Dambari Wildlife Trust is a Zimbabwean nonprofit conservation and research organization based near Bulawayo. Active since 1997, it combines field research, wildlife protection, environmental education, and community-focused resource management, with much of its long-term work centered on the Matobo Hills.
Last verified: July 22, 2026. Project funding, donation methods, and program status can change; check the linked official sources before acting.
Dambari Wildlife Trust at a glance
| Question | Current answer |
|---|---|
| What is it? | A nonprofit conservation and research organization |
| Where is it based? | Near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| When was it established? | 1997 |
| What is its main geographic focus? | The Matobo Hills and Matobo National Park, with selected partner projects elsewhere in Zimbabwe and southern Africa |
| What does it work on? | Rhino conservation, ecological research, biodiversity data, education, early-career training, habitat management, and human-wildlife coexistence |
| What is its operating model? | Conservation Across Boundaries, which connects research, conservation action, and outreach |
What is Dambari Wildlife Trust?
Dambari Wildlife Trust, often shortened to DWT, describes itself as a nonprofit conservation and research organization. It was established in 1997 with seed funding from the Marwell Preservation Trust, now Marwell Wildlife, and support from the trust’s then director, Dr. John Knowles. Its original name was Marwell Zimbabwe Trust; the organization later adopted the Dambari Wildlife Trust name.
DWT’s defining program is Conservation Across Boundaries. The model recognizes that wildlife, water, grazing land, protected areas, farms, and communities are connected. Research identifies a conservation need; collaboration helps shape a practical response; monitoring then shows whether that response is working.
Important clarification: DWT’s official materials do not describe a tourist lodge, zoo, or chimpanzee rehabilitation center. They describe a field-based organization focused on research, conservation, education, and outreach.
Why the Matobo Hills matter
The Matobo Hills UNESCO World Heritage Site lies about 35 kilometers south of Bulawayo. UNESCO recognizes it as a cultural landscape shaped by distinctive granite formations, major rock-art traditions, sacred places, and a long relationship between people and the environment. The designation is cultural rather than a general wildlife label.
Within this wider landscape, Matobo National Park supports both black rhinos and southern white rhinos. The area also includes communal land, farms, wetlands, grazing systems, and settlements. That mix makes conservation more complex than protecting a single species inside a fenced reserve. Healthy wildlife habitats depend on decisions about water, fire, vegetation, livestock, roads, and access to natural resources.
DWT’s approach is therefore landscape-based. It studies animals and ecosystems, works with park managers and conservation partners, and supports education and resource-management projects with communities around the protected area.
How Conservation Across Boundaries works
Conservation Across Boundaries turns the importance of wildlife conservation into a practical operating model. Its value is the link between evidence and action: data are collected for a management purpose, while local participation helps make conservation measures more durable.
Research that informs management
DWT monitors wildlife and habitat conditions through field surveys, camera traps, tracking, population work, and ecological studies. Its large-herbivore research has examined how white rhinos and wildebeest use the Matobo landscape. The purpose is not simply to publish observations: findings can inform fire management, road planning, habitat interventions, and other park decisions.
The organization also maintains a publications library covering more than two decades of work on rhinos, antelope, carnivores, biodiversity, and the Matobo ecosystem.
Rhino protection and conservation action
DWT has participated in rhino conservation since 2000 in western Zimbabwe’s rhino intensive protection zones. Public descriptions of the work include monitoring, identifying individual animals, supporting ranger capacity, organizing management operations, responding to injuries or snares, and using ecological data to guide habitat management.
No single organization can secure a rhino population alone. DWT works within partnerships that include the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, park staff, donors, technical specialists, and other conservation groups. This collaborative model is central to efforts to protect animals facing extinction without overstating the role of any one partner.
Education, outreach, and training
Conservation capacity is another long-term priority. Wild Planet Trust, a longstanding DWT partner, reports that the Matobo Biodiversity Monitoring Project has engaged more than 2,000 students through five secondary schools since 2012. The partnership has also supported university placements for Zimbabwean students.
That work gives students practical exposure to species identification, field observation, data collection, and environmental stewardship. It also creates a pathway into wildlife conservation careers for young people who may otherwise have limited access to field placements.
Habitat, water, and coexistence
Wild Planet Trust also documents community initiatives involving water and natural-resource management across 22 wards in the Matobo Hills, along with measures intended to reduce livestock losses and retaliatory killing of leopards and hyenas. These projects address pressures that sit behind wildlife conflict, including habitat loss, degraded grazing systems, and insecure access to water.
This is a practical reason to connect species protection with conserving natural resources. A conservation plan is more likely to last when local households can meet basic needs without increasing pressure on the park.
