CSL & Sungani: Join the Campaign for Conservation
This year, Sungani have once again pledged to match donations to CSL in the hope of raising a total of $50,000 to support CSL’s conservation work in South Luangwa with a focus on the far south of the national park. Watch the campaign video here!
The Davy family and their team started building their properties in the far south of the national park in early 2019. The whole emphasis was on ‘remote’ as the family felt this would be the only way to make a real and lasting impact.
The other commitment was to build and create with local materials and local people culminating in skill transfer. Logistics screamed a resounding no, but nothing worthwhile is ever straightforward. They realised the only way to succeed in the mission was to create a beautiful new tourism venue to showcase this extremely remote part of Zambia. Combining this with employment in a deprived area would hopefully further contribute towards the tireless work of CSL and allow the local community to further realise the value in protecting and conserving wildlife.
Sungani was aptly named - meaning to keep or conserve, in the local dialect. The family also had to commit to an all-in decision to invest in the equipment and manpower needed to improve accessibility in the far southern region of the South Luangwa National Park.
CSL’s work is never ending and vital to the ongoing sustainability of the park. Over the past few years, the Davy’s have been contributing to the effort by creating roads, firebreaks and other infrastructure as well as deploying patrols by boat in the rainy season, assisting the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and CSL to conduct their essential duties. It is now evident that, five years in, much of the carefully habituated wildlife no longer sees humans and vehicles as danger. The animals have returned in large numbers as the evidence of poaching activity in the area steadily declines in this southern sector.
Sungani’s commitment to conservation is all-encompassing and never-ending: it is their aim to demonstrate that if we touch the earth gently and with respect, we will pass on a better future for the people, flora and fauna of one of the few remaining places of natural wonder.
The Sungani and Kulandila family have supported CSL’s work through donations and fundraising efforts, with a successful match funding campaign that raised a total of $50,000 and culminated in a total $75,000 inflow in 2022 towards wildlife protection.
In 2023, Sungani has committed a further $25,000 towards a match fund to support CSL’s work in conjunction with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife. This campaign endeavours to support CSL in all areas of their operation: anti-poaching foot patrols, K9 Unit operations, aerial surveillance patrols, human-wildlife coexistence projects, wildlife rescue and veterinary outreach work with extended coverage of the remote south.
Sungani will match donations dollar for dollar until the end of December 2023.
So join us in the Campaign for Conservation - link!
Conservation South Luangwa
Since 2003, Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) has worked in partnership with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) on the frontline of wildlife conservation and human wildlife coexistence in the South Luangwa Valley, working to protect the 1.4 million hectares of largely intact wilderness in eastern Zambia that make up the South Luangwa National Park and a network of surrounding Game Management Areas.
Over the last 20 years, the CSL team has removed over 10,000 deadly wire snares from the bush, successfully rescued over 250 animals and the team has grown to 120 full-time employees dedicated to wildlife conservation, including 95 highly trained anti-poaching rangers, a full-time pilot, 6 K9 detection dogs, 1 full-time wildlife veterinarian and a team of 8 dedicated to Human Wildlife Coexistence projects.
Find out more at www.cslzambia.org and www.sungani.com