Conserve Global and partners conducted wildlife collaring in Lucheringo R1, in the western Niassa reserve. By putting satellite tracking collars on key wildlife species, Conserve will obtain data on wildlife movements, where the animals roam, and where and when they come into contact with humans, to better manage the reserve to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the area.
Niassa Special Reserve is one of Africa’s largest wild areas, spanning more than 42,000 km² of some of the continent’s most extraordinary natural beauty. It’s home to elephants, antelope, buffalo and lions… and to more than 60,000 people whose futures are deeply connected to this landscape.
For Niassa to flourish, wildlife and communities must thrive, not just alongside, but because of each other. And that’s the future we’re working toward.
In August, Conserve Global and partners fitted satellite tracking collars on key wildlife species in Lucheringo R1, a 3,437 km² area in the western reserve. For more than a decade, Lucheringo R1 had no concessionaire, which meant limited land management and very little recent ecological data.
That changed in 2024 when Maputo Conservation Company (MCC), Conserve Global’s local entity, signed a concession contract with Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC). With stewardship comes responsibility — and to make smart decisions fast, we needed clear insights from the land itself.
Wildlife in Niassa navigates a complex set of pressures: poaching, habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, illegal logging, unmanaged fires and artisanal mining. To protect both people and wildlife, we needed to understand:
These insights help us:
By understanding how nature moves, we can plan with more care for both people and wildlife.
Our field teams successfully fitted collars on:
Although not included in this dataset, neighbouring Lipilichi Wilderness also collared wildlife in their concession, a collaboration that strengthened the wider effort across the landscape.
The tracking collars now beam back hourly updates, transforming uncertainty into insight. These data will guide Maputo Conservation Company’s evidence-based management of Lucheringo, as well as law enforcement, zonation, and community land use planning, to meaningfully contribute to Niassa’s broader conservation goals.
This work depended on shared commitment and seamless teamwork:
Conservation is strongest when many hands move in the same direction.
At Conserve Global, our mission begins and ends with people. Wild places endure when the people who call them home are their champions. Strengthening stewardship in villages such as Nkolesya and Milepa ensures that conservation is rooted in lived experience, aspirations and practical priorities.
Collaring is not just about data, but about coexistence, safety, land-use rights, and long-term opportunity. It helps support a future in which communities and nature thrive, not just alongside, but because of one other.
The early results from this programme are already guiding real decisions on the ground, proving that when we listen to nature, and to local communities, we can build a future where both flourish.
People are our priority. Conservation is how we support them.
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