ABOUT MUKUVISI WOODLANDS
The Mukuvisi Woodlands are one of Zimbabwe's national treasures. They provide one of the few remaining large green spaces open to the public in Harare. Over 4 000 school children visit each year.
Deforestation and loss of habitat is rampant country-wide. Zimbabwe's amazing wildlife is more or less restricted to National Parks and other conservancies, and for some people, the Mukuvisi Woodlands provide the only opportunity they have to see our wild animals, and appreciate our country's natural, stunningly beautiful, miombo woodlands.
First proposed as a protected green-belt area in 1910, those championing the idea of these Woodlands fought an uphill battle against suburban development in the area right through to 1979, when the Mukuvisi Woodlands Association was created, and in 1980, an official lease agreement, running until 2090, was signed between this Association and Harare Municipality.
Objectives of the Mukuvisi Woodlands Association were first defined as:
- To conserve and utilise the Mukuvisi Woodlands;
- To provide and develop facilities for education in the principles and practice of nature conservation, environmental studies and research;
- To encourage the public to appreciate the natural environment.
Mukuvisi Woodlands has succeeded very well in all of these, and continues to succeed, particularly in the area of Conservation Education. Our flagship Eco-Schools Programme is helping to create a new generation of environmentally aware, dedicated children, who understand today's burning conservation challenges and issues.
We offer regular Bush Camps for children, and hold many other educational events. We have a full time Education Officer, plus several university students on attachment doing research and teaching on an on-going basis.
