The Concept

In his book “The World of Shooting”, Peter Johnson describes game bird hunting in the nearby Mbembezi District of Matabeleland during the period of 1948-1953. He describes a countryside of interspersed settlements and villages surrounded by crops, with their livestock herded by day and kraaled (corralled) at night. On the periphery of these settlements, game birds flourished as a consequence of the growing of crops. In the land between the settlements, wildlife thrived undisturbed and unhindered, living in harmony with man. In this area, a symbiosis between man and nature had been achieved, resulting in a balance between man’s activities and nature’s wellbeing.

This is what is being achieved in the Shangani Sanctuary today, with added emphasis on modern day health, wealth and education.

The ingredients already available for this concept to become reality include:

• A pristine 89,000 hectare environment devoid of human degradation
• 76 willing subsistence and commercial farmers already established within the sanctuary
• A viable economic plan for four sustainable income sources -livestock, crops, pecan nut outgrowing and eco-tourism
• Committed persons to oversee the long term success of the enterprise
• The Pezulu school to train and empower future generations to take the scheme into the future
• Jabulani Safaris, an operating eco-tourism safari business within the sanctuary, to lead the way forward

Joshua Malinga and Jim Goddard, local landowners, are the mentors behind the Shangani Sanctuary concept.