Lipilichi Wilderness was awarded the management rights for the Chipanje Chetu community based natural resource management program in April 2007 by the Niassa government through the process of a public tender. The contract is for the Concession Management and Utilisation through Sustainable Hunting and Eco-tourism of the Chipanje Chetu area situated in Sanga North district of the Niassa province
in Mozambique. The duration of the contract was initially 3 years with the option to renew it for a further ten years. In October 2009 the lease was renewed for a further ten years with the option to renew the lease for an additional 5 years on condition that Lipilichi had complied with the terms of the agreement. As a result of our good relationships with both the communities and employees Lipilichi made great progress in our main objectives which included:
• Recruitment, training and certification of 54 Wildlife Protection Rangers
• Building of two top quality safari lodges
• Creation of an efficient and successful management team.
• Creation and re opening of over 1200km of roads
• Tackling the human/animal conflict situations
• Setting up a successful management plan supported by an experienced management team to ensure the long term sustainability of the area and the program. As a result of the success of these objectives there has been a marked decrease in the illegal hunting and illegal harvesting of timber by in the area. We have seen a dramatic increase in wildlife populations of all species. The community has seen a direct injection of income through lease fees, trophy fees and building material purchases and indirectly through salaries and incentive payments. In the years since inception, through the opportunities mentioned above the communities of the Programma Chipanje Chetu (PCC) have seen a financial injection in the region of US$ 2,5Million. This has played a role in uplifting the general standard of living of the communities and has also shown the communities that there is a real financial benefit derived directly from the correct, joint management and utilisation of their natural resources undertaken by through the successful relationship between Lipilichi and the Communities of the Chipanje Chetu.
