Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust
Our Mission is to teach Zambian children and communities the value of wildlife and their environment so they may be conserved for present and future generations
"In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught"
Who we are
Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust is a Zambian NGO, established in 1998, to teach the community around South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, the importance of wildlife and provide the knowledge to conserve it. Chipembele delivers its innovative conservation education programme to children in schools through conservation clubs and to community members through conservation-themed lessons, in 7 chiefdoms bordering the South Luangwa National Park. As a part of the programme, they also hold regular field trips into the Park for school students, carry out visits to a dedicated education centre, conduct multi-night school camping experiences, run junior ecologist classes in partnership with another NGO, and have a student sponsorship programme. Chipembele is making impactful changes from the ground up and supporting the next generation of conservation leaders in Zambia, not only by developing awareness and passion for conservation but furthermore through participation in their year-long Aspiring Conservation Leaders programme, which prepares school leavers for careers in conservation. They also offer sponsorship for tertiary students and internships. Many people who have participated in the Chipembele programme now hold key positions in Zambia including conservation NGO managers, wildlife researchers, biologists, wildlife film makers, eco-safari guides, school Conservation Club patrons/matrons and environmental educators.
Chipembele is registered with PACRA as a Zambian charitable trust reg. no. 41317 and with the Ministry of Community Development as an NGO, number 101/0046/13. It is supported by Chipembele Trust, a registered UK charity, number 1107698.
Why Chipembele?
Chipembele (pronounced chip-em-beh-leh) is the local or Chinyanja name for rhino. Until the 1970’s the Luangwa Valley held the highest concentration of black rhinos on the African continent. Then poachers began hunting them in huge numbers for their horn, which is in demand in Asia for ‘medicine’ and in the Middle East for traditional knife handles. By the late 1980’s all the rhinos had been completely wiped out. It is an important conservation lesson for everyone to remember… if we do not look after our wildlife, even once abundant species can become locally extinct in a very short period of time.
We are an international award-winning organisation
