National Parks and Wildlife Act

This section says the Act may be cited as the National Parks and Wildlife Act.

This section defines terms used in the Act.

This section lists the Act’s purposes and requires the Minister and other administrators to base measures on scientific investigation, with a caution that uncertainty should not delay cost-effective action against serious wildlife harm.

Ownership of certain wild plants or animals passes to the person who lawfully takes them, or to a licensee where the taking is under a licence.

The Act requires appointment of a Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer and subordinate officers to administer the Act, subject to the Minister’s directions.

This section sets out the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer’s duties, the powers of the Minister and Director, who counts as an officer, and how officers are directed, delegated to, and compensated for injuries or death in duty.

The Minister may appoint, renew, or revoke Honorary Parks and Wildlife Officers, and must publish notice in the Gazette.

Officers may enter places without a warrant to check compliance or detect offences, and may carry and use firearms subject to subsection (3).

Any officer may search specified places or containers without a warrant in certain circumstances, and must seize qualifying specimens or articles found. The officer must also give the person from whom the item was seized a receipt.

If the Director of Public Prosecutions gives written notice that no prosecution should be brought, the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must return a seized specimen or article to its owner within 14 days, unless a court has ordered forfeiture or destruction.

Any officer may place a barrier across a road to examine or search a motor vehicle or trailer, or question a person.

An officer may arrest without a warrant a person caught committing, reasonably suspected of committing, or about to commit an offence under the Act.

The Director of Public Prosecutions may, on written request, nominate Parks and Wildlife officers to prosecute offences under the Act, and may cancel that nomination in writing. Nominated officers must follow the Director’s directions and have a public prosecutor’s powers for those proceedings.

A person holding a document issued under this Act must produce it for inspection when an officer asks.

A person commits an offence if they obstruct an officer, refuse requested information the officer is entitled to, or willfully or recklessly give false or misleading information to an officer.

A person must not, without lawful authority, alter, deface, or remove official records or prescribed documents covered by this section.

This section establishes the Wildlife Research and Management Board.

This section sets out how the Board is made up, who the Minister chooses as Chairman, and how long certain members serve.

The Board must advise the Minister on protected areas and wildlife management matters in Malawi.

The Board must meet at least twice a year, and it may also meet when three members request it in writing. The Chairman sets meeting places and times, invited persons may attend and speak but not vote, and the Board must follow quorum, voting, reporting, and its own procedure rules.

A Board member who is not a public officer is not treated as an officer in the public service just because of Board membership.

Members of the Board or its committee are entitled to allowances set by the Minister.

This Part is intended to support local community participation and private sector involvement in wildlife conservation and management.

The Director may make wildlife management and concession agreements, and parties may end them or seek review of a Minister’s decision in the High Court within 30 days.

The Minister may make rules, if recommended by the Board, to carry out this Part’s purposes.

A person who reasonably believes a government or other activity may harm wildlife species or a community may request an environmental and social impact assessment through the Board to the Minister.

If called under section 23, the Board must arrange the environmental and social impact assessment and send its findings to the Minister within 90 days.

Reports by the Board to the Minister must include wildlife impact details, affected species and habitats, alternative actions, and recommendations for government action.

Protected areas of public land must be declared for purposes of the Act, and their declaration and management are governed by sections 27 to 41.

Protected areas are meant to conserve wildlife, habitats, scenic areas, water catchments, education, tourism, science, and public enjoyment.

The Minister may declare, change the boundaries of, or disestablish protected areas by Gazette order, but must first have the matter studied by or under the Board’s auspices.

Land proposed for protected-area status that is not public land must first be acquired as public land.

The Minister may put temporary management measures in place for an area being proposed as a protected area, for up to six months, and must publish notice in the Gazette. Areas under these measures are managed by the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer. Failure to follow directives or instructions under this section is an offence.

An order declaring a protected area must include a description of the area.

People may not enter, live in, or try to enter or live in a protected area unless the Act allows it.

A person must not bring, possess, or use weapons, traps, explosives, or poisons in a protected area, unless section 39, section 40, or a valid hunting licence under Part VII allows it.

No one may dump litter or waste in a protected area except into a receptacle provided for that purpose.

In a protected area, a person must not hunt, damage, disturb, or introduce animals, or prepare land for cultivation or settlement, unless section 39, section 40, or a valid hunting licence under Part VII applies.

