Oct 27, 2026 |
The winner of the 2026 Markhor Award at COP17, the UN summit running until the 30th in Armenia, is Mozambican operator Zambeze Delta Safaris, which manages Coutada 11 in Sofala.
The award was presented during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the major United Nations biodiversity summit taking place in the country’s capital, Yerevan. It recognises the contribution of the company, headed by Mark Haldane, to the recovery of wildlife in the Zambezi Delta.
The operation combines regulated hunting with the restoration of animal populations, anti-poaching work and community development in a region devastated by the civil war, according to Mongabay reports.
Presented every two years, the award is promoted by the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and the Wild Sheep Foundation and honours projects, individuals, institutions and companies that link biodiversity conservation with local livelihoods and the sustainable management of wildlife.
Coutada 11 is part of the Marromeu Complex, which includes the Marromeu National Reserve and Coutadas 10, 11, 12 and 14. In 2003 it became the first wetland of international importance designated by Mozambique under the Ramsar Convention, according to BIOFUND. The 2024 aerial census confirmed growth in most wildlife populations in the concession, which Zambeze Delta Safaris has managed for more than three decades.
Also according to Mongabay, the award nomination states that buffalo numbers have risen from about 1 100 to 35 000 and sable antelope from 40 to 4 000 since the company arrived in the region, and that the lion population, reintroduced in 2018 with 24 animals, now stands at around 120. The publication notes that it has not independently verified all of these figures.
According to the Southern African Wildlife College, which trained the concession’s rangers, this was the largest lion reintroduction in history, carried out with support from the Cabela Family Foundation, Zambeze Delta Conservation, the Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance and ANAC.
Speaking to Mongabay, Haldane admitted he had never imagined an award of this calibre: “There is no other way to describe it than it’s a truly humbling feeling.”
He added that Mozambican law requires 20% of the revenue the state collects from concessionaires to be channelled to local communities, with the funds managed by committees nominated by the communities themselves and used for local projects.
The award comes as governments gathered at COP17 assess progress towards global biodiversity targets, among them Target 9 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for sustainable wildlife management that benefits communities. At the press conference announcing the winner, the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker, welcomed the choice, according to a quote gathered by Mongabay. “Here is something we can celebrate".
Next on the horizon for the Marromeu Complex is the Coastal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience Project, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and managed by BIOFUND, which, according to the foundation, is due to start in 2026 and will support social and ecological initiatives across the landscape.
Photo: Zambeze Delta Safaris
