In Hwange, where wildlife and human communities share the landscape, protecting lions can also mean protecting the livelihoods of the people who live alongside them. It is this difficult balance that has earned local conservationist Liomba Junior Mathe international recognition.

Mathe, who was born in Hwange, has won the 2026 International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Animal Action Award for his contribution to wildlife conservation.

For communities living close to wildlife areas, the presence of lions can bring challenges that visitors to Hwange National Park may never experience. When livestock is attacked, families can lose animals they depend on for their livelihoods.

In some cases, the loss can lead to retaliatory killings of lions.
Mathe has spent more than a decade working to address this conflict, focusing on ways to protect wildlife without overlooking the needs of local communities.

Through the Long Shields Lion Guardian Programme, he has supported early-warning systems to alert communities to the presence of lions, alongside stronger enclosures designed to keep livestock safe.
The approach seeks to reduce encounters that can end badly for both people and animals.

It also recognises a practical reality; conservation efforts are more difficult to sustain when the people living closest to wildlife bear the cost of protecting it.

Mathe has also trained about 150 rangers and community guardians, helping build local capacity for wildlife protection.
His work brings attention to a side of conservation that is not always visible to visitors.

Hwange is widely associated with its wildlife and safari tourism, but beyond the park are communities whose daily lives can be affected by the movement of wild animals.
Finding ways for people and wildlife to coexist remains an important part of protecting that natural heritage.