By MIRIAM ZIMBA-
ALTHOUGH the term wildlife conservation maybe a mouthful for a seven-year-old Grade two child such as Ben Mwanza to comprehend, the concept is deep rooted in him.
With a bias towards plants, Ben views the indiscriminate cutting of trees for charcoal as a major threat to the existence of wildlife.
His story is no different from that of a fellow Grade two pupil – Zoe Siuneta, also aged seven years, both of whom are from Lusaka’s Rhodes Park Lower Primary School.
They are both members of the Chongololo Club, one that is built on the premise of promoting the conservation of nature, wildlife inclusive.
Zoe believes that conservation of wildlife cannot be achieved with conservation of the environment such as trees, which some animals are dependent on for browsing, while birds nest in trees.
In her own little way, she sums up the importance of wildlife conservation as “animals are good, and they have to be protected for future use. Trees are important for both humans and animals,” she explained.
As young as they are, both Ben and Zoe understand that for the ecosystem to thrive, both plant and animal life are essential in order to obtain a balance in nature.
Rhodes Park School Chongololo Club patron Annie Kambikambi emphasised the importance of inculcating wildlife conservation from a tender age.
“It is important to educate our learners about this because they would be able to understand how to conserve all the natural resources that the country is endowed with for the benefit of present and future generations, “she explained.
“We also teach the learners how the importance of protecting the wildlife, by discouraging vices such as poaching, which has led to the depletion of certain species,” Ms Kambikambi added.
For many years now, Zambia has been viewed as a natural habitant for many species, wildlife and plants.
However, a  research by Carnival revealed that about nine hectares of land is lost to encroachment per day light hour.
This is especially true for the South Luangwa and Kafue game management areas (GMAs).
According to this research, if the figures are calculated across the country, it totals to about 82 hectares of land per day light hour is being lost to encroachment in wildlife areas.
On the other hand, by land cover, Zambia is losing more forests per year than any other African country, and globally, taking between fourth and fifth position on the de-forestation table.
Wildlife conservation activist Jo Pope explains that in the year 1800, there was an estimated population of about 20 million elephants in Africa, and that by 1900, this figure had been halved.
A further 80 years later, there were only 600,000 left, adding that in the last 20 years, Africa has lost a further 30 per cent of this population.
This translates to Africa losing about 3 to 4 per cent of elephants each year.
Ms Pope explained that in Zambia, the elephant population was estimated in 1960 to be 250,000 and in the last 40 years, the country has lost 90 per cent of its elephant population.
This entails that the country is only left with 10 per cent of its initial elephant population 40 years back, hence the need for conservation to be taken seriously.
“This is against the background that in the early 1980’s and today there is none left, the country has no black rhinos,” she said.
“We saw the extinction of these species in our lifetime, let us not let this happen again,” she added.
However, government is alive to the fact that remedial measures need to be put in place to protect and conserve wildlife, as well as other natural assets in the country.
Former Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo outlines some of the major challenges hindering the effective management of wildlife in the country.
This came to light when Ms Masebo graced the annual Elephant Charge hand-over event of K1,480,000 to 13 beneficiaries involved in the promotion of wildlife conservation.
She cited corruption as one of the major setbacks government has faced in implementing programmes aimed at promoting conservation and protection of wildlife.
“There are very few genuine private sector players in this sector, while for many it is about what monies they can make and not conservation,” she said.
“But this is not to say that we do not have very good private sector partners, the government has over the years enjoyed very cordial relations with private sector players,” she added.
The former minister also cited lack of reliable data on actual figures of animal populations as another major challenge in the sector.
She explained that in most cases, wrong data is deliberately given to government in order for selfish interest groups to continue hunting species such as the ‘big cats’, which are threatened with extinction.
“They will tell you that there are plenty lions, and we are wondering why government is stopping the hunting of big cats like lions, when there is plenty, these are selfish people who do this to only suit their best interest,” she said.
“And by the time you come to realise and government or even the community, you realise that that particular specie is no longer there,” she added.
She regretted that there were a lot of endemic species of animals, plants and birds that the country previously prided in having, which are no longer existing, because they have either been airlifted to other parts of the world, or could be in privately owned game parks.
“A good number of our endemic animals are now found in Europe or in some parts of the African continent and Zambia no longer has them anymore,” she said.
The issue of inadequate human resources at the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) is yet another challenge.
ZAWA’s currently establishment only has about  1,200 game scouts, against 20 national parks, and 36 GMAs spread across the country.
Established in 2008, the Elephant Charge is a  four-wheel drive event held in the bush every October, and the proceeds raised from the event, is channeled towards the promotion of wildlife conservation.
Currently, the money raised by Elephant Charge, is benefiting about 120,000 pupils in 600 schools across the country, which covers about 2.5 per cent of the school going children in Zambia.
This is because 70 per cent of the monies raised goes towards conservation education programmes, and 30 per cent to conservation filed work.
Zambia is losing habitat and without habitat the wildlife will not survive considering that wildlife tourism accounts for a substantial inflow of tourists from around the world, who choose Zambia as a preferred destination.
It goes with debate that the rate at which certain species of wildlife are being depleted in Africa, future generations run the risk of only learning about certain species in school text books, if no meaningful protection mechanisms are put in place.