According to the Environmental Management Act, mammals, birds, fish, and other animal life indigenous to Zimbabwe are considered natural resources. Wildlife is defined as all forms of animal life, vertebrate and invertebrate, which are indigenous to Zimbabwe, and the eggs or young thereof other than fish. Fish are thus excluded from the definition of wildlife provided by the Parks and Wildlife Act. The Act defines ‘fish’ separately as including vertebrate fish, and aquatic molluscs and crustaceans, both indigenous and non-indigenous, but does not include the bilharzia snail (Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Bulinus [?physopsis]? globosus) and the liver fluke snail (Lymnea natalensis). Wildlife is further defined under the Forest Act as a forest produce if found in “demarcated forests”. However, the Communal Land Forest Product Act does not define wildlife found in communal forests as a forest produce. Wildlife tenure in Zimbabwe is governed by the Parks and Wildlife Act through custodian rights vested in the ‘appropriate authorities’ (AAs) based on the type of land (alienated and unalienated lands). The owner or occupier of the land has custodian rights over wildlife or fish in his/her land, but these rights are lost as the animal and fish move beyond the land's boundaries. An AA for alienated land could be the owner, the leaseholder, or any appointee. For unalienated land, the AA could be the Forest Commission for forest Land, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority for parks and wildlife land and State land other than forest land, the Minister of the Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry for Communal Land, or the Rural District Council (RDC) for Communal Land as appointed by the Minister. The AA status is not yet devolved at the sub-district level. As custodians of wildlife and fish in their land, the AAs have the power to hunt and fish within their land. Further, they have the power to issue hunting or fishing permits to third parties. However, the hunting of certain species like specially protected animals is regulated in terms of the Parks and Wild Life Act and requires a quota from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Besides AAs, Chiefs are also tasked by the Traditional Leaders Act to ensure the sustainable management of the natural resources within their respective areas, while the village assembly is tasked with resolving all issues including those that are wildlife-related within their respective areas. The fisheries tenure regime follows the ‘fishing waters’ tenure system. The Minister can appoint any person as the AA for such waters, or if no person has been specified as the AA, then the AA for the land riparian to such waters is the AA. The Parks and Wildlife Act attributes AA for any water the right to fish and issue a fishing permit to third parties. Only an appointed AA has the right to grant a permit for fishing. The Parks and Wildlife Act does not contain any provisions for the direct involvement and participation of local communities in wildlife use. However, the community is indirectly involved through elected councillors within Rural District Councils that can be granted AA status. (This provision has been used as the basis of the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources [CAMPFIRE], a community-based wildlife conservation project, which approaches wildlife as a renewable and profitable resource for the benefit of local communities.) Since the Parks and Wildlife Act does not grant AA status directly to local communities, they have no decision-making powers in the management and utilization of wildlife. Yet, the Access to Genetic Resources and Indigenous Genetic Resource-based Knowledge Regulations mandate the full participation of the local authorities and/or indigenous communities, and grants them the right to manage, maintain and conserve genetic materials, as well as the exclusive right to harvest, gather and collect the genetic materials that are indigenous to the local authority, or the indigenous community concerned. However, while the Regulations do include material of animal as constituting genetic material, those do not define which animals are indigenous to which authority or community. Furthermore, the community, as defined by the law, must be consulted and grant prior informed consent before any utilization of genetic resources. The Regulations do not, however, prescribe a consultation mechanism to obtain the free, prior informed consent of local communities.

Three major sanctions for offences in contravention of the Parks and Wildlife Act include criminal sanctions that can be in the form of imprisonment and fines, forfeiture, and compensation. In terms of civil offences, the minimum fine is level 5 and not exceeding a maximum level of 8. In terms of criminal sanctions, the minimum is six months of imprisonment and the maximum is eleven years.

