Court halts land clearance on edge of protected park in Zambia

Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on Kasanka national park and are key to seed dispersal across Africa. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy

Conservationists in Zambia have hailed a high court injunction preventing deforestation and commercial agriculture on the edge of Kasanka national park, which they say threatens the world’s biggest mammal migration.

Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the swamps of Kasanka from across Africa and beyond. They feast on fruit in and around the park, one of Zambia’s smallest but under the highest level of protection, dispersing seeds across the continent on their epic journey.