Understanding local community perceptions on impacts, causes, and responses to climate change is vital for promotion of community resilience towards climate change. This study explored local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by local communities on climate change trends and impacts in the Middle Zambezi Biosphere Reserve (MZBR), Zimbabwe. The objectives of the study were to (i) investigate local community perceptions on trends and causes of climate change, (ii) identify biophysical impacts of climate change at the local level, and (iii) explore the ecosystem-based adaptation strategies towards climate change. The study used a mixed methods approach where a household questionnaire survey (n=320), key informant interviews (n=12), and focus group discussions (n=8) were used to collect data between April 2015 and October 2016. Results from the study show that local communities have observed decreasing rainfall and increasing temperatures as key indicators of climate change. Local communities observed water scarcity, changes in vegetation phenology, livestock and wildlife mortalities, and food shortages due to drought as the major impacts on their livelihoods. LEK can contribute to adaptive management strategies that enhance resilience of socioecological systems (SES) in the face of climate change by providing information on the status and use of biophysical components of the environment and by highlighting potential local adaptation strategies that can sustain key livelihood practices.

Post-release monitoring of wildlife is essential to the success of ecological restoration initiatives. Translocation of wildlife to new ecosystems is associated with changes in diet profiles of individuals and ultimately animal performance, since productivity of rangelands varies in time and space. The population decline and local extinction of buffalo and other species in Umfurudzi Park, Zimbabwe, in the late 1980s led to temporary suspension of hunting activities. Recently, efforts have been made to resuscitate Umfurudzi Park through wildlife reintroductions and active ecosystem management. We assessed the diet profile and diet quality of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) between 2011 and 2012. A total of 42 grass species constituted the diet spectrum of buffalo. Heteropogon contortus, Eragrostis racemosa, Steroechlaena tenuifolia andThemeda triandra contributed significantly to the buffalo diet during the four seasons of the study period. Although a wide spectrum of grass species was selected in the wet season, the diversity of grass species selected was not significantly different among the seasons. Grass species crude protein deteriorated from 4.5% in the wet season to 3.5% in the dry season. Crude protein and phosphorus levels in buffalo faecal samples were within the recommended nutrient scale for southern Africa large herbivores. We conclude that feed availability and quality may not be limiting the persistence of the reintroduced buffalo. There is a need to closely monitor grass availability, dietary shifts, and forage quality over time, as well as resource partitioning with other feeding guilds.

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Climate change and variability pose a threat to wildlife resources in semi-arid savannahs. With examples from selected protected areas in Southern Africa, this chapter highlights studies on detected climate changes particularly rainfall and temperature, outlines the predicted and observed impacts of climate change and variability on wildlife resources in savannah ecosystems and highlights the adaptation and mitigation strategies and implications for conservation. Literature indicates that Southern Africa is characterised by highly variable, erratic and unpredictable rainfall and increasing temperature coupled with an increasing trend in climate-related extreme events such as frequent droughts, cyclones and heat waves. Drought, in particular, has led to death in several wildlife species. This has implications on long-term survival of the species. Changes in rainfall and temperature patterns influence habitat quality and consequently abundance of distribution of wildlife species. Large herbivores such as elephants and hippopotamus in particular are vulnerable to climate change due to their ecology, whereas other species are less vulnerable. Climate-related extreme events, coupled with other anthropogenic stressors, interact to influence changes in abundance and distribution of wildlife resources. Understanding the influence of these climatic factors on wildlife resources is vital for adaptive management and protection of biodiversity.

The Rio+20 outcomes document, the Future We Want, enshrines green economy as one of the platforms to attain sustainable development and calls for measures that seek to address climate change and biodiversity management. This paper audits climate change policies from selected east and southern African countries to determine the extent to which climate change legislation mainstreams biodiversity and wildlife management. A scan of international, continental, regional and national climate change policies was conducted to assess whether they include biodiversity and/or wildlife management issues. The key finding is that many climate change policy–related documents, particularly the National Adaptation Programme of Actions (NAPAs), address threats to biodiversity and wildlife resources. However, international policies like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol do not address the matter under deliberation. Regional climate change policies such as the East African Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and African Union address biodiversity and/or wildlife issues whilst the Southern African Development Community region does not have a stand-alone policy for climate change. Progressive countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia have recently put in place detailed NAPAs which are mainstream responsive strategies intended to address climate change adaptation in the wildlife sector.

We compared the structure and composition of vegetation communities across different land uses in the northern Gonarezhou National Park and adjacent areas, southeast Zimbabwe. Vegetation data were collected from 60 sample plots using a stratified random sampling technique from April to May 2012. Stratification was by land use, and sample plots in all three strata occurred on predominantly siallitic soils. Our results show that the communal area had higher woody plant species diversity (H'=2.66) than the protected area (H'=1.78). However, the protected area had higher grass species richness per plot than the communal area and resettlement area. Overall, the protected area had more structural and compositional diversity than the other land use areas. These findings suggest that the areas adjacent to protected areas contribute to plant diversity in the greater ecosystem; hence conservation efforts should extend beyond the boundaries of protected areas. We recommend that protected area management should engage community-based institutions in neighbouring areas for effective monitoring of woody vegetation structure and composition.

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