Gamefields Limited in Zambia has created the Landsafe Investment  Partnership model for customary and protected areas, comprising the local community and government, investors, and local and international NGOs.

It is currently – in the Luembe customary area, developing a sustainable business partnership under a trust structure,  one having a common goal of integrating community development with that of land and biodiversity conservation. It is investment driven, creates trust structures and provides landuse plans, and  attracts investors.

Gamefields is assisted by the NGO, ProjectsAfrica, and has spawned: Mbeza Safaris, The Luembe Conservancy Trust, and RiversAfrica.com (in process of establishment).

governance and transparency

Contributor to the steering committee of  the Natural Resources Consultative Forum of Zambia, a cross-sectoral forum providing policy guidance to the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources – and other Ministries, on environmental and natural resource issues.

climate for business

Seeks to persuade investors to invest in rural areas, but without the alienation of land belonging to customary landowners. This requires a close monitoring of  legislation and policy that support this, but also that negates or hinders the process

trade

Seeks to attract tourists from within the region; and to develop such community industries as local honey production – and other organic products for export

enterprise and employment

Seeks to create employment that is not purely seasonal, and to stimulate entrepreneurship

Trustee of Jobs for Zambia, an NGO currently being established to provide advocacy for job creation in Zambia

human development

Dedicated to the improvement of rural livelihoods and biodiversity management, paying close attention to the following: awareness raising of local communities and chiefs rights and obligations in respect of natural resource and land use; the equitable receipt of benefits from utilization; the improvement of agriculture and the amelioration of wildlife predation on crops leading to food security; the creation of jobs through empowerment tourism; the writing of participatory land use plans…

perceptions of africa

To ensure that Africa is, wherever possible, displayed in a positive light, but, equally, to make it known when policy changes and poor governance impact negatively on the rural poor, on the biodiversity and on Africa as a whole – particularly when international conventions and agreements are ignored for personal or political gain.