Land use planning in Zimbabwe is regulated principally through the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act, which provides for the development of regional and master plans. The regional and master plans should indicate respectively major land uses, and measures for the conservation and improvement of the physical environment. Wildlife is not specifically mentioned, but the specific requirements for inventories could suggest that it is implicitly considered. The Act requires the regional planning authority to prepare an inventory of its assets and resources of the region and, to the extent that it considers necessary, of any contiguous area before preparing its regional plan. The inventory may include wildlife although there is no specific provision in the law requiring the national inventory of wildlife and the development of national wildlife management plans. The Act mandates a participatory process in the development, adoption and determination of regional and master plans. This is achieved through consultation and a public exhibition of the plans. Generally, the owner or occupier of the land should be consulted, and his/her consent obtained prior to acquiring the land or changing its land use. Adequate compensation is to be paid for the loss of land use rights. The Constitution recognizes various land uses, which include agricultural land that is defined as land used or suitable for agriculture, that is, horticulture, viticulture, forestry or aquaculture, or for any purpose of husbandry, including the keeping or breeding of livestock, game, poultry, animals or bees. Communal Land is not included in agricultural land, and constitutes another recognized land use as per the Constitution. The acquisition/subtraction/setting aside of Communal land must be done in accordance with the Communal Land Act. If it results in a diminution of the rights of people to occupy or use the land, the payment of a compensation is required. The Constitution provides that where agricultural land is required for public purposes, which include land reorganization, forestry, environmental conservation, or the utilization of wildlife or other natural resource, it can be compulsorily acquired without compensation except for improvements made on it before its acquisition. This provision is operationalized by various legislative instruments, which include the Land Acquisition Act, the Forest Act, the Mines and Minerals Act, and the Parks and Wildlife Act. The Land Acquisition Act grants the President or the Acquiring Authority the power to compulsorily acquire any agricultural land for settlement for agricultural purposes ; or for land reorganization, forestry, environmental conservation, or the utilization of wildlife or other natural resources; or for the relocation of persons dispossessed in consequence of the utilization of land for a purpose mentioned above, without compensation for the land and without obtaining the consent of its owner or occupier. Once the land has been compulsorily acquired, it becomes state land, and the former owner or occupier must vacate the land, failing which the continued occupation becomes an offence under the Land Acquisition Act. The Parks and Wildlife Act grants the President powers to constitute any land a ‘park area’ (e.g. a botanical garden, botanical reserve, national park, recreational park, safari area or sanctuary). The Ministers responsible for the Forest Act and the Communal Land Act, as well as the Rural District Council (RDC) should be consulted in case such land is forest land, or Communal Land.

According to the Forest Act, the President has powers to constitute any state or trust land as demarcated forest. In addition to demarcated forests, the Forest Act also recognizes undemarcated forests and privately protected forests. Mining or prospecting activities are strictly regulated within demarcated and private protected forests. The Mines and Minerals Act regulates the acquisition, registration and regulation of mining and prospecting rights. The Rural District Councils Act regulates the occupation of communal areas that fall under the jurisdiction of the local authority.

The land holding rights and obligations in Zimbabwe find their expression in the country’s four main systems of land tenure: the freehold (private), state land, communal and leasehold (resettlement) systems. The tenure systems impact and shape the property rights and natural resource access regimes in the country. The definition of property encompasses a broad range of rights and entitlements derived from the common law definition of ownership, which has now been constitutionally entrenched. The registered landowner has exclusive property rights and full control and responsibility over the land and everything attached to it, except to the extent that ownership and exclusive control over the land and some natural resources may be limited by statutory provisions. Such limitations relate to changes in land use and controls on specially protected wildlife. The communal land tenure system is governed by the Communal Land Act, and all communal land is vested in the State President who has powers to permit its occupation and utilization in accordance with the Act. Communal Area inhabitants thus have usufructuary rights over Communal Land. Rural District Councils (RDCs), in contrast, have a dispensation to allocate land to qualified persons on behalf of the State. Resettlement areas remain state land and the RDCs having no authority in its allocation. The State retains broad powers in the use of land for the establishment of hunting, fishing and ecotourism areas. These powers include the compulsory acquisition of privately owned land, and the establishment of protected areas (also known as ‘park area’) on communal or state land, the granting of lease, concession or management rights over areas attributed to hunting, fishing and/or ecotourism purposes.

The Parks and Wildlife Act allows for the establishment of hunting, fishing or ecotourism areas on four categories of land: the safari areas and sanctuaries that fall under the management of the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority; forest areas that fall under the management of the Forestry Commission; Communal Land that falls under the management of Rural District Councils (RDCs); and alienated (private) land that is under the management of private owners. This designation is derived from the Parks and Wildlife Act, which is the key legislative framework for wildlife heritage conservation and management in Zimbabwe. It provides for the establishment and management of protected areas (known as ‘park areas’), and the conservation and management of wildlife resources and associated habitats. It further establishes the ‘appropriate authorities’ (AA) status that links wildlife management and control with the land tenure system. Hence, there are basically four categories of AA status: these categories depend on land tenure and ownership.

