CEO's Report September 2017

Fundraising: 
We have signed a series of grants this past month with the U.S. Government valued over US$1.8M, including the U.S. Department of State’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) unit to train and outfit rangers in seven of our parks; and INL sub-agreements to enhance law enforcement investigations capability with Frankfurt Zoological Society for North Luangwa National Park in Zambia and with Lilongwe Wildlife Trust in Malawi.  We secured a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service award for aerial surveys in Zakouma and have also secured USAID funding for Chinko and Garamba as a partner of Invisible Children.  Several significant gifts from anonymous donors have also come in, totalling almost US$2M.  Adessium Foundation, one of our long-standing strategic partners, visited Johannesburg and Majete Wildlife Reserve to discuss the impact their support has had in building institutional capacity over the last decade.

Communications: 
We commemorated World Rhino Day on the 22nd of September by sharing the wonderful news from Akagera National Park that one of the newly reintroduced rhinoceroses had given birth in August, and her calf was spotted in September (the announcement can be viewed here). African Parks participated in the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and Conservation Summit on the 24th of September where Andrea Heydlauff, African Parks Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, spoke about conservation and communities.  African Parks was humbled to have been presented with the highly esteemed biodiversity award by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation at its 2017 Award Ceremony on the 30th of September in Montreal. The ceremony, which honoured leading figures in the areas of climate change, biodiversity conservation and water resource management, was attended by Andrea Heydlauff who accepted the award on behalf of the organisation

Ennedi, Chad: Negotiations have advanced considerably on the agreement for Ennedi, a World Heritage Site of unique natural and cultural significance. It is likely the agreement will be concluded before the end of the year, with implementation subject to a successful Board due diligence visit.

Shaba and Buffalo Springs, Kenya:  A meeting is being arranged between management and the recently elected Governor, Dr. Kuti, to establish the new Governor’s interest in continuing discussions on a delegated management agreement for these two outstanding wildlife reserves.

Bazaruto Archipelago Marine National Park, Mozambique: African Parks management is hopeful that signature of the agreement is imminent and will occur before the end of the year.  

Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe: We have received comments on the draft agreement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority’s legal committee. A meeting has been scheduled for early November in Harare to discuss the remaining points that require clarity or resolution.  

Mangochi Forest Reserve, Malawi: A draft agreement has been prepared by the Forestry Department to extend our mandate for Liwonde National Park to include the adjacent Mangochi Forest Reserve. It now remains for the Director of Forestry to meet with the public-private partnership unit to finalise their input into the draft agreement, and to then secure endorsement from the Ministry and Solicitor General.

Zambia: African Parks’ Regional Conservation Director, James Milanzi, is advancing discussions on Lavushi Manda National Park, which is adjacent to Bangweulu Wetlands, and the Upper West Zambezi Game Management Area, which surrounds Liuwa Plain National Park and is important for the wildebeest migration. A document outlining the financial case for Kafue National Park has been submitted to the Minister of Finance.

Uganda: The Director of Conservation Development, Andrew Parker, attended the Giants Club summit in Uganda to explore prospects in the “Pearl of Africa”. Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve is already being explored and certain other prospects emerged as being interesting and worth further investigation. The Government of Uganda has outlined specific opportunities for the co-management of certain protected areas across the country

Chinko, CAR: The park continued to play a supportive role for displaced people amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis borne from recent violence in surrounding areas, and is providing shelter and rations for 276 internally displaced persons who sought refuge in Chinko. Having launched the Chinko Crisis Fund in July to raise urgently-needed funds to assist with the provisioning of basic resources, we have so far reached just over half of our targeted budget and continue to appeal for additional support. Chinko has remained a secure sanctuary for resident wildlife populations. Daily surveillance flights were carried out to maintain monitoring and protection of the core wildlife zone, which remained free from poaching activity. The park’s staff also noted positive changes in wildlife behaviour owing to the improved security in the 3,000km2 core area, and observed several species in the vicinity of the headquarters, including warthog, hyaena, various antelope and buffalo. The Community Development Manager made progress in the development of a framework for a community work plan to fit the context of the humanitarian situation, encompassing materials and a curriculum for training Chinko’s staff. Their training programme will cover aspects including health, hygiene and conflict resolution, among others. Chinko welcomed two new members to its law enforcement team this month, recruiting Thierry Hanat-Lefebvre as Chief Ranger Instructor and David Peffes-Duler as Ranger Instructor.

Akagera, Rwanda: We were extremely saddened by the report of an incident in which a temporary member of staff, Mr Samuel Nsingiyumva, was killed by an elephant in the park, and we are extending support to the family of the deceased. We were pleased though to announce the birth of a healthy rhinoceros calf on the 22nd of September, coinciding with World Rhino Day. The calf is the first rhinoceros to be born in Rwanda in over a decade, and its mother would have been well into her 15 to 16-month gestation period when she was translocated from South Africa to Akagera in May this year. There were several highlights for law enforcement this month. Two of the park’s rangers participated in a two-week advanced analytical tracker training course in Kenya, and three rangers successfully passed an advanced tracker training course in Malawi, all adding value to the effectiveness of Akagera’s ranger force. Regular patrols were conducted and reported no evidence of poaching or snares, maintaining a superb anti-poaching record for consecutive months.

