Conservation Tourism in Hwange

Conservation Tourism in Hwange, Zimbabwe: Inside Imvelo Safari Lodges

When safari tourism protects wildlife and strengthens community

Choosing the right safari partner takes time, judgement and a great deal more than an eye for fine views or polished service. At Indigo Safaris, we look closely at the wider footprint each lodge and operator leaves on its surroundings. We ask whether they give back to community projects, whether they support wildlife conservation in measurable ways, whether they employ local people and contribute to local prosperity, and, above all, whether they operate ethically.

One of our most significant partnerships in Zimbabwe is with Imvelo Safari Lodges, based in the eastern and southern reaches of Hwange National Park. Imvelo has built its business around conservation tourism in Hwange, and the results, in wildlife protected and communities supported, are worth setting out in detail.

Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s largest reserve at roughly 14,600 square kilometres, holds one of Africa’s largest elephant populations alongside lion, buffalo and a wide range of plains game. It also borders some of the country’s poorest rural communities, and that combination, of substantial wildlife alongside significant human need, is what makes conservation tourism in Hwange National Park such an important model to get right.

A Landscape Shaped by Hardship

Poverty, drought and human-wildlife conflict in southern Hwange

The communities surrounding this part of Hwange have long contended with difficult conditions. Unemployment runs as high as 85 to 90 per cent, the soil is largely infertile, and a long dry season places sustained pressure on both people and wildlife. Because the park has no boundary fence, human-wildlife conflict is a constant feature of daily life: elephants can destroy a season’s crops overnight, while lions, jackals and hyenas take a toll on livestock. Set against this backdrop, poaching, often for bushmeat, has long been a means of survival rather than a choice.

The Loss and Return of Hwange’s White Rhinos

A conservation success reversed by poaching

This part of Hwange was once home to white rhinos, but by 2002 it had lost them entirely. A reintroduction in the late twentieth century had been a genuine success, building a population of 150 animals. Demand from Asia for rhino horn, prized for its supposed medicinal and status value, drove a wave of poaching that undid this progress. The last rhino bull in the area was killed by poachers in 2002, closing a chapter that Imvelo would later work for more than a decade to reopen.

Mark Butcher: From Forestry Ranger to Conservation Entrepreneur

A former ranger who put communities at the centre of conservation

Imvelo exists because of Mark “Butch” Butcher, a former ranger and provincial wildlife officer who once managed 1.8 million acres of indigenous forest for Zimbabwe’s Forestry Commission. Butcher understood early in his career that community engagement, not fencing or enforcement alone, would determine whether conservation in this region succeeded over the long term.

After leaving the Forestry Commission, Butcher founded Imvelo Safari Lodges around a single idea: unite conservation with tangible community benefit. The tourism-based initiatives he launched from that idea have since reshaped both the natural and social landscape of southern Hwange.

Water4Life Trust: Solar-Powered Water for Hwange’s Wildlife

Over 800 million litres a year, sustained by tourism

One of Imvelo’s earliest and most far-reaching projects was the Water4Life Trust, which funds and maintains solar-powered water pumps across southern Hwange. These pumps now deliver more than 800 million litres of water annually, sustaining more than 10,000 elephants through the dry season.

Guests staying at Jozibanini Lodge can join a “pump run” as part of a game drive, checking that the system is working as it should. On a recent visit, two pumps needed urgent attention: a hyena had chewed through one cable, and elephants had damaged another while digging nearby. Because guests were on hand, both faults were reported and repaired quickly, keeping water flowing for the wildlife that depends on it.

Bringing travellers into this landscape does more than fund repairs. Their continuous presence helps deter poaching, supports the monitoring of critical infrastructure, and underpins local livelihoods that would otherwise depend on a far more fragile economy.

The Community Rhino Conservation Initiative

More than a decade in the making

Imvelo’s most ambitious project, and arguably its proudest, is the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, known as CRCI. It took more than ten years to bring to life. Butcher’s vision was to reintroduce white rhinos onto communal land, making local communities direct beneficiaries of conservation while creating a natural buffer that reduces conflict with other wildlife.

Because all rhinos in Zimbabwe are government property, the project required formal approval and, just as importantly, the support of the communities themselves. Following extensive consultation, the neighbouring communities of Ngamo and Nganyana donated 220 hectares of good grazing land to the initiative.

The project came together piece by piece: funding, fencing, the construction of Camelthorn Lodge, a security model informed by the Malilangwe Rhino Reserve, and, finally, government authorisation. Today, four rhinos live across two fenced sanctuaries covering 10.5 square kilometres, protected around the clock by COBRAS, a trained local anti-poaching unit that includes former poachers among its ranks. A canine unit adds a further layer of security, and rangers patrol daily, recording the rhinos’ movements and behaviour. A third sanctuary is now being prepared, and the programme welcomed two additional rhinos in September 2025.

Conservation Fees That Support Local Communities

How a clinic in Ngamo changed Thando’s path

Guests staying on communal land pay a conservation fee that goes directly to the communities concerned, who decide independently how the funds are used. One of the clearest outcomes has been a clinic in Ngamo, now staffed with nurses and offering free healthcare to local residents.

Among the clinic’s team is Thando, a young woman from Ngamo who completed both primary and secondary school in the village. After finishing her studies, she chose to begin her career there, working as an assistant midwife and giving back to the community that raised her. Her path illustrates how tourism-funded initiatives can support individuals as well as the wider community.

Imvelo’s 2025 Highlights

A year of measurable community impact

Several achievements from the past year show the scale of what conservation tourism in Hwange now supports. Together, they illustrate how directly tourism revenue funds work on the ground:

Looking Ahead to 2026

Where tourism revenue and donor support are headed next

Much of Imvelo’s work depends on tourism revenue and donor support. The following priorities show where that support is directed in the year ahead:

Experiencing Conservation Tourism in Hwange

What guests see when they travel with Imvelo

Indigo Safaris founder Christopher Bartlett, himself a safari guide and photographer, recently spent time in southern Hwange to see these projects in person, and the transformation Imvelo has brought to both wildlife conservation and community development was evident throughout the visit.

Guests can watch elephants from a hide at Jozibanini Lodge, sometimes from as little as one metre away, or join a walking or cycling safari with elephants visible nearby. Game viewing across the wider park is consistently rewarding, and a walk with the rhinos of the sanctuary, or lunch within sight of rhino or elephant, gives visitors a direct sense of what their stay is helping to protect.

Safari and Conservation, Working as One

Why the model matters beyond Hwange

Conservation tourism in Hwange, as Imvelo demonstrates, works best when wildlife protection and community development are treated as a single project rather than two separate goals. Water flows because guests fund and check the pumps. Rhinos survive because communities have a direct stake in their protection. Children eat, and patients receive care, because travellers choose to visit.