Meet Dries Van de Loock, a biologist leading WeForest’s restoration efforts in Zambia’s Muchinga Province. Dries coordinates the implementation of projects aimed at reconnecting ecosystems between Lavushimanda National Park and the Luangwa Valley, restoring miombo woodlands, protecting vital wildlife corridors, and supporting green economic opportunities for communities.
Camera trapping plays a key role in this work, helping monitor wildlife presence, track biodiversity, and understand how different species use the landscape. In this interview, Dries walks us through the ABCs of camera trapping, highlights some of our biggest wins in Lavushimanda so far, and shares his top advice for any organization looking to use camera traps for the first time.
Why has camera trapping been so important to WeForest’s work in protecting and restoring biodiversity?
Medium-sized to large mammals play important roles in biodiversity. In the food chain, they are quite good indicators of the overall health of the ecosystem. The question becomes: how do you measure their presence?
You can do transects, you can do counts of individuals or animals encountered. You can look at tracks and trails, and through this, try to get an understanding of the mammal community in a specific landscape. Most importantly, you need a baseline and see how that evolves.
:
So, then, what’s the beauty about camera traps?
It’s an automated camera that is triggered when an animal passes by. This has a couple of advantages. It works day and night and it can be left unattended for a long time. It is also a very non-invasive tool to monitor. Usually, animals just ignore them.
Are there any other ethical considerations in camera trapping, like human detection?
If it’s unclear, it might seem like it’s meant to monitor or police. When we install these camera traps, we run sensitization sessions as well to explain that they’re good monitoring practices in an attempt to understand the positive impact of the project.
We often see illegal activities continue because they provide income. Every year, some of our cameras are destroyed by hunters who fear it will be used against them. But when people start to see the value of conservation—especially the financial benefits—they become more supportive. The mindset shifts to: “These cameras are here to protect something that brings us income.”
How do you measure the success of biodiversity conservation through a camera trap?
If the goal is to bring a top predator or elusive animal back to the area, simply spotting it on camera—even now and then—can already be seen as a success. But if the aim is to restore the overall health of the ecosystem, you need to look at more subtle patterns.
Are animal sightings on camera increasing over time? Are they spreading to new areas? From there, you can dig deeper—looking at specific species, how often they appear, and how they interact. For example, were you only seeing herbivores before, but now there’s a better balance with more carnivores? What’s the new balance, and how does it change over time?
You start with broad patterns, then zoom in. Keep in mind, though, that these trends are usually relative unless you have something to compare them against. By combining camera trap data with other methods—like transect surveys, which estimate animal numbers—you can get a clearer picture of actual population sizes.
Which successes stand out in WeForest’s work?
At the Lavushimanda Community Conservation Project, we’ve seen more camera trap triggers—meaning more animal sightings per night. That likely points to an increase in animal numbers across the landscape.
Another sign of success is the return of elephants and lions. Our project is based on a plateau, while the nearby valley —home to the highest wildlife numbers—has long been a key protected area. In the past, elephants and lions would seasonally migrate from the lowlands up to the plateau during the dry season. That migration path had been lost. Now, spotting elephants and lions again suggests the area is slowly becoming attractive again for such key species . And with camera traps, we can track this change over time.
What is your advice to somebody interested in using camera traps for the first time?
First, be clear about your goal. Are you just looking to get good photos? If so, you’ll set up your cameras very differently than if you’re trying to track changes over time to measure a trend..
If your aim is to measure real impact on the ground, your approach needs to be systematic. We use a grid across the landscape, with each square covering two square kilometers. This helps avoid recording the same animal too often while still capturing a variety of species. We always place the cameras during the same season and repeat the setup every year. That consistency allows us to compare data over time.
It’s also helpful to know if other projects are using camera traps in the area. How are they doing it? Understanding different methods helps you create a solid, repeatable baseline. The more standardized your approach, the more useful your results will be, not only for your own project but for the wider conservation community.
Support forest science and restoration
In 2024, WeForest took an ambitious step forward to expand its vision to a landscape-level approach to
Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) across community and private land in Zambia’s Muchinga Province. Currently, WeForest directly works with three Community Forest Management Groups (CFMGs) and four private landowners, covering approximately 30,000 hectares. However, the long-term vision is to scale this to over 350,000 hectares of under-threat forests across Lavushimanda, Mpika, and Kanchibiya Districts. I
Contact our team today to explore how your organisation can contribute to a greener, healthier future in Zambia.
