Communities and Biodiversity Thrive at Malawian Park

New education center promotes learning and livelihoods

A game ranger looks out over Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve from Chipata Mountain. / John Kerkering

In Central Malawi, nestled below Chipata Mountain and slightly to the west of Lake Malawi, lies Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, Malawi’s largest remaining wild landscape. The reserve was home to 1,500 elephants in the 1990s. By 2015, there were fewer than 100. Decades of poaching and lawlessness decimated the reserve’s wildlife and the tourism economy that supported the livelihoods of local communities.

Today, Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve is thriving once again.

African Parks took over management in 2015 and together with the Government of Malawi and donors, including USAID, is transforming the reserve through best practices in conservation and natural resource management. The organization fenced park boundaries, cleared poachers’ traps, improved infrastructure for patrolling, and trained and equipped ranger teams. It also conducted one of the world’s largest wildlife translocations to reintroduce 520 elephants and 1,500 other animals to the reserve.

Counterclockwise from top: Tadala M’banga checks out the scene at Kasungu National Park alongside Marnet Ngosi (Environmental Education Officer, African Parks Nkhotakota) and Christine LaBerge (Civil Engineer and Manager of Center for Design and Interpretation, U.S. Forest Service) during a field mission to view interpretation and conservation education materials in Malawi. Then she spots a rather large elephant. The reserve was home to 1,500 elephants in the 1990s. By 2015, there were fewer than 100 — but those numbers are now moving in the right direction. / Alinafe Chibwana, USFS

The reintroduced animals are reproducing, the landscape is healing, and communities are once again benefiting from the tourism revenue that the reserve attracts. Tourism has increased by over 400 percent since 2015, which has enabled African Parks to contribute to the development of vital community projects like bore holes for clean water and scholarships for vulnerable children.

African Parks is now also able to focus on fulfilling one of its core strategic objectives: advancing environmental education and outreach for communities and youth around Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, which in turn contributes to sustainable management of Malawi’s natural resources.

Tadala leads a discussion on the locations of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve and other protected areas in Malawi to a group of Nkhotakota youth at the Environmental Education Centre at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. / Alexander Dunn, USFS

The reserve recently completed an environmental education center, one of only a few such centers in Malawi. There, you’ll find Tadala M’banga, the Nkhotakota Extension and Education Assistant for African Parks. She leads interpretation for the new center and works directly with local artisans, historians, and community members to create engaging exhibits on the rich natural and human heritage of the landscape, and to tell that story to visitors.

“My favorite parts of the job are interacting with people from diverse backgrounds to help them understand their role in conservation and engaging in activities with students and community groups to restore and protect the natural environment,” said Tadala.

Tadala introduces the three-dimensional terrain model of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve to a group of Nkhotakota youth through the Environmental Education Centre at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. / Alexander Dunn, USFS

The Nkhotakota environment education center contributes to the curriculum of local schools. Children learn about the history of the park and about natural resources and animal behavior.

The center also supports income generation for nearby communities by displaying local products for sale. Participating community members sell moringa powder, honey, and crafts to the increasing number of tourists who visit the park. Local communities also make arrangements with the park to harvest resources, such as bamboo, reeds, fruits, and mushrooms for both commercial and domestic use.

Left to right: Tadala discusses exhibit design at the Environmental Education Centre at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve with Cheryl Hazlitt (Interpretation Specialist, Center for Design and Interpretation, U.S. Forest Service). Tadala with a pangolin that was rescued from poachers in southern Malawi and brought to the reserve for release into the wild. A tour of the Environmental Education Centre held during a visit by a congressional delegation featuring Rep. Betty McCollum to mark the official dedication of the centre: from left are Alexander Dunn (Interpretation Specialist, U.S. Forest Service), Tadala, Obedi Mkandawire (Nkhotakota Community Extension Coordinator, African Parks Nkhotakota), Rep. McCollum, and Robert Scott (U.S. Ambassador to Malawi). / John Kerkering, USFS; Alinafe Chibwana, USFS; Marvin Kaulembe, Snapdrobe Photography

The U.S. Forest Service, with support from USAID, has worked and continues to work directly with Tadala and her colleagues to advance their interpretation and design skills and help them conduct heritage research with local communities and the Malawi Department of Museums and Monuments to preserve oral histories of the area.

The partnership also works directly with youth. With U.S. Forest Service support, young community members wrote a comic book to inform their families who live around the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve about the danger of wildfires and the impact it has on wildlife and communities. Those youth, and their supportive parents and community members, are now the reserve’s greatest advocates for wildfire safety.

Tadala delivers a lesson on wildlife to a group of Nkhotakota youth. / Alexander Dunn, USFS

The Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve education center raises the profile of the reserve and gives local communities a platform for telling their stories, selling their products and taking pride in their history landscape.

“There has been a great change over the years. Through the environmental education programs and awareness meetings, the surrounding communities now understand the value of natural resources and wildlife. and this has triggered a positive attitude towards conservation, enabling them to engage in activities that help in curbing environmental issues affecting them,” said Tadala.

The U.S. Forest Service and USAID are partnering with African Parks at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve to restore critical habitat, enhance tourism potential, and improve local livelihoods in border communities. The new environmental education center is one aspect of their work.