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The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA TFCA, is potentially the world's largest conservation area, spanning five southern African countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, centred around the Caprivi-Chobe-Victoria Falls area.
The goal of the KAZA TFCA is "To sustainably manage the Kavango Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic wellbeing of the communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonization of policies, strategies and practices."
The KAZA TFCA is expected to span an area of approximately 287 132 km², almost the size of Italy (300 979 km²) and include no fewer than thirty six (36) formally proclaimed national parks, game reserves, forest reserves, game/wildlife management areas as well as intervening conservation and tourism concessions set aside for consumptive and non-consumptive uses of natural resources.
The biological resources of the KAZA TFCA will incorporate the largest contiguous elephant population on the African continent. The area is also endowed with an abundance and diversity of wildlife species that are of considerable economic and ecological value. The plant life is equally phenomenal with at least 3,000 species, some 100 of which are endemic to the sub-region, as well as more than 600 species of birds that are characteristic of the southern African savannahs, woodlands and wetlands. The KAZA TFCA also includes some of the world's renowned natural features and tourist attractions, such as the Victoria Falls (one of the seven natural wonders of the earth and a World Heritage Site) and the Okavango Delta (the largest Ramsar Site in the world). |