An officer may destroy a domestic animal found in a protected area if the officer is satisfied the animal is there unlawfully; the owner is not entitled to compensation.

A person must not bring any plant into a protected area, unless section 39 says otherwise. The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may order the plant’s destruction or removal if it was brought in unlawfully.

A person must not start or keep any fire in a protected area, unless section 39 or section 41(2)(b) says otherwise.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may issue a specified authority for harvesting in a protected area, and must regulate harvesting so annual harvest stays within sustainable yield unless the Minister allows a temporary exceedance for management.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must tell the Board all relevant data and ask for its opinion before an otherwise unlawful act is carried out for better wildlife management. If the Board agrees, it must issue written instructions to an officer, with the Minister’s approval.

The Minister must publish Gazette notice making provision for protected-area management measures, and may make regulations for protected areas on the Board’s recommendation.

This Part sets out how wild plants and animals are classified as protected, endangered, or listed species.

The Minister may, by Gazette order, classify specified wild plants or wild animals as protected, endangered, or listed species under the Act.

The Minister may publish in the Gazette a list of species classified as endangered or listed species, and an order may apply to a single species, species in a specified area, or varieties including sex and age groups.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must publish, in the Gazette, a list of species classified as game species, after consulting the Board, and may later vary that list in the Gazette.

Wild plants and wild animals that are not game, protected, endangered, or listed species are not subject to Part VII hunting or taking restrictions.

This Part is intended to regulate hunting and taking of wildlife resources.

A person must not hunt or take protected, endangered, or listed species unless doing so under the required licence conditions and any required permit. Officers acting in their duties or powers are exempt from needing a licence or permit.

This section lists the licence classes under the Act, lets the Minister set licence details for the coming year, requires licences to be in prescribed form and applied for in prescribed form, and bars issue to anyone under 18.

The Minister may specify licence classes that require a permit before hunting, and the Director may designate who issues permits in a wildlife district.

Licences and permits issued under this Part cannot be transferred to another person unless the Act provides otherwise.

A bird licence lets the licensee hunt the bird species listed in the licence, subject to licence conditions and any endorsements, and only citizens or residents of Malawi may be issued one, subject to section 52.

A game licence lets the licence holder hunt the species listed on the licence, subject to the Act and licence conditions. It may only be issued to citizens or residents of Malawi, subject to section 52.

A visitor’s licence for Malawi may be issued only on conditions the Minister prescribes, and it authorizes the licensee to hunt birds or game.

A special licence may allow the licensee to hunt or take protected, endangered, or listed species for specified scientific, educational, or similar proper uses.

A hunting licence authorizes the licensee to hunt protected, endangered, or listed wild animals.

An animal captivity licence allows the licensee to keep specified protected, endangered, or listed species in captivity, subject to licence conditions and the Act.

A game farming licence allows the licensee to rear game species and domestic animals for utilization, subject to the Act and licence conditions.

A game ranching licence lets the licensee rear game species for utilization, but only if the licence is issued to citizens or residents of Malawi and subject to the Act and licence conditions.

A professional hunter’s licence authorizes the licensee to conduct and be responsible for licensed hunting activities, subject to the Act and any prescribed licence conditions.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may refuse to issue a licence on specified grounds, and must notify the applicant in writing with reasons if a refusal is made.

An applicant refused a licence under section 55 may appeal to the Minister in writing within 30 days; the Minister may allow a late appeal for proper cause and must hear the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer before deciding.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may revoke a licence in this Part if satisfied there is a ground that would justify refusing the licence under section 55.

A licensee whose licence is cancelled may appeal to the Minister in writing within 30 days, and the Minister may allow a late appeal for proper cause.

The Minister may suspend or cancel a licence for wildlife management reasons, and affected licensees must be notified and may appeal in writing within 30 days.

Licensees must carry the licence while hunting or taking animals or plants, produce it to an officer on request, and keep a true record of game species hunted or taken.

When counting certain hunted or taken animals, only animals killed, wounded, captured, or taken are counted; accidental or mistaken killing or wounding is also treated as hunted under the licence.

A licensee may use another person as a guide, tracker, or porter when hunting protected, endangered, or listed species. A non-licensee employed for that purpose commits an offence if they chase, drive, or use a weapon against those species. A professional hunter’s licence holder may still assist their employer.

This Part regulates methods of hunting and taking animals to improve wildlife management and make hunting available to as many eligible persons as possible.

