OUR WORK
Conservation at Scale
Tembe Elephant Park was established in 1983 to protect the lives and property of the Tembe people from elephants. About 300 km2 in size and bordering on Mozambique to the north, the park has a high density of wildlife, including keystone species such as lions, wild dogs and the critically endangered black rhino. However, it is currently too small to support genetically viable populations of important species without active management intervention.
The park is strategically located as an anchor protected area on the South African side of the Lubombo transboundary landscape. A feasibility phase exploring a community-public-private partnership that will ensure that the biodiversity, climate and social benefits of large-scale landscape conservation can be delivered is underway.
Ecological linkages
The agreement will bring extensive benefits on both sides and importantly, strengthen the management structures of Lubombo transboundary landscape, a unique system of conservation areas among eSwatini, Mozambique and South Africa covering an area of over 11,000 km2.
Rewilding
For many years, the park has been collaborating with Maputo National Park, which has been co-managed by the Mozambique Conservation Agency (ANAC) and Peace Parks Foundation since 2018, aligning management practices where necessary. Maputo National Park has more diverse habitats with extensive grasslands, coastal forests, mangroves and freshwater lakes which are absent in Tembe, while its forests are more extensive. These attributes are essential, especially with global warming impacts, where scale is important for mitigating negative impacts. The biodiversity value and resilience that Maputo National Park would bring to Tembe Elephant Park is immense.
In 1986, the elephant population in the two parks was separated by an international boundary fence erected between the two countries. An important component of the feasibility work and governance model that will now be explored includes examining the merits of re-uniting this fragmented elephant population.
Combatting wildlife crime
Crime across the border, especially from South Africa into Mozambique, is a risk. There is a significant smuggling. This is not occurring within Tembe Elephant Park, but rather to the east of the Maputo National Park boundary and to the west of Tembe. The park boundaries remain secure.
Community development
Tembe is an unparalleled community conservation success story. The Tembe tribe own and manage Tembe Elephant Lodge on their ancestral land. Tembe Elephant Lodge is testimony to the care and pride the Tembe people take in a project that continues to uplift their community in many ways. Tembe Elephant Park has grown to become the biggest private sector employer in the region and is the largest contributor to the local economy. The lodge currently employs 55 people, all from the KwaTembe region, who receive professional training in hospitality or as guides.
Conservation finance
An opportunity exists to build a large-scale project on the South African side of the transboundary landscape in KwaZulu-Natal by focusing on community-based climate-smart agriculture, improved fire and grazing management and reforestation, with the aim of enhancing nature-based carbon removals at scale in partnership with Sayari Earth, Wild Trust and Rio Tinto. Securing Tembe Elephant Park is a critical anchor for the success of this larger landscape development programme.
