The Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association in Malawi

Crosby Gome (ELP 2024) | Chairperson, Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association, Malawi

Being born in a village adjacent to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve instilled in me a deep passion for biodiversity conservation and climate change issues. As a child, I often witnessed animals venturing into our village from the reserve. My primary school teachers frequently took us on excursions into the protected area, where we learned to appreciate the beauty of wildlife and nature. This early exposure ignited my interest in conservation, and I grew up determined to play a role in preserving our environment. Today, I am proud to lead my community in various conservation efforts.

After completing my secondary education, I noticed a troubling shift in the community's behavior. Many people began engaging in illegal hunting, and over time, the animals that once roamed freely outside the park disappeared. It became clear that the wildlife was under tremendous pressure, as the local population relied on these animals for meat and income.

Despite government efforts to strengthen wildlife security through the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) who provided game rangers for the reserve, these measures proved ineffective. The local community felt excluded from the conservation process, as they saw no tangible benefits from protecting the reserve's resources and thus did not actively participate in conservation efforts. In response, the government introduced a collaborative management policy that allowed the surrounding communities to participate in and benefit from the reserve.

I currently serve as the Executive Director of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association in Malawi. This non-profit organization was formed in 2013 by the DNPW, with financial support from USAID through Total Land Care. The association was established by the communities surrounding the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, located in the central region of Malawi, a country in southern Africa. Our mission is to empower these communities to fully participate in conservation efforts.

The Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association has several objectives, including raising awareness about the negative impacts of poaching and encroachment, protecting wildlife within the reserve and its border areas, promoting income-generating activities for the border communities, fostering relationships with stakeholders in wildlife conservation, contributing to social development in the border zone, reducing deforestation and forest degradation, and addressing cross-cutting issues such as HIV/AIDS and gender inequality. We encourage communities to take an active role in conservation efforts.

To achieve these goals, the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association has implemented various programs targeting the people living near the protected area. These programs include small-scale livestock distribution, where we provide goats, pigs, and chickens to farmers with the expectation that they will pass on the offspring to others. We also run crop diversification programs, distributing seeds for crops like soybeans, rice, and cassava to farmers each year. Additionally, we promote apiculture by providing beehives to farmers as an incentive to avoid cutting down trees carelessly. Given the unpredictable rainfall due to climate change, we support irrigation efforts by distributing treadle pumps to farmers.

Despite these interventions, the communities surrounding the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve continue to face significant challenges. One of the major issues is human-animal conflict, particularly with elephants that often move out of the protected area, destroying crops and even causing fatalities. Another challenge is the lack of access to clean water, as some river streams that once provided water to the community are now inaccessible due to the reserve's fencing.

As the director of this community-based organization, I work closely with the board of trustees to create and implement plans that align with our conservation goals. This includes developing market strategies, setting and measuring goals, and planning for long-term success. I also collaborate with the DNPW and African Park Authorities based in Nkhotakota to ensure that we collectively achieve our intended goals. My responsibilities encompass planning and monitoring, supervising staff training, overseeing staff operations, and ensuring compliance with applicable laws. Together, we strive to achieve lasting success in conservation and community development.


[The blog post image was first published on Flickr. Original image by Joachim Huber. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 2.0).]