A person must not use fire for hunting or for helping someone hunt or take any wild animal or plant.

A person must not hunt dependent young, or females accompanied by dependent young, of protected, endangered, or listed species unless authorized by special licence or permitted by Part IX.

This section prohibits using, making, buying, selling, or possessing specified poisons, traps, nets, snares, excavations, fences, or similar devices to kill, capture, or wound protected, endangered, or listed species, unless allowed by licence conditions.

The Minister may make regulations about what types, sizes, and calibres of weapons may be used to hunt protected, endangered, or listed species, based on recommendations from the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer.

A person must not hunt or help hunt protected, endangered, or listed species during hours of darkness unless licence conditions under Part VII authorize it.

A person must not use vehicles, aircraft, boats, or radio communication to harm, drive, stampede, or locate protected species for hunting, except as allowed by subsection (2) or a licence condition.

The Minister may make regulations about using domestic animals in hunting, including banning their use or setting conditions for it. Breaking any regulation made under this section is an offence.

The Minister may make regulations about hunting devices, bait, hunting near water sources, and post-kill procedures for protected, endangered, or listed species.

This Part is for rules about killing, wounding, or harming certain wild animals, including protected, endangered, and listed species.

Any person may kill or try to kill a protected, endangered, or listed species in self-defence or to protect another person, property, crops, or domestic animals if it is immediately and absolutely necessary.

Any person may kill or try to kill a game species that is causing material damage to property they own, or property they are safeguarding for the owner.

If someone kills a protected, endangered, or listed species, they must report it to an officer and hand over the carcass or parts unless a Part VII licence lets them keep it.

A person who reasonably believes a protected, endangered, or listed species is causing or about to cause material damage may report the facts to an officer. The officer must assess the threat and take necessary action, and may kill the animal only as a last resort and only if that will not endanger the species’ survival.

If someone accidentally or mistakenly kills a protected, endangered, or listed species, they must report it to an officer as soon as practicable and hand over the carcass or parts as directed.

If a person wounds a protected, endangered, or listed species, they must try to kill it at the earliest opportunity unless they have a reasonable cause not to; there are also reporting duties and limits on following wounded animals onto protected or private land.

If someone wounds a dangerous animal and does not kill or capture it within 24 hours, they must report the facts to an officer. The officer must then act immediately to locate the animal and decide whether to kill it. A person pursuing a wounded dangerous animal on private land is exempt from section 79(1) on that land, but must report to the landowner as soon as practicable.

If a dangerous animal is believed to threaten human life or property, any person may ask an officer for help, and the officer must act as soon as practicable to reduce or prevent the threat.

It is an offence for any person to willfully and without just excuse or cause molest or provoke a wild animal in a way that results, or is likely to result, in its destruction, harassment, or provocation.

A person must not cause unnecessary or undue suffering to any wild animal, whether the animal is wild or kept in captivity.

A property owner or servant may use repellant substances or devices to drive wild animals away from the property, so long as they cannot kill or injure protected or game species.

This Part is meant to regulate commerce in wildlife and their specimens to better safeguard the resource.

A person must not possess, buy, sell, transfer, receive, or attempt any of those acts for specimens of game, protected, endangered, or listed species, unless subsection (2) applies.

The Minister may make regulations, on the Board’s recommendation, to control trade and related industries for protected, endangered, or listed species, issue permits, and set permit fees. Anyone who breaches such regulations commits an offence.

A person who takes possession of certain protected wildlife specimens under a Part VII licence must present the specimen and licence to the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer within 14 days, and may apply for a certificate of ownership if they want to keep it.

People transferring ownership of a prescribed specimen must have a certificate, and the transferor must surrender it so the wildlife officer can issue a new one.

Some wildlife specimens become government trophies. A person who gets one must report it to an officer quickly and may have to hand it over. Violating that rule is an offence.

A person commits an offence if they unlawfully possess, buy, sell, transfer, or otherwise deal in any government trophy.

A professional hunter’s licence authorizes the holder to operate as a professional hunter and solicit clients. The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may issue it on application, with Board recommendation and Minister’s prior approval, subject to prescribed conditions and fee. The licence does not replace other legal compliance duties and lasts for the endorsed period, up to 12 months unless revoked or cancelled.

