NHACAINGA CONSERVANCY

GENERAL INFORMATION

Coutada 9, the lease within which Nhacainga Conservancy is being developed, is one of thirteen official hunting blocks still operating in Mozambique. It was established in 1964 and for much of the period before independence, the area was operated by Safrique, a large Mozambican safari company. Safrique owned the leases to most of the other Coutadas in the Manica and Sofala Province but Coutada 9 was one of the best hunting areas being well known for its large herds of buffalo and good lion. During the prolonged civil war, Mozambiques wildlife areas were used to feed the soldiers and so the game populations were severely depleted. After the war, the human population which had largely moved into the towns and cities were encouraged to return to the rural areas and resettle, irrespective of where. As a result, all the wildlife areas today have people living within them.

The partners in Rio Save Safaris, when they took over the lease for Coutada 9 in 2002, realised that the only way they could achieve their objective of rehabilitating the Coutada into a premier wildlife area would be to work with the local communities that had settled within its boundaries. Through a process of many meetings they have gained the trust of not only the local communities but also the local administration and a large NGO that was working in the area (FAO) to improve the living standards of the locals. Through this process it has been decided to create three different zones within the Coutada:

        i)      Core wildlife zone – this is the Nhacainga Conservancy, an area that was identified as having very low densities of human settlements and will be developed to become an exclusive wildlife area. RSS plan to carry out some large scale reintroductions of key species into this zone.

       ii)      Community wildlife zone – this will be an area in which the density of human settlements is low and in which wildlife could coexist with the human population. This zone has not been fully demarcated as proper surveys of the distribution of settlements will need to be undertaken.

     iii)      Agricultural zone – this will be an area where the density of human settlements is high and co existence with viable wildlife populations is unlikely.

This approach of working with the communities is unique within Mozambique where most lease holders see the communities as a nuisance and have on-going conflict with them. As a result of the proactive approach of RSS, the Mozambique Government has issued them with a 15 year lease that is renewable - something that no other Coutada lease holder has achieved (most leases are for 5 years only and then are re-tendered).

The management on Coutada 9 have worked tirelessly to open the area up as there were practically no roads when they arrived. Over 500km of roads have been built which has allowed greater access to the whole area. This has been particularly important for the anti poaching effort. The locals had become very efficient hunters within the Coutada and used mainly home made muskets and gin traps to kill all manner of animals for meat. Gin traps are made locally by blacksmiths and use toughened steel as found in the leaf springs from old car suspensions. The game scouts have recovered or confiscated over 2000 gin traps since 2003 and while there is no doubt that the levels of poaching are subsiding, the Coutada is so vast that there are still large areas where the anti poaching effort has hardly had an impact.

Picture showing lower part of warthog leg caught in a gin trap

As a result of the significant anti poaching effort, the game populations have increased dramatically. The populations of impala, kudu, warthog, oribi and duiker have been particularly quick to respond. There has also been very encouraging increases in Lichtensteins hartebeest, sable, bushbuck and nyala. There are estimated to be about 100 buffalo that use the area of the Nhacainga Conservancy but move in and out. The area has traditionally been very dry and in most years there was no permanent surface water from August/September until the start of the rains in November. Animals were reliant on digging for subsurface water in the river beds. As a result, many of the large herbivores such as buffalo, elephant and sable moved out of the area to find water. The development of five boreholes that feed exclusively into pans in the bush this last year will have a tremendous impact in preventing these animals from moving. Water development in the form of boreholes, wiers and dams will be an important part of the development of the Nhacainga Conservancy.

The Coutada gets a hunting quota each year which has included 2 elephant, 3 buffalo, 1 lion, 2 sable, 4 hartebeest etc. There has been some hunting with foreign clients although the focus is really on letting populations increase. The two elephant have been taken each year for the last 3 years and trophy quality has ranged from 30 - 45lb each side. Some good buffalo have been taken and hunting dagga boys in the long grass that abounds in the area makes from some very exciting hunting.

Client Dan Thomas with a good oribi taken on Nhacainga Conservancy