WWF Zimbabwe handed over equipment and materials worth more than half a million dollars to project partners under the Hwange Sanyati Biological Corridor Project (HSBCP) on the 17^th of December 2015.
 
The Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Honourable O.C.Z Muchinguri was guest of honor for the day and handed over the equipment to the project partners that include: Parks and Wildlife Management Authority; CAMPFIRE Association; Environmental Management Agency; and the Forestry Commission. The Hwange Sanyati Biodiversity Corridor (HSBC) project covers an area of 5.7 million ha in north western Zimbabwe and falls within the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Trans-frontier Conservation Area (TFCA). It is a $6.4 million project being funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank. The project is working to improve protected area management effectiveness in the Hwange National Park and improve the livelihoods of communities involved in the stewardship of natural resources in the buffer area of the Park. It is developing tools that address land degradation and deforestation across the corridor and piloting rehabilitation measures in the Sanyati catchment.
 
WWF Zimbabwe is excited to handover the first batch of project equipment as it creates an enabling environment to better address land use and natural resource management challenges in the corridor especially illegal wildlife and timber poaching, HWC, land degradation and limited community engagement and benefits from natural resources.  It is envisaged that with this equipment and materials land use and resource manager’s conservation capacity will improve resulting in more effective and efficient protection and management of natural resources in the corridor.
 
The equipment dispensed included 5 vehicles; 4 motor bikes; 2 tractors, computers and printers; field equipment; water harvesting material; ranger patrol kits and Human Wildlife Conflict mitigation materials. The momentous occasion was attended by Board members and CEOs of project partners, senior government officials, participating local authority representatives, NGOs and media houses.