A non-professional hunter without a valid professional hunter’s licence must not carry on professional hunter activities or help others hunt protected or game species for gain, except in limited support roles.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer can suspend or cancel a professional hunter’s licence in specified cases, and must notify the licensee in writing with reasons. The licensee may appeal to the Minister within 30 days.

A professional hunter’s licence does not allow the licensee to hunt protected, endangered, listed, or game species, except in limited defence-of-life/property or wounded-animal situations.

This Part is meant to control the import and export of wildlife specimens.

The Director may issue permits for import, export, or re-export of certain species, but extra proof is required for protected, endangered, and listed species.

A person must use a customs post or port, and must produce a valid permit to a customs officer, when importing, exporting, or re-exporting specimens of protected, endangered, or listed species.

The Minister may make regulations that add restrictions on importing, exporting, or re-exporting specimens of certain species, after consulting the Minister responsible for Trade and Industry.

This section establishes the National Parks and Wildlife Fund and lists the sources of money or assets that can make up the Fund.

The Fund is vested in the Minister and must be administered according to the Minister’s directions, subject to this Act and the Finance and Audit Act.

If the Fund’s income is not enough to cover its liabilities, the Minister responsible for finance may advance money to the Fund.

The Fund is established to develop, promote, manage, and administer protected areas in Malawi.

The Fund may be used for specified conservation-related purposes, including research, training, land and equipment purchases, building construction, scheme costs, and expenses for setting up and maintaining the Fund.

The Minister must keep proper Fund accounts and records, the Auditor General must audit the Fund’s accounts, and the Minister must prepare and table an annual report.

Fund money must be paid into a banking account, withdrawals must be by cheques signed by Minister-authorized persons, and unused money may be invested as the Minister decides.

The Fund’s financial year is the financial year defined in the Public Finance Management Act.

If someone is convicted of an offence under this Act and no other penalty applies, they are liable to a fine of K2,000,000 and imprisonment for four years.

A person convicted of certain game-species offences is liable to a K2,000,000 fine and four years’ imprisonment.

A person convicted of offences involving protected species other than game species can be fined K5,000,000 and imprisoned for 10 years, and the fine must not be less than the specimen’s value.

A person convicted of certain endangered-species offences faces a fine and imprisonment.

If a person is convicted of an offence involving listed species, they can be imprisoned for 30 years.

A person convicted of an offence under section 98 or related regulations is liable to imprisonment for 30 years.

If a person is convicted for a device-related offence under the Act, the court must order the device destroyed or obliterated, and recovery of any related expenditure may be treated as a civil debt owed to the Government.

After a conviction, the court can order specified items forfeited to the Government, and must do so for offences under this Act when forfeiture is necessary; forfeiture is in addition to any other penalty.

The court must issue a conditional forfeiture order, and the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must publish notice of it.

If certain registered goods are seized after an offence and the responsible person is unknown or does not appear, the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer may ask the court for forfeiture, and the court must make a conditional forfeiture order.

If a licensee or permit/certificate holder is convicted of an offence under the Act that involves that licence, permit, or certificate, the court must order surrender of it to the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer.

When the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer takes possession of a government trophy or confiscated specimen, domestic animal, or article, the receipt must be recorded in the prescribed register and the item must be safeguarded until disposal under section 118.

The Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must return certain live specimens to their habitat and may choose how to deal with dead specimens or some other live animals taken into possession.

Items held under this Act by the Chief Parks and Wildlife Officer must be kept only in an official capacity, and the office-holder has no private ownership right over them.

This Part is intended to promote cross-border wildlife management and carry out Malawi’s agreed obligations under relevant conventions.

The Director may produce management plans for cross-border wildlife resources.

Common plans may be reviewed in bilateral or regional fora.

The Director must set up mechanisms to verify the legality of wildlife produce imported or exported across borders.

The Minister may publish an order in the Gazette to specify measures needed to implement relevant provisions of environmental conventions Malawi has joined.

This section gives the Director and authorised officers limited permission to hunt or bring items into protected areas for specified purposes, and it limits liability for acts done in good faith or for losses linked to searches, seizures, or protected-area risks.

The Director may designate and change wildlife districts by Gazette notice, and designated persons must collect permit fees in those districts.

A person who has already appealed under certain sections and is aggrieved by the Minister’s decision may apply to the High Court for judicial review within 30 days.

The Minister may make regulations to carry this Act into effect.

This section repeals four named Acts and keeps related subsidiary legislation and agreements in force, subject to the stated conditions.