Zakouma, Chad: On the 10th of October we were pleased to report that the Government of Chad and African Parks signed an agreement for the management and protection of an expanded territory of conservation area around Zakouma, including Siniaka Minia, Bahr-Salamat and adjoining wildlife corridors within its mandate. We additionally shared that the Governments of Chad and South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding enabling us to reintroduce a founder population of six black rhinoceros from South Africa to Zakouma next year. The black rhinoceros went extinct in Chad in the late 1980s. As part of our preparation for the reintroduction, an expert from the African Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN conducted an initial assessment of the park and determined the habitat to be of appropriate nutritional value for the species.

Garamba, DRC: Sadly, after two consecutive months of zero elephants being killed, three elephants were poached in the park in September. The rangers made two arrests for other illegal activities and recovered a young male red-tailed monkey bound for the wildlife trade at a vehicle checkpoint. The monkey was cared for by park staff before eventually being transferred to the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre. In our programmes to improve skills and healthcare, phase one of the team leader training course was completed by 12 park rangers, and our mobile clinic was deployed to four peripheral villages and treated 665 people.

Bangweulu Wetlands, Zambia: The mass game translocation continued with an additional 100 kudus being identified by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife to help restock Bangweulu. Meanwhile, the recently released puku, impala and hartebeest, including the 23 puku in the wildlife corridor, have been regularly sighted by law enforcement patrols and are reported to be in good condition. Home to an important shoebill stork population, the park has hired local fishermen as ‘shoebill guards’ to protect six reported nests to improve chances of the young chicks’ survival. The construction of the Shoebill Lodge is now well underway and making good progress, with completion likely by year-end. An assessment was conducted of this year’s community projects funded by the park’s Community Development Fund, and we found very satisfactory results including the construction of school staff housing, a two-classroom school block and a local health centre, among others.

Liuwa Plain, Zambia: We are pleased to report that the construction of King Lewanika Lodge has concluded with all final touches completed in readiness for its opening for tourism next month. Pride dynamics among the lions appear to have stabilised with Sepo’s (the missing female) cubs under the continued care of their elder sisters. The new cub of one of these sisters is in good condition, while the other sister is showing signs of pregnancy. The law enforcement team performed well, making five arrests and deterring poaching activity in the park. Important educational support was extended to local communities in September, as a total of 60 pupils’ school fees were covered by Liuwa’s sponsorship programmes.

Liwonde, Malawi: It has been a productive month for Liwonde, particularly for the park’s law enforcement staff, a selection of whom have been participating in a valuable short-term mentorship training programme with teams deployed by the British Military. In addition, six rangers completed advanced tracker training in the park, and the head of law enforcement attended a course at the South African Wildlife College. While the number of elephant break-outs has stabilised thanks to the extensive preventative efforts of Liwonde’s staff, fence damage has required significant attention and the several structural components have needed replacing. Good progress has been made in tourism development, as an environmental impact assessment was completed for a Robin Pope Safaris lodge, and construction has begun on site. The Domain Awareness System (DAS) created in collaboration with and installed by Vulcan Technology is now fully operational and the relevant staff received refresher training in its use, improving real-time surveillance of the park. The trial for the suspects convicted in the rhino poaching incident carried over the month of September, but the strong verdict and record-breaking sentencing was released on October 20th. This was a swift and bold statement by the Malawian Courts in cracking down on illegal wildlife crime.

Nkhotakota, Malawi: Park staff responded to a tragic incident in which a woman was killed by an elephant outside of the reserve on the 18th of September, offering our assistance to the bereaved family and ensuring that the elephant was subsequently secured within the park’s boundary. Staff continued to make good progress on fencing the perimeter of the reserve and have installed additional measures to further mitigate the incidence of elephant break-outs. Daily telemetry tracking indicated that all collared elephants remain within the sanctuary, with the exception of one that is in the wider reserve. Community outreach continued where we facilitated educational park visits for 18 school members, and initiated the selection process to extend bursary beneficiaries to 75 orphaned and vulnerable students. Law enforcement teams saw good results reporting no evidence of poaching and apprehending 27 people for illegal activities in the park.

Majete, Malawi: Majete successfully hosted the annual African Parks management meeting in early September, when senior management staff from across the parks and headquarters convened to participate in sharing updates and strategic planning for 2018. We are pleased to have installed the Domain Awareness System (DAS) in Majete this month, where it will integrate data to provide real-time monitoring of wildlife and law enforcement activities which will improve the detection of threats. The park’s staff are currently being trained in its use to enable roll-out. Three people were arrested by Majete’s law enforcement team for poaching a sable antelope and for suspected possession of duiker antelope meat, while one person was convicted for poaching waterbuck earlier in the year. These arrests and convictions reinforce the severity of these crimes and the Government’s stance in protecting their wildlife.