Current and recent Dambari Wildlife Trust projects
DWT’s own website contains a mixture of current, long-running, and completed project pages, and some page dates are old. The clearest public picture comes from combining DWT’s official material with recent partner and grant records.
| Workstream | What the work involves | Public status evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Rhino conservation | Monitoring black and southern white rhinos, supporting management operations, ranger work, and habitat decisions | Long-running DWT program; partner reporting and a 2026 translocation milestone show continuing relevance |
| Large-herbivore research | Studying white-rhino and wildebeest habitat use to support evidence-based park management | Documented on DWT’s official project and publications pages |
| Somabhula grassland biodiversity surveys | Field surveys, digitization of arachnid and reptile-and-amphibian records, open biodiversity datasets, school engagement, and technical training | A JRS Biodiversity Foundation grant runs from 2025 to 2027 |
| School and university capacity building | Biodiversity monitoring in secondary schools and placements for early-career conservationists | Long-term partner reporting documents more than 2,000 students engaged since 2012 |
| Landscape and resource management | Water, wetlands, grazing, habitat rehabilitation, and coexistence measures | Documented through Conservation Across Boundaries and partner project reporting; verify individual project timelines |
One of the strongest recent examples is the Somabhula Grassland Biodiversity Surveys and Capacity-building project. The 2025–2027 grant supports field surveys in Zimbabwe, digitization of arachnid and herpetology records from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, publication of occurrence data through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), school outreach, and training for 10 Zimbabwean students and four Mozambican personnel.
Historical projects: cheetahs and small antelope
DWT’s history includes important work on cheetahs and small African antelope. These projects help explain the organization’s research legacy, but they should not be presented as its main current programs.
Cheetah conservation
Early DWT work investigated conflict between farmers and cheetahs and other large carnivores. It included interviews, school education, and livestock-management guidance intended to reduce retaliatory killing. DWT’s official site now categorizes cheetah conservation as a completed project and says that Cheetah Conservation Project Zimbabwe took the work forward from 2012.
Small-antelope research
DWT also studied common duikers, steenbok, klipspringer, and other small antelope in the Matobo ecosystem. Research examined population trends, home ranges, habitat use, and the animals’ ecological role. The official small-antelope project page states that no active small-antelope projects are currently running.
Evidence of impact
Conservation impact is difficult to reduce to one number, especially when outcomes depend on government agencies, rangers, communities, funders, and multiple nonprofit partners. The strongest public evidence for DWT is therefore a combination of long-term participation, documented outputs, and partner-confirmed results.
- Black-rhino return to Matusadona: In June 2026, African Parks announced the return of black rhinos to Matusadona National Park. The animals included rhinos sourced from Matobo National Park, and African Parks credited sustained work by DWT, Imire, and Matobo National Park as central to the milestone.
- More than 2,000 students engaged: Wild Planet Trust reports this cumulative participation through five secondary schools since 2012.
- Open biodiversity data and training: The 2025–2027 Somabhula project is designed to publish occurrence datasets, strengthen museum records, train early-career specialists, and create a photographic field guide.
- Research continuity: DWT’s publications record documents work across rhinos, carnivores, antelope, habitat use, and community conservation over more than two decades.
These examples do not prove that every activity has achieved its intended outcome. They do provide a more credible basis for evaluation than broad claims about “saving wildlife” without dates, partners, methods, or outputs.
How to assess and support Dambari Wildlife Trust
People considering a donation should use current official channels and verify the recipient before sending money. At the time of this review, the UK Charity Commission listed Dambari Wildlife Trust (UK) under charity number 1176529, and JustGiving displayed a verified campaign for the same registered charity.
What to check before donating
- Read the latest information on DWT’s official support page.
- Confirm the recipient name and charity number in the Charity Commission register.
- For a restricted or substantial gift, ask DWT how funds will be allocated, reported, and handled if the project changes.
- Check the date on any campaign page. Donation options, fees, priorities, and legal entities can change.
- Use DWT’s official contact details if anything is unclear.
Related conservation resources
- Environmental organizations in Africa
- Facts about conservation
- Wildlife conservation books
- What is the goal of wildlife conservation?
Frequently asked questions about Dambari Wildlife Trust
What is Dambari Wildlife Trust?
Dambari Wildlife Trust is a Zimbabwean nonprofit conservation and research organization established in 1997. It combines wildlife research, conservation action, education, training, and community outreach.
Where does Dambari Wildlife Trust work?
DWT is based near Bulawayo and has a long-term focus on the Matobo Hills and Matobo National Park. It also participates in selected partner projects elsewhere in Zimbabwe and southern Africa.
Is Dambari Wildlife Trust a wildlife sanctuary or tourist lodge?
Available official sources describe DWT as a field-based conservation and research organization, not as a wildlife sanctuary, zoo, or tourist lodge.
Which animals does Dambari Wildlife Trust protect?
Its current public work prominently includes black and southern white rhinos, large-herbivore research, broader biodiversity monitoring, and ecosystem management. Cheetah and small-antelope projects form part of its historical research record.
Are Dambari’s cheetah and antelope projects still active?
DWT lists cheetah conservation as a completed project and states that it has no active small-antelope projects. Those programs remain relevant to the organization’s history but should not be described as its main current work.
How can I donate to Dambari Wildlife Trust?
Use DWT’s official support page or its verified JustGiving campaign. Before donating, confirm the recipient and the UK charity number 1176529, especially if you are making a large or restricted gift.
Dambari Wildlife Trust in context
Dambari Wildlife Trust is best understood as a research-led conservation partner rather than an animal sanctuary. Its strongest public record connects rhino monitoring, ecosystem research, local education, and resource management across the Matobo landscape. The clearest recent evidence includes the 2025–2027 Somabhula biodiversity project, partner-confirmed school engagement, and DWT’s contribution to the long-term protection that made the 2026 Matusadona black-rhino return possible.
Readers who want to help should follow the evidence: review the newest project information, verify the recipient, and use an official donation channel.
See Related: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust