By Wallace Mawire
The Zimbabwe National Parks Authority (ZIMPARKS) on 22 to 23 October,2025 hosted an international wildlife conservation symposium to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and networking among experts in biodiversity conservation, climate change, sustainable tourism, transboundary resource management, and related fields.
The symposium aimed to explore current trends, challenges, and opportunities in environmental conservation, and to showcase innovative technologies and community-based solutions for sustainable development.
The symposium serve as a platform for exchanging of ideas and deepening understanding of the link between wildlife conservation and sustainable development, fostering regional collaboration, especially in managing shared ecosystems like the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Trans-Frontier Conservation Area, developing strategies for water and fisheries management, sustainable tourism, and community-based conservation, strengthening legal frameworks, promote innovative financing, and improve transparency in wildlife management. and elevating community and youth voices, ensuring local ownership and long-term project success.
By hosting the international event, Zimbabwe through ZimParks has reinforced its leadership in African conservation.
The symposium has positioned Zimbabwe as a key player in regional conservation, especially within the KAZA area.
It has also aligned national efforts with global sustainability goals, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating Zimbabwe’s commitment to mainstreaming bio-diversity and integrating conservation with economic and social development.
The symposium has also helped Zimbabwe to attract international partnerships and funding, and showcasing successful models like CAMPFIRE and regulated trophy hunting as tools for both conservation and community benefit.
Several countries, mainly from the SADC region including South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana registered to participate and the symposium and at least over 100 participants registered for the conference.
ZimParks will used the symposium to showcase people-centric conservation models, such as CAMPFIRE, which channels revenue from regulated trophy hunting into community infrastructure and services ,highlighted conflict mitigation initiatives, like predator-proof enclosures and support for students in wildlife areas, promoted regional collaboration through joint patrols and intelligence-sharing with neighbouring countries, presented innovative governance and financing models, including the use of advanced technologies like Earth Ranger and SMART tools for effective conservation management.
The symposium also helped Zimbabwe to attract international investment and partnerships such as the existing relationships with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) , African Parks, Peace Parks and the Frankfurt Zoological Society.
