Habitat Connections Project
Urban conservation in the heart of Zambia's capital city, Lusaka
Habitat Connections is Bats without Borders’ first urban conservation project! The project is in partnership with BirdWatch Zambia, Lusaka and Bonanza Golf Courses, communities, schools, and universities across Lusaka.
The project aims to protect, restore, and create a diverse range of habitats for wildlife, particularly bats, birds, amphibians, and pollinating insects. By reconnecting ecological pathways across the urban landscape, we can enable wildlife to move more freely between sites, increasing ecological integrity and supporting more sustainable urban spaces that benefit both people and nature.
Habitat Connections is Bats without Borders’ first urban conservation project! The project is in partnership with BirdWatch Zambia, Lusaka and Bonanza Golf Courses, communities, schools, and universities across Lusaka.
The project aims to protect, restore, and create a diverse range of habitats for wildlife, particularly bats, birds, amphibians, and pollinating insects. By reconnecting ecological pathways across the urban landscape, we can enable wildlife to move more freely between sites, increasing ecological integrity and supporting more sustainable urban spaces that benefit both people and nature.
You can hear directly from Habitat Connections Project Officer Taonga Mwale more about the project in this video below:
Urban expansion is having a significant impact on nature. Within cities, golf courses present a unique opportunity to create, enhance, and protect biodiversity within ‘rough’ areas such as woodland, grassland, scrub, and aquatic habitats that are often overlooked. These spaces can become safe havens for nocturnal species due to lower levels of light pollution and limited human activity. By enhancing these areas, we can protect and restore biodiversity, improve habitat connectivity, and create vital stepping stones within fragmented urban landscapes.
This collaborative project will form a case study for multi-species conservation, with communities at the heart of co-designing and leading conservation interventions.
Key focus areas of the project include:
At the core of Habitat Connections is a community-driven approach. From planting native trees and wildflowers to monitoring species, local communities, schools, and golf course teams will play a leading role in shaping and caring for these habitats.
Green spaces act as important stepping stones in otherwise fragmented urban environments. By enhancing the habitat value of these sites and improving their connectivity with surrounding degraded habitats, we aim to create vital ecological linkages that benefit wildlife and people while contributing to the long-term sustainability of urban areas.
While the initial focus is on Lusaka, our ambition is to expand Habitat Connections to other golf courses and urban landscapes across southern Africa. As part of the project, we will engage golf courses and develop guidance to help enhance biodiversity across golf courses and urban green spaces throughout the region.
Habitat Connections aims to spark a wider movement by building a connected network of habitats that enhance biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and improve environments for both communities and wildlife in urban landscapes.
Habitat Connections demonstrates the power of collaboration between organisations, schools, and communities in shaping cities where both people and nature can flourish.
Get Involved
If you are based in Lusaka and would like to find out more, please contact Taonga for more info.
Donate: Your donations directly support our research, outreach, and conservation activities.
Spread the word: Help raise awareness about the importance of bats and the threats they face by sharing our work with your networks.
Thank you to our funder:
This collaborative project will form a case study for multi-species conservation, with communities at the heart of co-designing and leading conservation interventions.
Key focus areas of the project include:
- identifying, creating, and restoring priority sites where biodiversity can thrive
- installing bat boxes and insect hotels, creating ponds and other water features, and planting native trees to improve habitat for a wide range of species
- engaging schools, youth groups, golf club staff and members, and local communities in hands-on habitat restoration to foster ownership and long-term stewardship
- conducting community science surveys and ecological monitoring to guide and measure conservation outcomes
At the core of Habitat Connections is a community-driven approach. From planting native trees and wildflowers to monitoring species, local communities, schools, and golf course teams will play a leading role in shaping and caring for these habitats.
Green spaces act as important stepping stones in otherwise fragmented urban environments. By enhancing the habitat value of these sites and improving their connectivity with surrounding degraded habitats, we aim to create vital ecological linkages that benefit wildlife and people while contributing to the long-term sustainability of urban areas.
While the initial focus is on Lusaka, our ambition is to expand Habitat Connections to other golf courses and urban landscapes across southern Africa. As part of the project, we will engage golf courses and develop guidance to help enhance biodiversity across golf courses and urban green spaces throughout the region.
Habitat Connections aims to spark a wider movement by building a connected network of habitats that enhance biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and improve environments for both communities and wildlife in urban landscapes.
Habitat Connections demonstrates the power of collaboration between organisations, schools, and communities in shaping cities where both people and nature can flourish.
Get Involved
If you are based in Lusaka and would like to find out more, please contact Taonga for more info.
Donate: Your donations directly support our research, outreach, and conservation activities.
Spread the word: Help raise awareness about the importance of bats and the threats they face by sharing our work with your networks.
Thank you to our funder:
Thank you also to Caring for Conservation who are funding part of the Classrooms without Walls project, and to our project partners Bonanza and Lusaka Golf Clubs, the inspiring primary school learners and university students and communities coming together to support this project.
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