Dead trees stood like charred skeletons against a merciless sky. A few were probably alive, their tap roots buried deep in the parched soil, but all had dropped their leaves and I could not tell which still clung to life. The last vestiges of dry, withered grass had turned to powder, and the bleached bones of dead animals littered the scorched landscape.

This was what February 1992 was like in the lowveld. Now, new life has burst from the ashes of the old. This has brought with it a fresh attitude and has spawned one of the largest privately owned game reserves on earth.

In the 1970's, state land in Zimbabwe's south east lowveld, rich in a diversity of flora and fauna, was turned over to cattle ranching. Fences were constructed, impeding the movement of wild animals, and predators were shot to protect the cattle. The costs of beef production gradually rose and stocking rates increased to meet costs. But a cycle of droughts, culminating in the disaster of '92, destroyed the cattle industry.

Years of overstocking with cattle had degraded the veld to the point where it could not cope with the challenge of a total rain failure. No cattle survived. But a surprising number of wild animals did. It was time for a major rethink.

Proposals for the Save (Pronounced Sah-vey) Valley Conservancy, one of three similar projects, were mooted before the final drought as an exercise in conserving the black rhino, which were being heavily poached in state controlled National Parks. Some 20 animals had been re-located from the Zambezi valley to one of the ranches, from where they strayed onto other properties. There arose a need for a co-ordinated programme for their monitoring and protection.

The original idea was to incorporate existing cattle in the scheme, but the drought changed all that. Studies showed that in economic terms wildlife enterprises were more viable than cattle in these marginal areas. After a great deal of haggling and persuasion from the wildlife proponents, the cattle ranchers were gradually won over to the idea of multi-species utilisation of the land.

Twenty-five ranches were bound together under a mutually agreed constitution. All internal fences were torn down, creating free movement of wildlife over an area of nearly 350km2. The presence of foot and mouth disease in the newly-introduced buffalo population required the construction of a 350 kilometre double veterinary fence around the conservancy, from which all cattle were banished. The land owners were then committed solely to wildlife utilisation. There could be no looking back; no half measures. They must sink or swim with the experiment.

Luckily, the rains since 1992 have been good and the veld has recovered remarkably well, although there are still gaps in its biodiversity. The area has been re-stocked to boost the numbers of the drought survivors. Some 600 elephants were moved from the nearby Gonarezhou National Park in 1993. This was the first successful relocation of large numbers of elephants ever undertaken and proved that, where the funding is available, translocation of this species can be a viable alternative to culling. The elephant population in the Save Valley Conservancy has now increased to around 800 individuals.

Black rhino have been introduced and they have bred with spectacular success. Only one has been lost, to natural causes. There are a few White rhino, and the conservancy has plans to purchase more from the Natal Parks Board. The animals are protected by teams of armed scouts, but further protection is offered by educating the local community on the intrinsic value of the species and by providing incentives for local people to participate in the conservation exercise.

Antelope populations have burgeoned. The tapestry is now complete except for roan and Lichtenstein's hartebeest, both of which once occurred here in large numbers. There are plans to re-introduce both species soon. And the birdlife has made a complete recovery, with around 400 species having been recorded.

Funding for the project was originally provided by the Beit Trust and others, but it has been so successful that it is now self-funding. Members of the conservancy are obliged to pay a levy based on their land area for the upkeep of the fence and common running costs, but they must each make their living from the wildlife in their own way.

The concept of ownership remains sacrosanct. Some hunt. Some rely upon non-consumptive tourism. On Senuko, for example, a ranch owned and run by Clive Stockil, one of the prime movers in the original conservation idea, income is derived entirely from photographic tourism.

"I make more profit on this ranch from tourism than I would from merely selling the hunting quota determined by the conservancy committee," says Stockil, "but making non-consumptive tourism succeed takes more capital injection and more on-goiffr.

Those landowners who rely upon trophy hunting cannot shoot whatever they want. Animal quotas are set by the committee, which relies upon data on game numbers collected by members driving over carefully arranged routes, together with landowner estimates. If an owner is tempted to exaggerate his game numbers, his figures will soon be challenged by his neighbours, so mean population aggregates tend to be fairly accurate. Experience over the past six years has shown that members' requirements for quota animals has generally fallen well below the numbers the conservancy's ecological advisors have recommended as sustainable.

There are inevitable disputes between members, but the mere fact of its existence and success in such a short time indicates that solutions are found where problems arise.

One of the founding principles of the Save Valley Conservancy constitution is to involve the peasant community living on the borders of the scheme in the conservation concept in a direct and practical way. The Conservancy Trust - a separate entity from the committee - will purchase wildlife, which will then be released into the protected area. As the animals breed, the surplus will be auctioned. Profits from these sales are to be invested in community projects, the nature of which will be determined by the communities themselves.

It remains to be seen how far these plans are implemented, but opportunities are naturally created for local people by an increase in tourism. These include crafting curios, growing vegetables for game lodges, and working as employees of the conservancy. All of these offer more opportunities for employment than would be the case if the area was still used for cattle ranching. It appears that Government recognises that wildlife utilisation offers the best land use for these areas, but would like to see more participation by indigenous Zimbabweans.

Three of the 25 ranches within the conservancy have been earmarked for compulsory acquisition by the government, but the new settlers would be bound by the constitution of the conservancy.

In 1995, Claude Martin, Director General of the WWF, endorsed the Save Valley Conservancy as an "excellent example" of an initiative to reverse the trend towards extinction which faces the world's wildlife. The Save Valley Conservancy is proof that the ingenuity and vision of progressive people can reverse a negative trend. However, the scheme could disintegrate rapidly in the face of ill-considered political decisions.

Jan Teede is a professional photographer and freelance journalist based in Harare. He is the author of two books, African Thunder and Zambezi River of the Gods.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Four: Summer 1998. Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)