Rifa – The Zambezi Valley Project
May 2023 – During the last 5 years, we successfully converted the 600 km² Rifa concession from a hunting to a non-hunting area and a true wildlife paradise. Implementing anti-poaching measures and improving infrastructure allowed the wildlife population to recover, increase and thrive. The successful relocation of 100 rescued elephants added to the area’s bio-diversity – and we are happy to report that they are prospering as well.
It was always our main mission to re-introduce the black rhino to the Mid Zambezi Valley. But after careful consultations with rhino experts and conservationists in Southern Africa, it unfortunately turned out that Rifa is not the ideal place for us to achieve this goal. Hemmersbach Rhino Force will be using this time and funding to further our work across other protected areas specifically focused on the safeguarding of rhino. That’s why we started looking for a sustainable alternative for this amazing area.
Today, we are happy and excited to announce that we found the ideal partner, Stephen Cunliffe and his Natural Capital Foundation, to take the next phase of Rifa´s development. As an organisation dedicated to the protection of wilderness through investment into conservation, Natural Capital will fulfill the ambitious task of building on Rhino Force´s work and achievements in Rifa and the Zambezi Valley.
This step will allow us to focus even more on our main task – protecting the African rhino from extinction – with our other projects in South Africa and Zimbabwe. And it will ensure that Rifa stays the paradise and safe haven for wild animals that it is today: a priceless natural asset of immeasurable value for wildlife, the planet and future generations.
Learn more about our other projects at www.rhino-force.org/projects and everything about Natural Capital and their important work at https://www.naturalcapital.earth/home
One Hundred Elephants Relocation In Zimbabwe
Between September and October 2018, we carried out one of the largest elephant relocations in history, saving 100 wild elephants from being culled. The animals were transferred from the overpopulated Sango Wildlife Conservancy to their new home in the Rifa Safari Area, over 700 km away in northern Zimbabwe.
With the full support of the Government of Zimbabwe and under the direction of the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority, this monumental conservation effort was led, executed, and fully funded by Hemmersbach Rhino Force as part of our ongoing mission to protect endangered wildlife.
Wilfried Pabst, owner of the 231-square-mile Sango Wildlife Conservancy, explains: “We simply have far too many elephants on Sango. Thanks to Hemmersbach Rhino Force, we were able to avoid the unimaginable – a cull – and instead give these animals a new life in the wild.”
The elephants were relocated as a wildlife donation into the Rifa Safari Area, a 309-square-mile reserve operated by Hemmersbach Rhino Force in the Zambezi Valley. Our CEO, Ralph Koczwara, welcomed this action as “a powerful demonstration of what’s possible when decisive conservation meets operational capability.”
This relocation marks the first phase of a long-term conservation strategy, in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe and our partners. Future stages will focus on the reintroduction of plains game and highly endangered black rhinos from the Sango Wildlife Conservancy – reinforcing our commitment to restoring ecosystems and reversing species decline across Zimbabwe.
Hemmersbach Rhino Force 