Zambia Beehive Fences
Located across the South Luangwa National Park, the Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (NWCF) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife within Nsefu Sector in Eastern Province, Zambia. NWCF provides beekeeping as an alternative to poaching and to keep crop-raiding elephants out of farms.
They recently constructed a functional prototype beehive fence design in Kawaza village utilising the Elephants and Bees beehive fence construction manual. Villagers requested it to be installed in the center of town and are proud to be known as the first village in Zambia to be part of this project. Almost 100 metres worth of beehive fencing has been built so far at a site bordering a hard-hit crop field on the outskirts of town which was selected by tracking elephant routes leading directly into the village.
NWCF implements anti-poaching initiatives through three strategies: 1) Working with rangers for enforcement and deterrence; 2) Local conservation education targeted at the youth and; 3) Economic alternatives such as bee-keeping.
They hope that through their project supported by Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) and Bee Sweet, residents in Nsefu Sector can effectively mitigate human-wildlife conflict to ensure a better future for themselves and wildlife around them.Their community programmes aim to increase ecological stewardship thus preserving and protecting elephants and other species in the wildlife-rich Nsefu Sector.
NWCF plans to include a reforestation programme in their next phase to rehabilitate endemic flowering trees that have been damaged or destroyed by local poachers and through the burning of grass. This will eliminate the need to cut poles for fences and instead replace them with live trees thus boosting their beehive fence construction.
Constructing a beehive fence prototype in Kawaza Village. Photo: NWCF
Completed prototype in Kawaza Village. Photo: NWCF
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