Below, please find the non-technical summary of the ESDD carried out in early 2025 in Nyika-Vwaza.
Background
The Nyika–Vwaza landscape in Malawi comprises two protected areas, the Nyika National Park (3,092 km²) and the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve (980 km²), together with their adjacent community-managed areas of approximately 1,027 km² and 458 km², respectively. The Nyika Plateau, part of the Great Rift Valley system, forms the largest montane complex in south-central Africa and represents the only extensive Afro-montane big game habitat in southern Africa, while also serving as one of Malawi’s most important water catchment areas. The Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve encompasses a significant wetland marsh and miombo woodland ecosystem that supports a diverse range of wildlife species and constitutes an important component of the Malawi–Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area. The program will be implemented by Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, through the Nyika–Vwaza Co-Management Trust establish in 2025 to assume overarching responsibility for the joint management of the two protected areas, with government staff seconded to the Trust.
Methodology
Nyika-Vwaza’s environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) was carried out by Asesoramiento Ambiental Estratégico (AAE), from September 2024 to February 2025. The ESDD included desk-based reviews, field visits and remote interviews. The team engaged with the local communities on the ground, as well as with key national and local stakeholders, including local government representatives; NGOs such as the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust and the Hunger Project, as well as PPF and staff from the future Nyika-Vwaza Co-Management Trust. During the field visits, the national team visited various local communities living in the surrounding areas of the protected areas. Over 200 community members, from which approximately one third were women, were met in key community areas around the protected areas. For further details on Nyika-Vwaza legacy landscape, please consult the legacy landscape page.
Main Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
The risks identified in the ESDD are divided into two categories: contextual risks and program-funded activity risks. The contextual risks identified include issues such as poaching, illegal harvesting of natural resources, wildfires, invasive alien plant species, localized deforestation, nearby mining operations, and broader governance challenges such as child labor, limited institutional capacity, as well as concerns related to gender dynamics and power imbalances. The most relevant program-funded activity risks are linked to increased security and safety risks for rangers (Park and Wildlife Assistants/Scouts) due to increased and longer patrols, increased or maintained access restrictions for local communities, increased tensions between communities and conservation workers due to past resettlement processes, lack of an adequate grievance redress mechanism, inadequate working and labor conditions, aggravation of gender inequality.
ESDD Categorization
As a result of the ESDD carried out by AAE, both contextual and program-related risks were classified as B (moderate), resulting in an overall risk category B (moderate risk) for the Nyika-Vwaza legacy landscape program.
Foreseen Mitigation Measures as per ESAP
Nyika-Vwaza’s environmental and social action plan (ESAP) is an instrument to continually improve management of the program’s ES risks and impacts, and its alignment with LLF’s environmental and social standards. The high priority actions spelled out in the Nyika-Vwaza ESAP include: conducting an environmental and social impact assessment proportional to the planned infrastructure work; adequately involving local communities in tourism planning and other program activities; further defining elements of a consistent gender and diversity approach throughout the implementation of the program; ensuring rangers are provided with adequate equipment, basic necessities and other necessary resources; reviewing existing and planned provisions to avoid access restrictions, with particular attention to those affected by past resettlement; and finalizing and implementing an appropriate and confidential grievance redress mechanism in the landscape.
For more information, please consult the following links: