The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, along with other stakeholders working in Bwabwata National Park, embarked on a cleaning campaign along the B8 road from the Kongola checkpoint to Masambo.

The cleaning was prompted by the observation of litter along the B8 road in the core area of the park.

The warden responsible for parks in Bwabwata National Park, Armstrong Sinvula, said waste materials, especially plastics, are a danger to the wildlife.

"I just want to caution road users to stop throwing bottles, plastics and papers. If they have waste in their cars, they must go to the next area to dump it, not the park. Let's keep our plastics."

The security cluster and other stakeholders operating within the Kwando core area joined efforts to clean the road reserve, which covered 40 kilometres from Kongola Gate to Masambo Village..

One of the tourism operators and owner of Marrow Campsite, Kennedy Tutalife, is concerned about the lack of a waste management system in the park and surrounding lodges.

"Particularly, individuals who go fishing bring plastics and containers from the village to the riverside, but when they return, instead of taking those containers back to the village, they leave them along the riverside. This situation negatively impacts our tourists during boat safaris."

The tourism operators have called upon the authorities responsible for waste management to at least build some cages with a top closure to prevent baboons from spilling the waste everywhere.