Aviation plays a critical role in how Peace Parks Foundation supports the management and protection of large conservation areas.
In this PeaceParks.TV episode, we join Peace Parks’ Counter-Poaching Operations Manager, Ken Maggs, in Zambia’s Sioma Ngwezi Management Complex. He shares how aviation can help rangers see further, move faster and act smarter to protect this incredible ecosystem.
The Sioma Ngwezi Management Complex is part of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area – the largest terrestrial transboundary landscape in the world.
Due to its sheer size and limited road network, the 4 478 km² Sioma Ngwezi National Park is extremely difficult to navigate. Using aircraft makes it much easier for rangers and the park management team to detect and react to threats such as illegal logging.
As Ken says: “Aviation is becoming critical for our operations, wherever they are. [With] a lot of the operations that we will be looking at, particularly the illegal logging taking place in the area, you can detect the incursions for illegal logging relatively easily. And then, when the operations are detected, you need to be able to react to them, so that’s where the helicopter comes in. If you find an incursion, you can get there within half an hour, whereas if you rely on the road, that can take you five hours under the current conditions.”
He says plans are in place to improve the park’s radio communications system and the operations room. Together, these efforts will help nature flourish.
A big thanks to African Parks for providing ariel support for Ken’s site visit.
Stay tuned to PeaceParks.TV for more innovative ways to preserve nature.
