ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARK
The Zambezi National Park, adjoining Victoria Falls, is 55,000 hectares in extent, with over 30km of Zambezi River frontage. The park is effectively divided into two sections, with the road from Victoria Falls to Botswana as the dividing line. These sections are the Zambezi River section - has the river and associated floodplains, - and the Chamabonda Vlei (pronounced "flay") section - the southern area, which has a long open grassy plain amidst the vast teak woodland.

Bhejane Trust has been active in the Chamabonda Vlei for over four years, as prior to this, the area had been neglected for many years with no functioning water points, subject to heavy poaching, and with no one going into the area. Bhejane Trusts efforts to restore the area have proved to be very successful, with the wildlife populations rebounding, and there is now a return of both locals residents and tourists to the area.

Completed Projects by Bhejane Trust
a) Water points - there were originally three water points along the Chamabonda Vlei. Bhejane initially revived two with diesel engines, but in 2014 they secured funding to drill two more boreholes ( replacing one that had collapsed), and installed four solar water pump units. This has proved to be a winner, and there are now four functioning solar powered water points
b) has rebuilt the burnt out hide at No 3 water point, reconnected the water to the ablutions, and erected a chalet, for utilisation as an overnight camping site. This has proved very popular, especially with locals.
c) has put in a new road network linked into the old network in the western area, so as to improve the game viewing experience. Also graveled and graded sections of the main access road to make it all-weather
d) Instituted a mowing program on the vlei, to give a green bite for game. Grass is mowed and bailed in return for maintenance work carried out by the contractor in the park.
e) has undertaken controlled burning programs in conjunction with Parks, and assisted on wild fire control.
f) assisted parks on patrol deployments, on ranger requirements for patrols, and operates a rewards system for rangers successful in their duties in combating poaching.

Projects to be Undertaken by Bhejane Trust
a) Water points - continued maintenance of existing solar units
b) To build a dam on the Chamabonda River so as to complete the water project
c) Roads - to continue repairs to make the main road all-weather, to grade existing roads and to expand the road network where required
d) Tourism - to maintain facilities at No 3 and to build a new hide at Timots Pan.
e) management - to continue mowing program on vlei, and to combine this with a rotational burning program, to ensure the vitality of the vlei. This is tied in to the overall Parks Matetsi program.
f) To erect an electrified fence between the Park and Victoria Falls township, so as to reduce human/animal conflict, and also to fence off the municipal rubbish dump to prevent elephant ingestion of plastic bags - a problem we have encountered.
g) To continue to assist Parks in all aspects where possible, including anti-poaching, roads, fire, etc.

Research projects to be undertaken by Bhejane Trust
a) to dart and collar some hyena from different clans, to monitor their movements, predation and investigate their interactions and effects on the ecosystem
b) To undertake a hippo count along the Zambezi from Kazungula to Victoria Falls, to assess their status and protection requirements
c) Southern Africa Bird Atlas Program - to compile a bird atlas for the area
d) Vegetation and fire mapping program
e) Game population survey - road strip counts, 24 hour water point counts
f) Fixed point photography for vegetation surveys
g) Vulture breeding survey
h) Seasonal movements of buffalo, elephant in the Matetsi area
i) small cats survey - species and distribution
j) To ascertain the status of the Sable Antelope in Matetsi area