Mozambique safari operator wins conservation award at COP17.

Zambeze Delta Safaris, a Mozambican safari operator led by professional hunter Mark Haldane, received the 2026 Markhor Award on Oct. 22 at COP17, the U.N. Biodiversity Conference in Yerevan, Armenia. The award recognizes contributions to conservation through sustainable wildlife management.

The company combines regulated trophy hunting with wildlife restoration, anti-poaching work and community development in the Zambezi Delta, an area badly affected by Mozambique's civil war. Haldane began working in Coutada 11, a hunting concession in central Mozambique, in 1994, after years of conflict had severely depleted wildlife. He later founded the company with Mozambican businessperson Carlos Pacheco Faria.

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According to the company's award nomination, the African buffalo population has grown from about 1,100 to 35,000 since the operator began work in the region. Sable antelope rose from 40 to 4,000. Twenty-four lions were reintroduced in 2018, and roughly 120 now live there. Mongabay reports that it has not independently verified all the figures, though Mozambique's Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity has documented substantial wildlife recovery.

Trophy hunting remains controversial, particularly over who benefits. A 2013 study in Mozambique's Niassa National Reserve found that a single leopard could generate about $24,000 in hunting revenue, but little of it reached local communities. A 2026 review of 89 studies across 13 sub-Saharan African countries found that nearly two-thirds of documented outcomes were positive for wildlife or local people. Haldane said Mozambican law directs 20% of government revenue collected from concessionaires to local communities, paid to community-nominated committees that fund projects for residents.

The award came as governments at COP17 reviewed progress on the global biodiversity targets adopted in 2022, including Target 9 on sustainable wildlife management that benefits communities. A new U.N. assessment warns the world remains off track for the 2030 deadline. Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: "Here is something we can celebrate." The Markhor Award, established in 2008, is presented every two years. Haldane said he hopes to expand conservation work beyond Coutada 11.