This is a list of national parks in Zambia. There are twenty

national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, although many of them are not well maintained and so contain no facilities and few animals. Others have high concentrations of animals and are popular with tourists, while two or three are world-famous.

Map

Alphabetical list

Blue Lagoon National Park Blue Lagoon National Park is a small wildlife haven in the northern part of the Kafue Flats in Zambia's Central Province. It covers about and is very accessible, being about west of Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and lar ...

— a small park in the north of the

Kafue Flats The Kafue Flats (locally called Butwa) are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. They are a shallow flood plain long and about wide,< ...

west of

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, known chiefly for bird life; one lodge * Isangano National Park — east of the

Bangweulu Swamps The Bangweulu Wetlands is a wetland ecosystem adjacent to Lake Bangweulu in north-eastern Zambia. The area has been designated as one of the world's most important wetlands by the Ramsar Convention and an "Important Bird Area" by BirdLife Internat ...

, no facilities, little wildlife *

Kafue National Park Kafue National Park is the largest national park in Zambia, covering an area of about 22,400 km2 (similar in size to Wales or Massachusetts). It is the second largest national park in Africa and is home to 152 different species of mammals. ...

— world-famous for its animals, one of the world's largest national parks, several lodges * Kasanka National Park — privately operated, south of the

, one lodge *

Lavushi Manda National Park Lavushi Manda National Park is a national park in the Muchinga Province, Zambia, Muchinga Province of Zambia with an area of 1,500 sq km. It is the 11th largest of the 20 National Parks in Zambia. The park was initially gazetted as a Ga ...

— south-east of the

, no facilities, little wildlife *

Liuwa Plain National Park Liuwa Plain National Park is a national park in Zambia's Western Province, Zambia, Western Province. "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language, and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lewa ...

— in the remote far west, no facilities but some large herds of animals *

Lochinvar National Park __NOTOC__ The Lochinvar National Park lies south west of Lusaka in Zambia, on the south side of the Kafue River.The habitats the national park protects are a large portion of the southern Kafue Flats floodplain, including the Chunga Lagoon, and dr ...

— a small park south of the

world-famous for bird life and herds of

lechwe The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (''Kobus leche'') is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa. Range The lechwe is native to Botswana, Zambia, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Namibia, and easte ...

, one lodge *

Lower Zambezi National Park The Lower Zambezi National Park lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River in southeastern Zambia. Until 1983 when the area was declared a national park, the area was the private game reserve of Zambia's president. This meant that the park was p ...

— east of Lusaka, offers good wildlife viewing on the Zambezi River; numerous lodges * Luambe National Park — a small park, close to South Luangwa National Park, recovering after previous neglect, one new lodge *

Lukusuzi National Park Lukusuzi National Park is located in eastern Luangwa Valley in Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically ...

— east of Luambe, undeveloped but with potential *

Lusaka National Park Lusaka National Park is located to the south-east of the city of Lusaka in Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It ...

— opened in 2015, a small park on the south-east side of the capital city

Lusenga Plain National Park Lusenga Plain National Park is a national park in the Kawambwa District, Luapula Province of Zambia, to the south-east of Lake Mweru. Originally a grounds for hunting, Lusenga Plain was converted into one of Zambia's national parks in 1972. Feat ...

— east of Lake Mweru, no facilities, no easy access, little wildlife *

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to one-half of the Mosi-oa-Tunya—"The Smoke that Thunders", known worldwide as Victoria Falls—on the Zambezi River. As the river forms the border between Zambi ...

(

Victoria Falls National Park Victoria Falls National Park in north-western Zimbabwe protects the south and east bank of the Zambezi River in the area of the world-famous Victoria Falls. It extends along the Zambezi river from the larger Zambezi National Park about 6 ...

) — the small park for Victoria Falls on the edge of the city of Livingstone (where accommodation is available), includes a small 'safari park' *

Mweru Wantipa National Park Mweru Wantipa National Park is named after Lake Mweru Wantipa in the Northern Province of Zambia. Once hosting abundant wildlife including lion, elephant, and black rhinoceros, it has had no management and protection for several decades, and la ...

— no facilities, neglected, little wildlife but has potential for redevelopment *

North Luangwa National Park North Luangwa National Park is a national park in Zambia, the northernmost of the three in the valley of the Luangwa River. Founded as a game reserve in 1938, it became a national park in 1972 and now covers 4,636 km². Like the South Luangwa ...

— this reserve has no facilities and is closed except to specially-licensed tours *

Nsumbu National Park Nsumbu National Park (also called Sumbu) lies on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika near its southern extremity, in Zambia's Northern Province. It covers about 2000 km2 and has some 80 km of lake shore including four bays (Kasaba, Ka ...

(also known as Sumbu) — once ranked with Kafue and Luangwa, needs redevelopment but has good wildlife potential and offers lakeside game viewing, three lodges *

Nyika National Park Nyika National Park is Malawi’s largest national park, with an area of 3200 km2 (1250 mile2). Location and road access The park covers practically the whole of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, about 480 km north of Lilongwe and 60 km no ...

— famous for its highland scenery and vegetation rather than wildlife; one lodge, but reached from the park of the same name in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Sioma Ngwezi National Park Sioma Ngwezi National Park is a 5,000-square-kilometre park in the south west corner of Zambia. It is undeveloped and rarely visited, lacking roads and being off the usual tourist tracks, but this may change in the future. Description Like most ...

— in the remote far south-west, no facilities but some large herds of animals *

South Luangwa National Park South Luangwa National Park is a national park in eastern Zambia that was founded as a game reserve in 1938 and became a national park in 1972. It covers in the valley of the Luangwa River, which forms its eastern boundary in the Eastern Provi ...

— world-famous as an icon of African wildlife, numerous lodges *

West Lunga National Park West Lunga National Park is a remote wildlife haven in dense forest in the North-Western Province of Zambia. It lies between the West Lunga River and Kabompo River about 10 km north of the gravel road ( M8 road) from Solwezi to Kabompo, a ...

— no facilities, no easy access, neglected, little wildlife but has potential for redevelopment.

Administration

The national parks are administered by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, an autonomous body responsible to the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources. This Authority took over from the former National Parks and Wildlife Service which suffered from chronic underfunding. Consequently of the 20 parks, five have never had management or facilities and have very little wildlife: Isangano, Lavushi Manda, Lusenga Plain, West Lunga, and Mweru Wantipa; three have substantial wildlife but have hitherto been left undeveloped as a matter of policy or because a neighbouring park has been favoured: North Luangwa, Luambe, and Lukusuzi; and three have wildlife but have been too remote to develop: Liuwa Plain, Sioma Ngwezi, and Nyika Plateau. Of the remainder, most are in quite good shape, except Nsumbu, which went through a decline due to a lack of transport infrastructure, and the zoological park section of Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park which needs rehabilitation. In approximate order of importance in terms of wildlife resources, the eight main functioning parks, all with access and accommodation are: *

* Kasanka National Park *

References

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National parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Map

Alphabetical list

Administration

See also

References