This project addresses a major biodiversity data gap in Zambia’s sizeable Game Management Areas (GMAs), which buffer Kafue National Park and connect to the vast KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area. These landscapes are ecologically important but lack systems to monitor how varying land uses, legal, illegal, intensive, or sustainable, impact biodiversity. The project will create a scalable, multi-taxa monitoring framework using remote sensing, camera traps, acoustic sensors, and patrol data to assess species richness, diversity, and habitat conditions across different land-use types. All biodiversity data will be openly shared via GBIF and delivered to policymakers through maps, reports, and policy briefs. The project will also support two dozen women leaders and farmers practising regenerative agriculture by providing training, tools, and market access. By comparing biodiversity indicators across farms at different stages of sustainability, the project will generate evidence of the ecological benefits of biodiversity-friendly practices. Ultimately, it aims to guide land-use decisions that promote both biodiversity recovery and improved rural livelihoods.

The immediate objectives of the Biodiversity Impact of Sustainable Farming and other Land-use and Farming Practices in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem, Zambia project are:

1. Assess biodiversity impacts of different farming and land-use practices through continuous monitoring in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE), Zambia.
2. Expand biodiversity monitoring beyond large carnivores by implementing a multi-method approach targeting birds, mammals, amphibians, and vegetation, and ensure open access to collected data by publishing project datasets to
3. Build local capacity for 20 women through training and workshops on sustainable farming and crop production’s dependency on biodiversity – including bee-keeping and pollinator friendly crops and trees. Further build scientific capacity for 3 Zambian early career scientists through in-house training, in field experience and outsourced
4. Share results with relevant government bodies and stakeholders to support more effective policy- and law-making that promotes biodiversity and regulates land-use in the GKE

Charlotte Krag is an ecologist and conservation practitioner with over 12 years of conservation experience across Europe and Africa, specializing in camera trap monitoring, large carnivore ecology, and landscape-scale biodiversity monitoring. As Research & Site Manager at Musekese Conservation, she leads long-term ecological monitoring programmes in Zambia’s Greater Kafue Ecosystem, combining field-based conservation with analytical approaches to generate evidence-based information that informs conservation management and adaptive decision-making across complex multi-use landscapes.