Very sadly we bid farewell to Lew Games who passed away on the 28th October 2001. Lew was one of the pioneers of Conservation Lower Zambezi, and the valley. He established Zambezia Wildlife Sanctuary in Chiawa GMA which became his home away from home. As an active and dedicated member of CLZ since the beginning, Lew was one of the most valuable and respected collegues CLZ has had through the years. Lew, his passion and input into the valley will be dearly missed & our sympathy goes out to his wife Dale and family.

Special thanks to Corporate member Riccardo Garbaccio of Kanyemba Lodge who has earned the title of Minister of Transport & Communications for CLZ. Riccardo recently engineered the installation of bushmail (email by HF radio) at CLZ base Camp. As a result CLZ Operations Base & Training camp is now contactable by email at 2cli@bushmail.net. Thanks also goes to Alan & Siobhan Watson for kindly providing CLZ with office space at their home on Leopards Hill Road in Lusaka. CLZ would like to thank Royal Zambezi Lodge for providing a weekend for two to Telecel who generously printed flyers for CLZ at no charge, which were distributed during this years solar eclipse, in the valley and at Lusaka International Airport.

Our elephant population continued to take a beating until the rains arrived in mid November, since then it appears the pressure has eased. Sad & disappointing, the estimated death toll for the National Park this year now stands at 15 elephant. On a more positive note, despite the increase in ivory poaching there have been a number of successful patrols over the past 2 months. Early to mid-Oct Buffalo I had a successful patrol, while the officer stationed at Chongwe Confluence recovered a small cache of ivory whilst on foot between Chongwe Gate and the Confluence. A rapid response by Buffalo III to gunshots reported by Sausage Tree Camp proved to be very worthwhile resulting in the confiscation of a muzzle loader. Congratulations go to Rhino III Patrol Team who apprehended 2 suspects during a patrol from Luangwa Boma to Mushika. Well done men!

CLZ Ndeke, formerly referred to as "Bluebird", in reference to the call sign of Trevor Long former Chief Pilot & Chairman of CLZ. The plane was donated to CLZ by Humba Bush Foundation and the Royal Danish Embassy, and it is now stationed permanently in the valley at Royal Zambezi Airstrip. During the past couple of months the Ndeke has clocked over 30 hours. Flying patrols and ration & equipment drops to Luangwa Boma the plane continues to be an asset to CLZ operations in the valley

On the 13th October CLZ Chairman Grant Cumings and LZOC Secretary Leanne Edwards, accompanied by a few of the local Safari Tour Operators and Stakeholders, attended the Kairara Gova Traditional Ceremony in Chiawa Village. This is the Community’s most important Cultural Festival held annually to honor the community’s ancestors and request a good wet season from them. Although this is an extremely busy time of the season for the safari industry it is important for operators to realise that it is a very special occasion in the community and CLZ feel the community would like to see more Operators attend with their guests in the future, if at all possible.

CLZ would like to thank Betty Carbin and all Stakeholders who so generously assisted Jones Katiyo, ZAWA Community Liason officer, with supplies, rations, transport and activities for the Conservation and Outdoor Education trip. Jones organised the trip for a selection of students from the local communities and it took place from the 2nd to 5th Nov. CLZ provided tents, food, camping equipment and logistical support for the group who were accommodated at the Community Conservation Campsite in Chiawa Game Management Area.

It appears the Ministry of Works and Supply discovered what we thought was one of our best kept secrets and have managed to relocate their grader back to Lusaka before it gets rained in until next season. Not to worry though, Riccardo always likes a challenge so we’ll see if we can get it back next year,that is if all valley stakeholders are once again in support of the idea.

Despite Riccardo’s efforts and that of a radio technician from Lusaka we still have a slight problem the alarm system on the ZAWA repeater radio, and a visit by a technician from Precision Communications, is expected very soon to try and rectify the problem.

CLZ would like to take this opportunity to remind all corporate members of CLZ that now, during the wet season, is the best time to rectify any programming faults that may have arisen with their radios, and also that every operator must have their own private simplex channel to avoid overloading the repeater system next season.

Valley Net has recently become quite entertaining while continuing to provide the valley with an excellent form of communication. CLZ would like to advise all corporate members that the Valley Net has reduced air time during the wet season and will be held every second Tuesday at 1500hrs with the next broadcast on Tuesday 11th December 2001. Any volunteer willing to take over host duties from mid-Jan through to mid-March please contact CLZ Base.

Thanks to the extremely generous donation from Yancey Walker Productions, Cincinnati Zoo and D. Hibbard, CLZ was able to spend the last of it’s funding from the Royal Danish Embassy on a desperately needed new Toyota Landcruiser. Funds received from the sale of the Green Cruiser that was gratefully donated by Humba Bush Foundation are going either toward the construction of a hangar for the CLZ Ndeke and on Insurance for the plane for 2002 or toward the new Landcruiser.

COMMUNITY BASED CONSERVATION EDUCATION PROJECT (CBCEP)

CLZ is seeking to increase awareness of environmental and conservation issues with the surrounding village communities. A proposal has now been submitted to the Royal Danish Embassy for funding for a CBCEP and CLZ is awaiting their response.

Special thanks to Chiawa Camp guest Amanda Prentiss for her generous donation to CLZ. Unfortunately CLZ Donation boxes are still not doing too well in camps so CLZ is looking into the possibility of compiling information boards to go along side them so that they may not be so easily overlooked. Well done to all the camps listed below, your efforts are much appreciated.

Chiawa Camp USD 210.00; Royal Zambezi USD 40.00; Kasakasaka USD 12.00

The months of the sun brought a rise in the Valley temperatures along with an increase in the number of entries appearing on CLZ’s calendar of events.

5th Oct LZOC Meeting

7th & 8th Oct Visit from Olaf Berhlet of Koln Zoo.

12th Oct Chiawa Game Management Area Stakeholders Meeting

12th & 13th Oct Accommodation provided for a visiting group from Ministry of Transport, GRZ.

24th Oct Visit from Illegal Animal Trade Investigation Team.

4th-6th Nov Lower Zambezi Safari Guides Lectures & Examinations

9th Nov First rains recorded.

13th Nov Bring & Braai for all Operators at CLZ to welcome our new Warden – Ms Bernadette Mwila..

12th-25th Nov CLZ hosted MARS First Aid Courses for ZAWA officers and Lower Zambezi Safari Guides & Camp Managers.

AWF/ZAWA Wildlife Capture Course and Serum Survey has been postponed until May 2002.

Many of CLZ’s days during the end of October were occupied assisting ZAWA and CLZ corporate members with Zambia/Zimbabwe boating issues. Although this issue is not a new one for the area it certainly came to a head recently when two Zambian boats were arrested by Zimbabwean National Parks for entering Zimbabwe illegally and poaching fish within the boundaries of their National Park. CLZ assisted ZAWA on a number of occasions during this time to help resolve this issue. CLZ also acted as liasion between Operators and ZAWA and has now provided Zimbabwe National Parks in Mana Pools with a handheld radio so that they now have direct communication with ZAWA in the Lower Zambezi in hope that any further problems may be avoided.

CLZ was requested to assist on two separate occasions during mid-Nov.

12th Nov Ian Stevenson accompanied by two visiting MARS paramedics from Zimbabwe responded to a distress call from Chongwe River Camp when Silky the resident impala had somehow managed to get a head full of porcupine quills shortly after giving birth to her calf. The quills were successfully removed and Silky is well.

13th Nov CLZ responded to a request to investigate the condition of a 1 1/2 year old orphaned elephant sighted at Malilansolo Scout camp. On further investigation it was discovered that the orphan had been sighted in the area between Zambezia Wildlife Sanctuary and Malilansolo on a number of occasions during the past 3 months. Although the young male calf appears to be feeding and watering OK he is a little on the slim side. ZAWA have given Munda Wanga Wildlife Sanctuary permission to capture the calf and relocate it to their wildlife sanctuary in Chilanga, on the outskirts of Lusaka, until it is old enough to take better care of itself when it would be returned to the wild.

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