KAZA TFCA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: Recently, over 400 delegates gathered in Livingstone, Zambia, for the inaugural KAZA TFCA summit, where five southern African countries reviewed progress and planned future initiatives for the conservation area.

Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA)

• About: It is Africa’s largest conservation landscape and the world’s largest trans-frontier conservation area (520,000km2).

o It incorporates parts of five countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is home to one of the largest remaining populations of cheetah.

• Establishment: The Treaty formally establishing KAZA TFCA was signed in Luanda, Angola, in August 2011.
• Coverage: 520,000-square kilometre wetland.
• Countries: Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Species Diversity: KAZA is endowed with a wide range of species diversity – flora and fauna.
• Flora Diversity: There are more than 3,000 plant species throughout the TFCA, of which 100 are endemic to the sub-region.
• Megafauna Migrations: KAZA also caters to large-scale migrations of megafauna, hosting the largest contiguous population of African elephant on the continent, making the African elephant a flagship species of the TFCA.
• Conservation of Threatened Species: KAZA is a key conservation area for threatened species such as the lion, cheetah, and African wild dog, of which an estimated one quarter of the population is found in the TFCA.
• Avian and Reptile Diversity: Over 600 bird species have been identified, as well as 128 reptile species and 50 amphibian species.