In a bid to better integrate environmental data into national economic planning, Zambia is updating its Wildlife and Protected Areas Accounts WPAA under the Zambia Natural Capital Accounting Programme.
Zambias protected areas cover around 30 of the countrys land and include 20 national parks and 36 game management areas but limitations in data collection have made it difficult to capture their full economic value.
The updated WPAA aims to provide systematic data on tourism contributions, wildlife population trends, land-use change and conservation-related revenue. According to the government, the revised accounts will track revenue flows from conservation fees, private-sector investments and economic benefits accrued by local communities.
The programme is led by the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, the Zambia Statistics Agency and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife with technical and financial support from the World Banks Global Program for Sustainability and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Tourism remains a major contributor to Zambias GDP with nature-based tourism directly accounting for over 7 and supporting employment in areas surrounding protected regions such as the South Luangwa, Kafue and Lower Zambezi national parks. However, lack of consolidated data on visitor trends and tourism-linked employment has hindered the ability to craft effective growth policies.