10 Kwacha Conservation

Zambia's 1979 conservation coinage was part of a coordinated FAO and WWF-backed program that prompted dozens of developing nations to issue silver collector pieces during the late 1970s, with proceeds nominally directed toward wildlife preservation efforts. Zambia's entry into this series coincided with significant pressure on its national parks from poaching networks operating across the Luangwa Valley.

These were never intended for circulation — produced in limited quantities for the international collector market at a moment when Zambia's copper-dependent economy was already contracting sharply following the mid-decade collapse in copper prices.