By NDUBI MVULA
THIS week in our continued tour of duty in marketing Zambia’s rich tourism we are featuring views of United states of America Ambassador to Zambia Eric Schultz who recently visited one of the country’s pristine resort.
And here are his views;
It’s a pleasure to finally be in North Luangwa. I have been trying to get here for two years to see the place, actually, and to participate in the award ceremony for the U.S.-funded ecosystem project to support Frankfurt Zoological Society’s conservation work here in North Luangwa.
Forty years ago, Zambia had one of the world’s largest populations of rhinos. Of the 12,000 in the world, 4,000 were found here in the Luangwa Valley. Sadly, in 1998, the last black rhino was killed in Zambia and the species was declared extinct. It’s a testament to Zambia’s commitment to conservation and biodiversity that the black rhino was re-introduced in 2003. That was accomplished through partnerships and hard work of the Zambian government, local leaders, and the international donor community.
The U.S. government, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, played an important role in the re-introduction of black rhinos.  We’ve been the single largest contributor to the Frankfurt Zoological Society’s conservation efforts here in North Luangwa.  The sum total, I am told, is about US$3 million since 2003.
I think that the key thing that I just said was “partnerships.” The success of this project is really a reflection of the partnership that exists between Ed Sayer of the Frankfurt Zoological Society on the ground here and the National Parks and Wildlife employees with whom he works and the communities with whom he works.
And on another level, it’s the partnerships between the U.S. government, the Zambian government, and the German government – all working together for a common goal, which is in the broader sense the conservation of wildlife in Zambia, but in the specific sense here it’s really the protection and reintroduction of black rhinos to North Luangwa.
Through the ecosystem project, the United States government is honored to further our partnership with Germany to work with the Zambian government to help grow this initiative for the benefit of Zambia’s wildlife; for the benefit of wildlife enthusiasts everywhere; and for the benefit of Zambians.
Thirty percent of Zambia’s land is set aside for wildlife.  That’s the second largest proportion of land under protected status in Southern Africa.  Many of Zambia’s Game Management Areas and National Parks are world-renowned for their breathtaking beauty and diversity.
My personal commitment to the conservation of Zambia’s wildlife can be measured by my participation last year in an aerial elephant survey in Kafue National Park.  So, I flew around for a couple of hours in this little airplane.  And before I went to the park to get into this plane, the pilot asked me to update my life insurance! So, a small sign of my personal commitment to the conservation of Zambia’s wildlife.
Out of an estimated population of 22,000 elephants in Zambia now, I understand that the largest single concentration is here is North Luangwa, with 4,500.  Again another reflection of the success of the partnership that we are celebrating here today.
That said, Zambia remains under threat.  Its wildlife remains under threat from poaching and wildlife trafficking.  Wildlife police officers around Zambia regularly confiscate ivory, bushmeat, snares and firearms, leopard skins, pangolins, et cetera, et cetera.  And they put themselves in harm’s way in the process of doing that.  And I think we all owe them our gratitude for their commitment to their jobs.
President Obama identified wildlife trafficking as a national priority for the United States.  It is important to combat wildlife trafficking and we must make it more of a priority.  As President Obama has said, criminal networks are fueling corruption and threatening Africa’s precious wildlife and with it the tourism that many African countries count on.  So, America stands with you in the fight against wildlife trafficking.  I couldn’t say it better than my President.
I have actually made it a point during my time here in Zambia to emphasize that we see tourism as one of the key sectors of Zambia’s economy that offers potential for growth; jobs for the future for Zambians.
Zambia’s tourism industry suffers as a consequence of poaching and wildlife trafficking. The loss of species and habitat has a direct impact on Zambia’s economy.  Wildlife-based tourism contributes only 6.7 percent of the national GDP here.  It can be higher.  It should be higher than many of your neighbors.  Wildlife-based tourism offers tremendous potential for Zambia’s economy and for Zambia’s people – and in particular for the communities like yours that live in or near the Game Management Areas and National Parks.
The U.S. government’s commitment to combating wildlife trafficking is a world-wide priority including not only here in Zambia.
As I said earlier, one of the key U.S. government agencies involved in this effort is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  They manage the African Elephant and Rhino Fund.  And last year, they provided over US$1 million in assistance to Zambia for elephant conservation. This represents 25 percent of their budget – just for Zambia alone!
In addition to funding the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also provides financial support to several other wildlife conservation organizations, including those that work in conservation in lower Zambezi, conservation in South Luangwa, supporting game rangers and others.
So, today, I am particularly pleased to announce U.S. government funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development for the North Luangwa Ecosystem project that’s being implemented by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. The project is a global alliance project, meaning that the private sector equally matches USAID’s US$1.8 million in funding.
So, through this project what we hope to see is an increased capacity in community resource boards and village action groups, improved control and monitoring of wildlife, and increased tourism potential, which in turn should increase income for Zambia’s rural communities.
So, on behalf of the American people, let me extend my deep appreciation to the Government of Zambia for their partnership with us in this project and also to the Federal Republic of Germany in the person of my colleague Achim Burkart, for helping launch this project.  I would also like to thank their Royal Highnesses present here for their support and to the local communities involved for their support as well.
Finally, I have to reiterate my sincerest gratitude to the Ministry of Tourism and in particular to Stephen Mwansa, the permanent secretary, for his friendship and continued vision for managing and conserving Zambia’s wildlife.  And not that I want to set him up or anything, but I made one request that I speak before Stephen because if you have ever heard him speak, Stephen is a very good speaker and is a very funny guy.  And so, you never want to follow him at an event like this.  You always want to go before him.
So, let me just close by saying that we all have to continue to work together to realize our common goal of ensuring biodiversity conservation for Zambia’s national sustainable economic development and for posterity so that Zambia’s present and future generations can benefit from the country’s extraordinary wildlife.
And if you think that was written by an academic type-of-person, you would be right. So, I can sum it up even better – I think – along with the chief by saying that, “Let’s have more rhinos in North Luangwa.”
Indeed, North Luangwa is the place worth visiting and worth spending money on.