Barotse Royal Establishment, Government of Zambia and African Parks Renew Long-Term Partnership for Liuwa Plain National Park
Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia © Marcus Westberg
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – 15 July 2026 – African Parks, together with the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) and Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism, are proud to announce the renewal of their long-term partnership agreement for the collaborative management of Liuwa Plain National Park, extending a relationship that began nearly 25 years ago.
The renewed mandate includes a portion of the Upper West Zambezi Game Management Area (GMA), an important part of the broader Liuwa ecosystem. Liuwa hosts the second-largest wildebeest migration in Africa, and this extended area is critical to the migratory movements that sustain it. The expansion recognises the importance of conserving this wider landscape for both the wildlife and the communities who depend on it.
For African Parks, this renewal marks a particularly significant milestone. Liuwa Plain was the organisation’s first management partnership, beginning with a transitional agreement in February 2003, followed by the signing of a formal long-term partnership between African Parks, the Barotse Royal Establishment and the Government of Zambia in 2004.Over more than two decades, the partnership has endured through the sustained commitment of Government, traditional leadership, local communities and conservation partners alike.
Liuwa Plain National Park has one of the oldest conservation histories in Africa, dating back to the 19th century when the King of Barotseland, Lubosi Lewanika, appointed his people as the custodians of the landscape. The Lozi people have maintained a deep connection to the landscape, and today, approximately 12,000 people continue to live within the park, making Liuwa one of Africa’s most enduring examples of a shared landscape where people and wildlife coexist.
Over the past two decades, the partnership has helped restore wildlife populations and ecological processes across the landscape, while protecting and strengthening the traditional rights and practices – most notably fishing – that have long sustained the communities living here. Liuwa is today home to healthy populations of lion, hyaena, wild dog and cheetah, alongside its remarkable wildebeest migration. Wildlife populations have recovered to the extent that Liuwa now contributes animals to support restoration efforts elsewhere in Zambia, including recent translocations of wildebeest and zebra to Kafue National Park.
Importantly, the success of Liuwa has never been measured solely by wildlife recovery. That the future of the landscape is inseparable from the wellbeing and participation of the communities who call it home has been understood here for generations; the partnership’s role has been to help navigate this reality through the complexities of contemporary conservation. This has meant, first and foremost, protecting existing rights to natural resources, alongside support for sustainable livelihoods, education, employment opportunities and community enterprises that have created tangible benefits for thousands of Lozi families.
Reflecting on 25 years of African Parks, CEO Peter Fearnhead recently described Liuwa as the place where, in many ways, the organisation’s journey began – made possible by the leadership and vision of His Majesty the Litunga, and by the willingness of the Zambian government and local institutions to embrace what was then a novel approach to long-term conservation management.
As the partnership enters its next chapter, the focus will remain on strengthening conservation outcomes, supporting community development, enhancing sustainable financing, and securing the integrity of the wider landscape, including key migratory routes and areas beyond the park boundary.
The renewal stands as a testament to what can be achieved through trust, patience and collective commitment over time. More than twenty years on, Liuwa remains what it has been since the time of King Lewanika: a landscape cared for by its people, with the partnership serving to strengthen that custodianship for generations to come.
The partners gratefully acknowledge the longstanding support of The Rob Walton Foundation, Stichting Natura Africae, The Postcode Lottery Group, WWF Belgium, WWF Netherlands and WWF Zambia, whose sustained investment over the years has underpinned conservation and community development across the wider Liuwa landscape.
His Majesty the Litunga Lubosi Imwiko II, said:
“Liuwa has always been part of our history, our culture and our identity. This partnership recognises the role of the Lozi people as custodians of this landscape and reinforces our shared responsibility to ensure that future generations inherit a healthy and thriving Liuwa.”
Mr Evans Muhanga, Permanent Secretary for the Zambia Ministry of Tourism added:
“The renewal of this agreement reflects our shared commitment to safeguarding one of Zambia’s most important protected areas while ensuring that conservation continues to contribute to national development and community wellbeing.”
Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks, concluded:
“Few landscapes in Africa carry a conservation story as old, or as deeply rooted, as Liuwa’s. It is the legacy of two Litungas: King Lewanika, who proclaimed these plains a wildlife sanctuary in the late 1800s; and His Majesty the Litunga Lubosi Imwiko II, who chose nearly 25 years ago to carry that legacy forward through this partnership. To have walked this road alongside His Majesty, the Government of Zambia and the people of this landscape has been one of the great privileges of African Parks’ journey – and we are deeply honoured to continue walking it together.”
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