The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) has officially launched the Regenerative Nature-Based Tourism (R-NBT) project to make nature-based tourism more inclusive, competitive, and beneficial to local communities and small businesses along the transboundary landscape.
The initiative is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as part of the Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management in the SADC Region (CRNRM) Programme. The project is co-funded by the German Government and the European Union under the Global Gateway initiative, with the SADC Secretariat coordinating operations through its Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate.
KAZA TFCA stands as one of only three global pilot landscapes selected for this high-profile international initiative, alongside Colombia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an indicative budget of EUR 3.7 million (approximately P53.5 million) allocated directly to the KAZA region.
The project places specific emphasis on micro, small, and medium tourism enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those led by women and youth as well as community-level enterprises operating adjacent to areas of high biodiversity. Over its duration, the initiative aims to actively partner with at least 150 MSMEs within the nature-based tourism value chain, connecting them where appropriate with larger anchor companies.
Officially launching the project in Maun, Charles Kabo Mojalemotho, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, noted that the initiative will systematically dismantle the key barriers preventing local tourism businesses from reaching their full potential. He emphasized that the R-NBT project will focus on improving access to finance and markets, strengthening technical and business skills, deepening linkages within the tourism value chain, and fostering a more supportive regulatory environment.
“In doing so, the project aims to make local enterprises more resilient, more competitive, and better integrated into regional and global tourism value chains,” Mojalemotho stated. “We have seen good community trust proposals and concession-holder ideas fail not for lack of merit, but for lack of patient capital suited to how nature-based tourism actually works. A Regenerative Tourism Finance Facility, built regionally, offers a real solution to close that gap.”
KAZA Secretariat Executive Director Dr Nyambe Nyambe stated that the project marks a significant step toward achieving KAZA’s ambition to position the landscape as the world’s leading transboundary nature-based tourism destination.
“Not only because of its wildlife and landscapes, but because it represents a model where conservation, community development, cultural heritage, and regional cooperation reinforce one another,” Dr Nyambe stressed.
He explained that regenerative tourism goes far beyond simply reducing environmental footprints; it actively seeks to restore ecosystems, strengthen biodiversity, preserve cultural heritage, empower communities, and create long-term economic value.
“We aim not only to conserve nature, but to regenerate it. Not only to sustain communities, but to empower them. And not only to welcome visitors, but to inspire stewardship,” the executive director emphasised.
Dr Nyambe highlighted that the strong focus on MSMEs is an important feature of this project, as small-scale operators form the backbone of the tourism sector across the Kavango Zambezi region. These businesses encompass local safari guides, family-owned lodges, community enterprises, artisans, and transport operators who convert regional tourism potential into practical economic opportunity.
However, Dr Nyambe lamented that many grassroots entrepreneurs face severe structural challenges, including limited access to finance, market exposure, skills development, and business support services. The R-NBT Project is explicitly designed to eliminate these barriers by driving innovation, supporting digital transformation, and building entrepreneurial capacity.
“We are especially encouraged by the project’s focus on women-led, youth-led, and community-based enterprises. By investing in these businesses, we are investing directly in the resilience and prosperity of the KAZA landscape,” Dr Nyambe said.
He concluded by noting that the most critical lesson from the Kavango Zambezi journey is that conservation and community development are entirely inseparable. When tourism successfully creates jobs, conservation gains champions; when it supports local enterprises, conservation gains partners; and when communities benefit from healthy ecosystems, wildlife protection becomes a shared investment in the future.
