The Zambian Ornithological Society has been training Community Bird Guides in different IBAs in Zambia. These Community Bird Guides have been trained to help locate the significant birds in the IBAs. The guides live in or near the IBAs and have cell phones so they can be contacted.
The charge for a morning of guiding is K40,000 of which K20,000 goes to the guide himself and K20,000 goes to the Community Site Support Group.
The idea behind this is to:
- Assist the rural communities in income generation;
- Build awareness in the local community as to the importance of birds and bio diversity;
- Develop the bird tourism industry in the Important Bird Areas; and
- Develop national awareness of Important Bird Areas.
A meeting needs to be arranged with the Bird Guide by calling in advance. The guide will then show the visitor where to look for the significant birds. Usually the guide would travel or walk with the visitor as they do not have transport themselves. These guides are also trained to guide tourists to places of interest in the IBA.
There is a number of birds that is restricted to the dry south-west of Zambia. Most occur within the area and favour the small areas of thornveld such as the Acacia Pied Barbet, Tit-babbler, Marico Flycatcher, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Cape Glossy Starling and Black-cheeked Waxbill. The Burchell’s Starling is often found in the more open areas. The floodplains along the Kwando River are populated by Burchell’s Sandgrouse, Southern Brown-throated Weaver. The Bradfield’s Hornbill is more generic to the area and is frequent in the Kalahari Woodland.
