Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act, 2024 (Act No. 4 of 2025).

This Act, comprising 64 Sections, aims to modernize Zimbabwe’s wildlife legal regime by strengthening governance, promoting community participation, enhancing sustainability mechanisms, and aligning domestic law with contemporary conservation standards. The main amendments concern (i) Section 2 updates the interpretation section by introducing new definitions (such as appropriate authority, delegated appropriate authority, parks ranger, consumptive and non-consumptive sectors, and quota) and by clarifying existing terms to reflect contemporary conservation practice; (ii) Section 3 establishes guiding principles for wildlife administration, emphasising sustainability, community participation, and devolution. It also clarifies wildlife ownership, reaffirming that wild animals are generally res nullius, while specially protected species vest in the President and private ownership may arise in defined circumstances; (iii) Section 4 broadens the functions of the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to enhance community involvement and allows for the devolution of certain wildlife management rights to appropriate authorities; (iv) Section 5 reforms the Authority’s Board composition to ensure gender balance, wider regional representation, and inclusion of traditional leadership; (v) Section 9 creates the Wildlife Professionals Council of Zimbabwe to regulate and professionalise the wildlife sector through registration, standard-setting, and disciplinary oversight; (vi) to address human–wildlife conflict, Section 8 establishes the Human–Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund, financed through an annual quota allocation and a levy on tourism and wildlife revenues; (vii) Section 15 (read with section 58A) introduces scientifically determined quotas for sustainable harvesting, with civil penalties for exceeding them; (viii) Section 11 strengthens protections in recreational parks by criminalizing unlawful hunting and trade in wildlife products; (ix) Section 43 expands appropriate authority status to include Rural District Councils and community conservation structures, deepening local participation in wildlife management; (x) Section 48 enhances environmental safeguards by requiring high-level consultation before mining or prospecting in protected areas.
Furthermore, the amendment repeals outdated statutes, including the Trapping of Animals Control Act [Chapter 20:21] and the Quelea Control Act [Chapter 19:10], consolidating their regulatory functions under the principal Parks legislation. It also introduces various administrative updates, such as restructuring committees (including the integration of Rhodes Committees into the Parks framework) and amending schedules to reflect changes in protected areas and designated water bodies, including Tugwi-Mukosi in the Fifth Schedule.