The Parks and Wildlife Act regulates the overlap of hunting/fishing areas with mining concessions by setting clear demarcations and procedures that must be followed when mining within a national park, botanical reserve, botanical garden, sanctuary, safari area or recreational park. It is necessary to obtain permission from the Minister of Mines subject to the approval by the President. The Act also makes it clear that, in the instance that the land in question constitutes forest land, the Minister responsible for administering the Forest Act must be consulted.

The occupation of land in contravention of the Communal Land Act incurs a penalty that can be in the form of an ejectment and removal from the land in question, permanently or otherwise. The violation of an order to cease to occupy, hold or use a land acquired pursuant to the Land Acquisition Act attracts a penalty that can be in the form of an eviction ordered by the competent court, or a fine not exceeding level 8 and/or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years if it relates to agricultural land acquired for resettlement purposes.

The institutional framework on wildlife tenure, land tenure and land use planning is two-tiered, that is, both at the central and local levels. Several institutional bodies at both the central and local levels are responsible for the execution of various Acts which relate to wildlife tenure, land tenure and land use planning. With regard to wildlife tenure, the Parks and Wildlife Act grants management powers over wildlife to ‘appropriate authorities’ (AAs). The Act identifies four AAs: the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the Rural District Councils (RDCs), the Forestry Commission and private landowners. In terms of section 2 of the Parks and Wildlife Act, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is the AA over unalienated land, i.e. parks and wildlife land, or State land other than forest land. The Forestry Commission is the AA over unalienated land, i.e. forest land. For Communal Land, the AA is the RDC (and in particular the Conservation Committee, also identified as the environment committee in the Environment Management Act, that may be established within the RDC) if it has been appointed as such by the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry or the Minister itself in case of Communal Land where the RDC has not been granted AA. In relation to alienated land, the owner of the land is the AA. With regard to fishing waters, the AA is either the AA for the land riparian to such waters or any person appointed by the Minister as the AA under section 83 of the Parks and Wildlife Act.

With regard to land tenure, the institutional framework is once again two-tiered. At the central level, there is the Zimbabwe Land Commission, a constitutional body established in terms of section 296 of the Constitution with functions that include ensuring accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land. The Land Acquisition Act also identifies the President or any Minister duly authorized by the President as the Acquiring Authority. The Acquiring Authority has the power to compulsorily acquire any land where the acquisition is reasonably necessary in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning, or to use it or any other property for a purpose beneficial to the public generally or to any section of the public. Communal Land is, however, excluded from the definition of land that is subject to compulsory acquisition. The communal land tenure system is governed by the Communal Land Act, which vests all communal land to the State President, who has powers to permit its occupation and utilization in accordance with the Act. The occupation of communal land is administered at local levels through the traditional chiefs and RDCs. In terms of the Rural District Councils Act, RDCs have a dispensation to allocate communal land to qualified persons on behalf of the State. The Traditional Leaders Act also grants traditional Chiefs powers to ensure that Communal Land is allocated in accordance with Part III of the Communal Land Act.

Various institutions are involved in land use planning. These include:  the regional planning council in terms of section 3 of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act; the Local Authorities established by the Rural District Councils Act and the Urban Councils Act; the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority established in terms of the Parks and Wildlife Act; the Forestry Commission established by the Forest Act; and the Mining Commissioners established in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act. Although the Constitution obliges public institutions, the state and its organs to be accountable and transparent, promote rule of law, equality, human dignity and empowerment, the provisions establishing these several institutional bodies, with the exception of the Land Commission, do not contain express provisions promoting these values.

The Constitution mandates all the state agencies and the state institutions to support the Land Commission in its land use planning efforts, in particular, agricultural land use planning, and as such, identifies the specific functions that should be focused on.

The Parks and Wildlife Act contains provisions on the delegation of powers of the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The Environment Management Act contains provisions on the delegation of powers of the Minister to the Environmental Management Agency or the National Environment Council.