African Parks have revealed that they intend to work on the roads, airstrip and revamp infrastructure in the Kafue National Park that should then be able to attract investors to set up lodges which will in turn lead to increased tourist inflows.
It’s Country Director James Milanzi says the organisation is carrying out an extensive review and investigation in order to see how it can make the Kafue National Park more attractive so it can draw in investors.
Milanzi said the national park currently has run down road infrastructure which is key to tourism growth as it becomes difficult for the National park to prosper and attract more tourists if tourists and park managers cannot drive around smoothly.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Milanzi said once it works on the airstrip and the roads in the park, investors would be able to come in and put up lodges, adding that this will promote tourism.
Milanzi said the other key area is law enforcement. Poaching is an issue and African Parks plans to ensure that poaching is prevented in order to maintain the number of animals in the park as they are a major tourist attraction.
“We will conduct an aerial census so that we know what Kafue National Park has and what it lacks. If in the future, we sign a long term agreement and there’s need for us to bring in other animals, we will but we don’t need to do that in this case, we need to protect the area and the numbers that are there will grow on their own”, he said.
Milanzi said African Parks strives to ensure that the rates are affordable even for the local people because if there is no local tourism in the country, the tourism sector becomes difficult to grow and unsustainable.
“In an event where there is Covid-19 like the current situation, international tourists will not come into the country, so we try to build products that local tourists can enjoy, it’s not just about the pricing but the product too, we can have a good pricing but if the product is poor, no tourists will visit the place”, he said.
He said the organisation is focusing on improving the park and ensuring that it is accessible and affordable for everyone, adding that African Parks does not come up with rates on their own, but involves the government and these rates are dependent on how good the area is.
Milanzi said the plan is to ensure that the park is well protected, delivers the conservational outcomes and attracts investors who can help transform it in order to ensure that tourists get the best experience.
“We as African Parks run parks with government to support the management of the National parks so that every challenge that the park faces is looked at critically and then investments are done to work on such weaknesses”, he said.
Milanzi said the country should expect the best from this collaboration as African Parks has done their best wherever they have been to ensure that the parks offer the best products and the plan is to make the area attract more investment.
African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on direct responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas in partnership with governments and local communities.
This is the third conservation area in Zambia that has been awarded to African Parks with the first two being Bangweulu wetlands and Liuwa plains. The lodges that are attracted and have been set up in these two areas are considered expensive or unaffordable by local Zambians, with efforts to get lower local rates yet to yield visible results.
