This is a list of national parks in Zambia. There are twenty national parks in Zambia, although a few of them are not maintained and so contain no facilities and few animals. Others have high concentrations of animals and are popular with tourists, while two or three are world-famous.
Luambe National Park — a small park, close to South Luangwa National Park, recovering after previous neglect, one new lodge
Lukusuzi National Park — east of Luambe, undeveloped but with potential
Lusaka National Park — opened in 2015, a small park on the south-east side of the capital city Lusaka
Lusenga Plain National Park — east of Lake Mweru, no facilities, no easy access, little wildlife
Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park — the small park for Victoria Falls on the edge of the city ofLivingstone, includes a small 'safari park'
Mweru Wantipa National Park — no facilities, neglected, little wildlife but has potential for redevelopment
North Luangwa National Park — this reserve has no facilities and is closed except to specially-licensed tours
Nsumbu National Park — once ranked with Kafue and Luangwa, needs redevelopment but has good wildlife potential and offers lakeside game viewing, three lodges
Nyika National Park — famous for its highland scenery and vegetation rather than wildlife; one lodge, but reached from the park of the same name in Malawi
Sioma Ngwezi National Park — in the remote far south-west, no facilities but some large herds of animals
South Luangwa National Park — world-famous as an icon of African wildlife, numerous lodges
West Lunga National Park — no facilities, no easy access, neglected, little wildlife but has potential for redevelopment.
Administration
The national parks are administered by the Zambia Wildlife Authority, an autonomous body responsible to the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources. This Authority took over from the former National Parks and Wildlife Service which suffered from chronic underfunding. Consequently of the 20 parks, five have never had management or facilities and have very little wildlife: Isangano, Lavushi Manda, Lusenga Plain, West Lunga, and Mweru Wantipa; three have substantial wildlife but have hitherto been left undeveloped as a matter of policy or because a neighbouring park has been favoured: North Luangwa, Luambe, and Lukusuzi; and three have wildlife but have been too remote to develop: Liuwa Plain, Sioma Ngwezi, and Nyika Plateau. Of the remainder, most are in quite good shape, except Nsumbu, which went through a decline due to a lack of transport infrastructure, and the zoological park section of Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park which needs rehabilitation. In approximate order of importance in terms of wildlife resources, the eight main functioning parks, all with access and accommodation are:
