CONCESSIONING OF LIWONDE NATIONAL PARK AND
NKHOTAKOTA WILDLIFE RESERVE
Request for Expression of Interest to develop and manage the
Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve through a
Public Private Partnership Arrangement.
BACKGROUND
Malawi’s gazetted Protected Wildlife Areas comprise of the five National
Parks, four Wildlife Reserves and three urban based Nature sanctuaries
with a total area of slightly over 10000sq km. The Department of National
Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) in the Ministry of Information, Tourism and
Culture, holds overall responsibility for wildlife conservation and
management of wildlife throughout the country. The DNPW responsibility is
complemented by other stakeholders including government institutions,
local communities, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the
private sector.
Liwonde National Park
Liwonde National Park is in Southern Malawi and is situated along the
Shire River between Lake Malombe and the town of Liwonde. It covers
54 800 ha of mostly mopane (tsanya) woodland, floodplains, grasslands,
swamp and lagoons. It physically adjoins and is ecologically linked to the
Mangochi Forest Reserve of 37 600 hectares which is a dispersal area for
elephants. Liwonde National Park supports relatively large populations of
sable antelope, waterbuck, impala, buffalo and most of the other large
game animals of Malawi, including a population of 600 elephants and 1600
hippopotamuses compared to other protected areas in Malawi. It also has a
threatened, population of black rhinoceros. There are good tourism facilities
at Mvuu Camp within
and there are also other prime sites for the
development of tourism products. There is basic government infrastructure
which includes houses, office building, road networkand an airfield. So far,
it is the best in terms of wild animal sightings of all DNPW managed
protected areas. The human population density around the park is very
high.
Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve
The Reserve covers 180 000 hectares and is Malawi’s largest game
reserve, dating from 1938. It is situated in Central Malawi close to the town
of Nkhotakota along the lakeshore. The vegetation is the finest example of
tall, undisturbed miombo woodland in Malawi.Chipata Mountain is a feature
of the landscape and is topped by Afromontane evergreen forest with its
associated birds and mammals. While Nkhotakota supports most of the
wildlife species of Malawi, including elephants and lions, numbers are
currently low due to years of chronic poaching and ineffective law
enforcement. This is due to the limited equipment available to the
Rangers.In terms of infrastructure, the reserve is under developed except
for a single management road, three ranger camps and two tourist
establishments –the luxury Tongole Wilderness Lodge and the tented Bua
River Lodge. There is, however, considerable scope for tourism
development and using Nkhotakota as an important national and
international elephant sanctuary with capacity to carry over 1000 elephants.
Currently, there is a Global Environmental Facility project implemented
through the World Bank aimed at developing the Reserve. However, the
project ends on 30th November 2014.
Having seen the benefit of utilising the private sector expertise in
development, operation and management of a protected areas, like at
Majete Wildlife Reserve, Government has identified Liwonde National Park
and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve as candidates for private sector
participation in its development and management with the aim of increasing
the contribution of the wildlife sector to national development while at the
same time achieving conservation goals.
THE INVITATION
The Government of Malawi(GoM) now invites qualifying wildlife reserve
development and management firms to submit their expression of interest
to enter into a PPP agreement with GoM through the Ministry of
Information, Tourism and Culture with the aim of investing in the
development of the two protected areas and management of the
associated services to the public.The expression of interest should contain
a brief profile of the firm, the relevant projects that the firm has undertaken,
including in Africa and emerging markets, and the profiles of the key
technical experts. It should also include a statement attesting that the firm
is in solid financial footing as a going concern.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
The firms should submit electronic and 4 hard copies of their expression of
interest to the following address:
The Chief Executive Officer
The Public Private Partnership Commission
2nd Floor, Livingstone Towers, Glyn Jones Road
P.O. Box 937,
Blantyre, Malawi.
Email: info@pppc.mw
Tel: +265 01 823 655
All submission should reach the above address by 20th November, 2014.