Odzala-Kokoua, Congo: September has been a busy month for the park, notably with a new eco-guard training course commencing on the 11th. This course will provide ranger training for new eco-guards and 20 individuals selected from the Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forets (ENEF), and will continue until the end of October. Although three poached elephant carcasses were discovered, law enforcement made good headway conducting operations to make one arrest, confiscate six ivory tusks and 152 unlicensed weapons identified in a census across 17 villages. In addition, a special operation was conducted in the north of the park to sensitise communities on dismantling traps, which also led to the collection of 4,882 snares. In conservation and monitoring, the park recruited a new assistant primatologist to help with gorilla habituation, and camera traps were deployed in eight new baies after existing camera traps revealed rare footage of several hippopotami in two different baie wetlands.

Pendjari, Benin: As part of the Government of Benin’s ‘Revealing Benin’ programme, the Presidency announced on the 18th of September the authorisation of the creation of a special law enforcement brigade to safeguard wildlife. Under this authorisation, African Parks will train up to 100 rangers over a nine-month period. A selection process for ranger recruitment and training was subsequently undertaken, attracting 1,500 participants from villages around the park. Through two different phases of selection, 35 promising candidates were identified to partake in the first basic field ranger training course for Pendjari. Law enforcement has already started to improve the patrol system for greater mobility and coverage, leading to the arrests of 11 poachers and fishermen and multiple confiscations. Significant strides have been made in recruitment for Pendjari which this month welcomed Jordy Olouyomi as Finance and Administration Manager, Matthieu Destremau as the main law enforcement trainer, and Magalie Lacoste as the Pendjari Lodge Manager. The park also began offering employment to the former employees of Le Centre National de Gestion des Reserves de Faune (CENAGREF). Construction work is progressing well on the operational base and ranger training camp, which is now approaching completion.

Media highlights for African Parks for September 2017 included coverage by CNN, Town & Country, the South China Morning Post, Bloomberg, and All Africa, among others. 

BENIN: BIENTOT UNE BRIGADE SPECIALE POUR SECURISE LE PARC DE LA PENDJARI AU BENIN | All Africa, 12 September 2017

Question d'urgence! La présidence du Bénin vient de signer un décret autorisant la création d'une brigade spéciale dont la mission sera d'assurer la préservation de la faune du parc national de la Pendjari, annonce-t-elle dans un communiqué parvenu à notre rédaction ce lundi 11 septembre.

15 INCREDIBLE PLACES TO VISIT BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR | Town & Country, 20 September 2017

It’s no secret: Rainforests are dying. The ecosystems of Borneo and the rest of Indonesia have practically disappeared, while deforestation has destroyed nearly a quarter of the Amazon. In the Republic of the Congo, the world’s -second-largest rainforest hasn’t yet suffered the fate of the others.

WATCH REINTRODUCTION OF RHINO TO RWANDA I: AN EXTRAORDINARY HOMECOMING | CNN Inside Africa, 22 September 2017

WATCH REINTRODUCTION OF RHINO TO RWANDA II: THE HUMAN COST OF CONSERVATION | CNN Inside Africa, 22 September 2017

WATCH REINTRODUCTION OF RHINO TO RWANDA III: THE CANINE UNIT PROTECTING THE ENDANGERED EASTERN AFRICAN BLACK RHINO | CNN Inside Africa, 22 September 2017

FIRST WILD RHINO BORN IN RWANDA IN OVER A DECADE | The New Times, 22 September 2017

The first wild rhino calf to be born in Rwanda in over a decade has been confirmed by authorities at Akagera National Park, four months after 18 eastern black rhinoceroses were reintroduced into the park from South Africa.

HOW RWANDA BECAME THE UNLIKELIEST TOURISM DESTINATION IN AFRICA | Bloomberg, 28 September 2017

From the balcony of my villa at daybreak, I can see the nearby village creaking to life. Children are walking to school in their blue uniforms, and a farmer slings a hoe into the ground… Last May about 20 eastern black rhinos were reintroduced into Akagera National Park after the species disappeared 10 years ago, marking the triumphant return of the Big Five…

RWANDAN NATIONAL PARK’S RECOVERY A SUCCESS STORY FOR CONSERVATION AND TOURISM | South China Morning Post, 29 September 2017

In Akagera National Park, another glorious day gives way to a warm, velvety night. A pair of African fish eagles return to roost on the shore of Lake Ihema, their finger-like primary feathers silhouetted against the purple-hued sky. The birds’ haunting cries reverberate across the placid waters and are swallowed in the gloaming.

LA CEREMONIE 2017 DE REMISE DES PRIX DE LA FONDATION AINSI QUE LA CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION SE SONT TENUS A MONTREAL | The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

Les équipes de la Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco se sont réunies cette année à Montréal où était organisé, le 29 septembre 2017, un événement de levée de fonds par la branche canadienne, en présence de SAS le Prince Albert II de Monaco, les membres du Conseil d’Administration et les Présidents des branches étrangères…  le prix « Biodiversité » a été décerné à l’organisation « African Parks ».