Musawa Musonda Hamusonde

Chief Natural Heritage Officer, NHCC, Zambia. A Natural Heritage expert, Musawa Musonda Hamusonde is the Chief Natural Heritage Officer at the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Zambia. She holds a BSc. Degree in Ecology from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and an MSc. Degree in Natural Resources Management from the Copperbelt University. She oversees the conservation and management of the country’s protected natural sites, including the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site (VFWHS), Zambia’s only World Heritage Site (WHS). Musawa leads the Zambian team in collaborating with Zimbabwe to implement the World Heritage Convention in the transboundary WHS, where she is also on record as the first female Site Manager to have managed the site. Her competencies include but are not limited to HIA and EIA, sustainable development, nature-based solutions, climate change, finance mobilisation, community and stakeholder engagement and project management. She was one of the four African Regional mentors for the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting on the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. She has co-authored a chapter in ‘Cultural Heritage Management in Africa’ with and edited by Prof. George Abungu and Dr. Webber Ndoro, published by Routledge Publishers of UK. She remains committed to learning and implementing innovations to sustainably safeguard, manage, protect and conserve natural resources for the benefit of current and future generations.