Kasanka National Park, located in Zambia’s Central Province, is one of the country’s most treasured protected areas. Though it is the smallest national park in Zambia, it is home to a wide array of unique biodiversity and wildlife. The park is known for hosting the world’s largest mammal migration, where over 10 million fruit bats descend on its forests each year. Beyond this, Kasanka Park also provides a critical habitat for numerous threatened bird species, and it is one of the few places where the highly valued Sitatunga and Puku antelope can still be found. The importance and ecological value of this National Park is immeasurable.
Much of the park’s conservation success is due to the work of the Kasanka Trust. The Kasanka Trust is a non-profit organization that works tirelessly to protect the National Park and its surroundings. The Trust focuses on resource protection, infrastructure development, environmental education, and community development. Kasanka Trust relies completely on donor funds and has several notable achievements including opening a conservation centre, a health clinic, and rehabilitating five schools for the students in the region. Yet, in the past few years, the National Park has faced serious threats from illegal deforestation and the unsanctioned development of the Community Forest Areas (CFA).
In 2015, the Zambia Forest Act No. 4 established agreements for the creation and the sustainable management of Community Forests. These forests were to be protected and managed by Community Forest Management Groups (CFMGs) with the guidance and consent of stakeholders like the Kasanka Trust. The Kafinda Game Management Area (GMA) has also been impacted. The GMA not only acts as a buffer zone, but also retains distinct legal status as a protected area. It plays an important role in conversation and community-based efforts. Kasanka Trust co-manages both the CFMGs and the GMAs, both of which are classified for tourism and habitat preservation. The CFMGs are located within the GMAs as well. However, the survival of this habitat is increasingly under threat.
Kasanka Trust alleges that the defendants have encroached on the National Park by introducing animals that are not native species. They have destroyed the riverside habitat in the Kafinda GMA, while constructing roads and dwellings in the habitat. Other illegal activities include commencing and developing large-scale commercial farming activities in Kafinda.
Although the land is not allocated to the Chiefdom, it is recognized under Zambian law as traditional land, where the Chief retains influence and decision-making authority. The existing agreement under Zambian law only allows for tourism activities in the National Park, but does not allow for commercial activities like the ones undertaken by Lake Agro Industries.
Many of the local residents did not receive any monetary compensation and were deprived of the opportunity to contest their removal. This is a flagrant violation of Section 3 of the Zambian Land Act which requires the informed consent of “the Chief and the local authority in the area in which the land to be alienated is situated, and in the case of a game management area, and the Director of National Parks and Wildlife Service” before any transfers or assignments of land are conducted. One 24-year-old Zambian resident and mother of four children exclaimed, “Where will we go looking for land? There isn’t any land left.” Other residents were forcibly evicted without notice and became homeless as a result. Historically, the community had control over the customary land and lived self-sufficiently off the land. Now, after losing access to their farmland, their homes, and their source of water, they have been forced to adapt, often living in tents or shoddy housing on government forest reserves. Another mother was forced to sleep in the open for several months with her ten children.
As a result, these developments, carried out without consent, have resulted in significant illegal encroachments by private companies. The consequences have been devastating: thousands of beehives have been destroyed, with bees burned alive inside, and countless trees have been cut down to make way for industrial farming. The ecological and social impacts of these actions are catastrophic. They are accelerating environmental degradation, destroying fragile ecosystems, and endangering the livelihoods of indigenous communities who depend on forest resources for income, food, and cultural identity. Over 6,000 people have petitioned the president of Zambia, demanding that their legal rights be respected before further destruction occurs.
Court Proceedings
In 2021, the Kasanka Trust, alongside the Mapepala and Nabowa Community Forest Management Groups, initiated legal proceedings against Lake Agro Industries and Gulf Adventures Limited. A year later, the Zambian High Court in Lusaka granted a partial victory for Kasanka Trust and ordered the defendants to halt all destruction of forests, vegetation clearing, land cultivation, and any other development activity in the region and Game Management Area (GMA). The court’s ruling and injunction also prevent further water extraction from the rivers in the region. The court also granted an application to join additional parties, expunge the photographs taken, and prohibit their further distribution. This case is considered one of the most important precedents on legal standing in environmental matters in Zambia. It is estimated these companies have illegally cleared about 1,200 hectares of land in the National Park and the GMA.
Despite this court order, Lake Agro Industries and Gulf Adventures Limited have allegedly violated this injunction order. The plaintiffs argue that this attempt interferes with the court’s ruling and the administration of justice. A hearing date for the contempt of court proceedings is still pending, and the final outcome of this critical case remains uncertain. For the communities in Kasanka, this battle is about more than the trees; it is about their right to survive on their ancestral land.
Written by Uma Vishnuraman of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre.