African Parks responds to the Brusseprijs 2025 book award

African Parks is aware of Olivier van Beemen’s receipt of the Brusseprijs 2025. As outlined in our detailed response here, the book for which he has been recognised contains multiple factual inaccuracies and misrepresentations of our work, our partners, and the communities we serve.

The book falls short of widely accepted journalistic standards. It relies heavily on single, unverified sources—in some cases from individuals dismissed for misconduct or convicted of criminal offences; presenting accounts that conflict with official records and timelines; and attributing actions to African Parks that were taken by government authorities beyond our mandate. For the claims that warranted further investigation, an independent legal review was conducted, which found the conclusions to be flawed.

Despite efforts to share corrections and context, these were ignored by the author and publisher. 

Beyond its factual issues, the book reflects a broader, troubling tendency: the imposition of a Western gaze that portrays African governments, leaders and communities as incapable of making informed, sovereign decisions. 

As H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, former Chairperson of the African Union and Deputy Chairperson of African Parks, stated: “We resent the manner in which this publication casts leaders, officials, traditional authorities and Board members – all eminent Africans – as unable to make a sensible decision for the benefit of our countries and people. It is patronising, racist and neo-colonial.”

Mavuso Msimang, co-founder of African Parks, also publicly withdrew his cooperation from the book after the author misrepresented his views, stating “The picture you want to create to support your preconceived belief that African Parks is both indifferent to human rights issues and is racist, and for which you are abusing my quotes and my credentials, is something I disagree with entirely and distance myself from completely.”

We categorically distance ourselves from this publication and the misleading narrative it promotes. In our view, this book represents a missed opportunity to honestly discuss and advance the conversation around the challenges and complexities of biodiversity conservation in Africa.