The Luwire Wildlife Conservancy was awarded in 2000 as Niassa’s first private concession. Management of Luwire (L7) is allowed through a concession granted by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) in Mozambique. Luwire itself is currently managed on long-lease by Luwire Limitada.

The Conservancy remains one of the most significant wilderness areas within the Niassa Special Reserve. It sits on the southeastern bank of the Lugenda River, covering an area of 1 million acres (450,000 hectares), and benefiting from 300km of river frontage. Nine caves have been discovered to date featuring paintings from historic indigenous tribes.  

Luwire is a prehistoric wilderness with incredible diversity by geography, flora and fauna – and includes miombo woodlands, granite inselbergs, open savannah, wetlands, river floodplains, and riverine forest. Wildlife in the concession include: Niassa wildebeest, Boehm’s zebra, Johnston’s impala, elephant, buffalo, serval, lion, leopard, hippopotamus, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, kudu, crocodile, sable antelope, eland, African wild dogs, duiker, warthog, baboon, hyena, common reedbuck, klipspringer, jackal and hundreds of bird species. Pel’s fishing owl, African Pitta, African skimmer and the Taita falcon feature prominently within this biodiversity.

Luwire comprises a small team of dedicated conservationists, many of whom have been in place since its inception in 2001. We seek practical and robust solutions to the challenges of conservation at scale and long term financial and physical security that allows the area under our stewardship to thrive. Luwire staff work closely with the small local communities who must ultimately take up the reigns and guardianship of Luwire’s incredible heritage.

Conservation & Community Highlights:

1. Protection: Anti-poaching and wildlife security
2. Communities: Understanding the socioeconomic landscape and attitudes to find mutually beneficial solutions to conservation issues.
3. Science: A rigorous scientific approach through academic partnerships, allows Luwire to make evidence-based conservation decisions. This includes combining population assessments with ecological, behavioural, and impact studies, to best understand how to maintain and increase local biodiversity.
4. Sustainability: Luwire is committed to developing sustainable, revenue generating businesses to improve quality of life for local communities, as well as funding Luwire’s long-term conservation goals.
5. Partnerships: Luwire is committed to coordinating closely with neighbouring Niassa conservancies, local community leadership, and the Mozambican government.

Future Aims:

1. Establishing a base for Adventure Tourism in Niassa for all ages and skill levels
2. Establishing a recurring Conservation Education Gap Year Programme
3. Creating a sustainable honey production business to provide local employment
4. Renovating the current tourism and staff accommodations on Luwire
5. Improving local food security and sustainable agricultural practices through education, improved irrigation, crop storage infrastructure and reduced human wildlife conflict

Images provided.