The Emergence of Modern Nature Conservation in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s formal commitment to nature conservation commenced with the Game Law Amendment Act, 1891, a year after white settlement began in what was then Rhodesia (Thomlinson, 1980). ¹ Previously the indigenous people had had mostly weak conventions that helped to conserve wild animals. They had also set aside religious sanctuaries and the Ndebele, at least, had created a large royal hunting preserve along the Shangani River (Child, 1995). The first formal reserves set aside after the establishment of white government were the Rhodes Matopos and Rhodes Nyanga national parks, created in 1902 on land purchased privately by Cecil John Rhodes and entrusted to the nation in terms of his will.