit Report noted that it had “aimed at advancing political and community leadership, private sector know-how and financial resources for a new vision of pan-African conservation that delivers sustainable economic benefits to national governments and local communities.”

At the Summit, there was also a Voices of the Communities Declaration – “Reset the agenda for community based natural resources management to… turn wildlife into a rural economic engine.” The Declaration proposed that governments “recognize community rights over the ownership, management and use of resources.” What are the prospects for empowering communities and other landowners to own wildlife and to manage it for inclusive economic growth?

Three years on, what is the vision for Zimbabwe’s wildlife economy? How will key stakeholders – public, private, and community – be empowered and engaged? How will the wildlife economy deliver sustainable economic benefits and contribute to the country`s Gross Domestic Product? The Government of Zimbabwe is currently finalising a new report on the country's biodiversity economy that will address such questions It is scheduled to be released later in 2022. 

In support of this process, the African Wildlife Economy Institute (AWEI) in partnership with Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation (OGRC) is holding a series of Dialogues starting in May 2022 to explore opportunities for turning Zimbabwe’s wildlife economy into a key sector for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.