In 2019, there were around 100 families living in the Katanino Forest Reserve, cutting down trees to produce charcoal in mud-covered kilns, and selling the fuel by the bag on a nearby road leading to major cities in Zambia’s Copperbelt province. That same year, conservation group WeForest began working with the Zambian Forestry Department and members of the local community to restore the reserve. Four years on, hundreds of hectares of degraded forest have grown back from severed stumps. Morton Shanzi, manager of the Katanino Forest Landscape Restoration Project, told Mongabay that before the restoration work, community members and Forestry Department officials had observed a steep decline in animal populations in the reserve. But as the project takes hold, there have been increased sightings of birds, reptiles and mammals. “Our law enforcement records show that the number of chance encounters with animals in the forest reserve has increased between 2021 and 2023,” he said. Notable species that have reappeared include near-threatened African crowned eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) and vulnerable gaboon vipers (Bitis gabonica), as well as various species of small antelope and even carnivores like side-striped jackals (Canis adustus) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Wildlife is returning to parts of the Katanino reserve, but species like these southern ground hornbills will only find suitable habitat here again as the reserve’s trees mature. Image by Brendan Herbert via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) Intact miombo forest within Katanino. The forest type includes a wide range of deciduous trees. Image © WeForest. Nearly half…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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