Luambe National Park
The Luambe National Park (English Luambe National Park ) can be found in the eastern parts of Zambia . To the north of the well-known South Luangwa National Park and south of the North Luangwa National Park, it lies, like its neighbors, in the Luangwa Valley , which extends at the foot of a foothill of the Great Rift Valley. The lifeline of the valley is the continuously water-bearing Luangwa River with hundreds of small tributaries that only carry water in the rainy season . The constantly changing course of the river always creates new banks and lagoons, which make up the special ecological system of this area with its unique flora and fauna .
The 30,000 hectare Luambe National Park consists mainly of a flat plateau with dense vegetation in places, isolated lagoons and mopane tree forests , but also open grass areas . It is approx. 500 - 700 m above sea level.
The once legendary abundance of animals in the Luangwa Valley was so badly decimated by massive poaching in the 1970s and 1980s that the parks in the valley were almost considered empty. While the South Luangwa National Park was able to protect the wild animal populations at least in the vicinity of the lodges with photo tourism early on , the Luambe National Park was undeveloped for a long time due to mismanagement and lack of park structure. A lack of infrastructure and poor surveillance gave poachers almost uncontrolled freedom.
From 2003 to 2011, CCSC (Communities for Conservation Society Cologne eV), a private initiative based in Cologne, tried to improve the protection of the park in cooperation with the national park authority DNPW (Department of National Parks and Wildlife) with the involvement of the local population. After a few years, CCSC withdrew and the park was left to its own devices. The park is becoming more and more popular for tourism and there are overnight accommodations.
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Coordinates: 12 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ S , 32 ° 20 ′ 0 ″ E