Conservation South Luangwa - Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2022
CSL is taking part in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge to raise awareness of the role of 300 rangers working to protect Zambia's South Luangwa Valley ecosystem, and support an estimated 3,000 livelihoods.
My story
Rangers are Africa’s unsung heroes. They don’t just fight poaching - they are conservationists, teachers, community support workers, leaders and much more.
The Wildlife Ranger Challenge, organised by Tusk and culminating on 17th September, celebrates their many roles, and is raising much-needed funds to support their work.
The SLV in Eastern Zambia is approximately 14,000km² of largely intact wilderness, including two National Parks and an extensive network of Game Management Areas (GMA’s). The Luangwa Valley ecosystem is home to the country’s largest and most stable population of elephants (approximately 80% or 14,000), is one of ten remaining lion strongholds on the continent, (estimated population of 700), has the country’s largest population of African wild dogs (c. 400) and most of the country’s significant populations of hippopotamus, giraffe and buffalo. Nevertheless, wildlife poaching and trafficking in SLV is widespread, increasing, and has vastly reduced animal populations across its landscape since the 1960’s.
The WRC has helped CSL keep all our rangers employed and increase our support to them. Because of this, poaching during the pandemic was largely curtailed. Unfortunately, as things are returning to normal and tourism is resuming, many of the government anti-poaching rangers are sent for tourism duties to escort walking safaris, resulting in a drastic decrease in patrol coverage during the dry season and an anticipated increase in poaching. Support in 2022 would include more aerial support and additional training and supplies to lift morale and effectiveness of current patrols.
Give today, and the Scheinberg Relief Fund will match every dollar donated, amplifying your impact. Follow campaign updates on social media with #ForWildlifeRangers
Push-ups Challenge
Sep 8, 2022, 1:40:58 PMLast month, our Astikana(Women) and Azibambo(Men) teams took part in the push-ups challenge in preparation for the 21km race on the 17th of September 2022. Over 150 rangers across will be running whilst carrying their 22kg backpack and other equipment. The main purpose of the challenge is to raise funds so that rangers across Africa can continue protecting wildlife such as pangolins, elephants, and rhinos. Please support our ranger team by donating on the page so that we can continue their tremendous work.
21km Race Training
Aug 23, 2022, 7:51:57 AMOn Sunday this week, the team practiced a 21km run while carrying their 22kg backpack. The Azibambo(Men) team ran in 2 hours, 38 minutes, and the Astikana(Women) ran in 2 hours, 59 minutes. Please support our team by donating to this page so that they can continue their tremendous work of protecting the wildlife and nature of South Luangwa.
Sit Ups Training
Aug 16, 2022, 1:54:03 PMLast week Saturday our Azibambo(Men) and Atsikana(Women) were able to do sit-up training. The Women's team managed to do 183 sit-ups in 2 minutes and the Men's team did 131 sit-ups in 2 minutes. Support our team by donating on this page so that they can continue their incredible work of protecting the wildlife and nature of South Luangwa
21km Race Training
Aug 2, 2022, 8:53:38 AMOn Saturday last week, our Astikana and Azibambo team practiced a 10km run whilst carrying their 22kg and 14kg backpacks in preparation for the 21km run that will take place on the 17th of September 2022. Support our team by donating on this page so that they can continue their tremendous work of conserving South Luangwa's Wildlife and Nature.
Meet our 2022 Wildlife Ranger Challenge Team
Jul 29, 2022, 9:37:19 AMMeet our two teams taking part in this year's Wildlife Ranger Challenge. Beauty Nthala, Aliness Chilepa, Aliness Mbewe, and Loveness Kumwenda are the 4 ladies who are participating in the challenge, and Ken Chanda, James Phiri, Ceaser Chenda, and Dout Nkhoma are the Men taking part in the challenge. Support our team by donating on this page so that they can continue their tremendous work of conserving South Luangwa's Wildlife and Nature.
South Luangwa National Park - Conservation South Luangwa
Jul 20, 2022, 3:45:19 PMCSL has been in existence for 19 years and has built strong partnerships with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) in protected area management across the South Luangwa Valley. CSL practises a multi-faceted approach to wildlife resource management and protection to implement ‘frontline’ protection and countertrade/trafficking methods such as anti-poaching foot patrols, aerial surveillance and tracking, while engaging with their respective communities. CSL provides refresher training of law enforcement officers, equipment, uniforms, vehicles, fuel and maintenance, radio networks, IT and databases, infrastructure development, and wildlife crime detection and tracking canine units to support intelligence-led operations across the ecosystem. Photo credit: Edward Selfe
