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Malawi is known as ‘the warm heart of Africa’, both for its stunning beauty and friendly people. It’s also one of the most densely populated countries in Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world, which puts enormous pressures on its natural resources. As a result, the illegal trade of wild animals and their slaughter for bush meat is still a big problem in Malawi, at a time when conservation of both the environment and wildlife is more critical than ever.
The sanctuary was set up in 2007 as a People and Wildlife centre, the first of its kind in the world, securing a 120 hectare wilderness area right in the heart of Malawi’s capital city that was originally under threat from development. It is a Malawian CONGOMA registered, not-for-profit organisation with support from both the government and local and international charities.
The sanctuary provides jobs for over 40 local Malawian staff, and as a ‘centre for the people’ make every effort to ensure that the less privileged people in the communities benefit from the facility. For example, we organise wild picnics for local orphanages to come on a wildlife tour and enjoy the local playground, or run training scholarships for a number of children from the poorer local schools.
There have been some fantastic achievements at the centre within the last couple of years – there’s the rescue and rehabilitation of hundreds of animals including lion, leopard, antelope, baboons and crocodiles. The sale of wild animals on the side of the roads in Lilongwe has now been virtually eradicated thanks to local campaigning. The PAW (People and Wildlife) clubs in 12 of the poorest communities are fully supported by the chiefs and officials, with whom we have developed various income generation projects and we even have support from the UNDP and City Assembly for our city wide afforestation project plan.
We believe we can make a real difference working with the local communities in terms of raising awareness of the importance of respecting our environment and keeping wildlife in the wild, whilst also providing alternatives to practices such as deforestation and the illegal bush meat trade.
As a pilot ‘People and Wildlife’ project we also hope that our success will be used as a model for others around the world. In years to come we will be able to showcase the benefits of addressing conservation issues in partnership with the local communities through education and outreach, and become a true centre for the people and wildlife of Malawi.
Our work was recently recognised when we were awarded the Virgin Holidays 2011 Responsible Tourism Award for ‘Best for Conservation of Wildlife and Habitats’. This is what the judges had to say: “Fending off developers, the centre has reclaimed and revived 90 hectares of urban wilderness to provide sanctuary for rescued, orphaned and injured wild animals, and promotes conservation to locals and tourists alike. It now takes over 20,000 visitors per year, showing its value as a centre for both the people and wildlife of Malawi." Supported by the BBC and Geographical Magazine the awards are the only one of their kind in the world.
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