Conservation partnerships

Led by Getrude Mwiba

For more than a decade, Getrude Mwiba watched the same scene repeat itself. Historically, conservation in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem suffered from "fractured governance," where blurred responsibilities between the state, traditional authorities, and NGOs led to inconsistent enforcement and minimal community benefit. An organization would arrive in a community near Kafue National Park, run a conservation programme, and leave. Only for another organization to arrive months later and start the same work from scratch. As Chairperson of the Community Resource Board (CRB), Getrude saw her community being confused. They couldn't tell whose programme was whose, or whether anything was actually changing.  

"Everyone came with their own agenda," she says. "Nobody was talking to each other." The result was wasted resources, duplicated effort, and communities that never felt genuinely included in the decisions that shaped their land.

Gertrude Mwiba knows the area by hearth

Getrude has spent most of her adult life in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem. Trained as a forestry officer, she chose to leave that role to represent her community more directly. This decision would eventually place her at the heart of one of the most significant governance shifts in the region. When BLC began facilitating the Conservation Partnership model in 2020, Getrude was there from the start. The Conservation Partnership model is a permanent round table uniting the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, the Forestry Department, CRBs, NGOs, and the private sector, specifically set up to heal the fracture. 

Mumbwa Pilot

In 2025, the Mumbwa GMA pilot transitioned from a concept into a fully operational governance engine. This transformation has been years in the making, as Getrude started advocating in 2012. In April 2025, the government took the first important step: the Department of National Parks and Wildlife officially assumed chairmanship of the Conservation Partnership Steering Committee, signalling a shift from participant to primary driver. Then, on 2 December 2025, came the moment Getrude had been working toward since 2012: the High Court dismissed the claims of illegal settlers in Mumbwa GMA and ordered their eviction. A landmark ruling and a direct result of the collective evidence and unified voice of the Conservation Partnership.

"This is what happens when everyone sits at the same table. 
We stopped duplicating and started building."

Getrude's long view is becoming the region's blueprint

The Mumbwa model is now being replicated. In 2025, BLC and The Nature Conservancy launched the same Conservation Partnership process in three new landscapes: Mufunta GMA in Central Kafue, and Sichifulo and Mulobezi GMAs in the south. Each area is now one a step closer towards securing ecological connectivity across the wider KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area. Getrude's long view is becoming the region's blueprint.