Shoebill Island Camp is tucked away in indigenous thicket and faces out onto the Bangweulu wetlands. Bangweulu means where water meets the sky, a perfect description for one of the most extraordinary and important wetlands in all of Africa. It is unique in that it is a community-owned protected area and is home to 50,000 people who retain the right to sustainably harvest its natural resources for their survival and livelihoods. The fish and wildlife populations were rapidly diminishing as a result of unsustainable harvesting. This all changed in 2008 when African Parks signed an agreement with the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) to work with the communities to sustainably manage the wetland for the benefit of both people and wildlife.