MWANYA CHIEFDOM
The same
relationship.
Seventy years on.
The Kunda people of Mwanya Chiefdom have lived alongside the Luangwa River for centuries. Their knowledge of the confluence — of the main channel, the Chibembe Channel, the island between them, and the annual flood that renews everything north of it — predates the walking safari by generations.
Norman Carr understood this when he built his first camp here. The reserve today holds it as its founding principle: that the only durable protection wildlife will ever have is the genuine investment of the communities who live alongside it.
“The wildlife will last only as long as the people beside it have reason to want it to.”
- Norman Carr
CHIEFTAINESS MWANYA
Not negotiated.
Earned.
Norman Carr acquired the original Chibembe land directly from Chief Mwanya. In 2025, Chieftainess Mwanya granted the Kalovia Island lease — 2,500 acres that completed the reserve. Not negotiated. Earned across two years of sustained community investment.
The same relationship, honoured again, seventy years on.
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
These are not add-ons to the conservation programme. They are the conservation programme.
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Clean water. A borehole drilling rig owned and operated by Chibembe. Year-round drilling across Mwanya Chiefdom villages and within the reserve.
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Education. Teacher housing built for remote village schools. School supplies and books provided directly to the children of Mwanya.
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Employment. Local scouts, camp staff, and support drawn primarily from the surrounding chiefdom.
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Infrastructure. Road maintenance that benefits the wider chiefdom. A grader operating valley-wide.