Partners

In August 2022, the Government of South Sudan signed a 10-year renewable management agreement with African Parks for Boma and Badingilo national parks and Jonglei Landscape (the proposed extension zones of the two national parks and wildlife corridors), covering an area of over 12 million hectares. With this commitment, the South Sudanese Government has ensured the long-term protection of these vital ecosystems benefitting both people and wildlife. This partnership is facilitated by the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism (MWCT), through the South Sudan Wildlife Service (SSWS), the legal authority under the ministry responsible for wildlife and protected area management in South Sudan. His Excellency Rizik Zakaria Hassan is the Minister of the MWCT.

Edith is a long-time advocate for conservation with a deep passion for species protection and habitat preservation. She has dedicated over three decades to advancing these critical causes. Since 2013, she has played a vital role in supporting African Parks. In 2024, her continued strategic partner-level contribution toward safeguarding the Great Migration in South Sudan and supporting community development efforts in the region exemplifies her unwavering commitment to preserving this remarkable landscape and the surrounding communities. Edith serves on the board of the African Parks Foundation of America.

A joint initiative of Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network, the ECF is a flexible and responsive fund that supports the best efforts by the most trusted organisations globally, working to secure a future for elephant in Africa. Since 2015, the ECF has not only contributed more than $6.6 million to African Parks, but also expertise on best practice in elephant conservation. This has benefitted critical surveillance, intelligence-based protection, and human-elephant conflict mitigation activities for some of our most threatened elephant populations.

The EU has been a crucial long-standing partner of African Parks, driving joint conservation and development goals in Central, East and West Africa. Since 2005, this partnership has fostered stability in fragile regions attracting additional funding and new partners. The EU’s support has been critical in managing large landscapes, enhancing safety and security for both people and wildlife, and creating opportunities in green sectors. Together, we remain committed to advancing our shared vision for a sustainable future.

Established in 1996, the Swiss foundation is committed to helping safeguard the biodiversity of our planet through active conservation of threatened species and their habitats, and restoration of degraded ecosystems. Fondation Segré became a strategic funding partner of African Parks in 2016 and has contributed over US$9 million to support a range of parks. In 2024, Fondation Segré assisted African Parks in Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve, Chad, and the Boma-Badingilo landscape in South Sudan.

An initiative operated and managed by the Wildlife Conservation Network, the LRF is a nimble and flexible fund investing in the most innovative and effective projects across Africa to recover lion and restore their landscapes. Since 2017, the LRF has contributed over US$5.4 million to African Parks. This funding has benefitted nine different African Parks sites, with a particular focus on several parks in West and Central Africa, given the extreme vulnerability of lion populations in these regions.

Mike and Georgia were introduced to African Parks in 2024 and made a multi-year commitment to support our conservation efforts in South Sudan, helping to conserve the Great Nile Migration and the region’s vast landscapes for the benefit of biodiversity and wildlife. Their generous support enables African Parks to expand our work in the region and collaborate with local communities on the sustainable management of their land and natural resources. Committed to advancing conservation at scale, Mike looks forward to visiting some of the parks we manage in 2025.

For over 30 years, Rainforest Trust, a US-based non-profit, has been dedicated to supporting the creation and expansion of protected and conserved areas worldwide. Focusing on regions critical for threatened biodiversity and large wilderness areas, Rainforest Trust, in partnership with donors, local NGOs, and communities, is working to establish formal conservation across an area of over 100 million acres. In 2021, Rainforest Trust partnered with African Parks in a collaborative effort to bolster the legal framework of the conservation area to create Chinko National Park in the Central African Republic (CAR). This initiative serves as a catalyst for broader regional conservation endeavours. Building on this success, Rainforest Trust entered into a second partnership with African Parks in 2024 to facilitate the restoration and expansion of Boma and Badingilo national parks in South Sudan to safeguard the remarkable antelope migration. African Parks is grateful for Rainforest Trust’s pivotal role in contributing to a combined commitment of US$11 million.

The Wyss Foundation is a private charitable organisation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities and strengthen connections to the land. The Foundation’s relationship with African Parks began in 2015 with a grant to support the restoration of Akagera National Park in Rwanda, followed by a significant investment in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. In 2017, the Foundation made a ground-breaking commitment of US$65 million to provide ongoing support for Akagera and the Malawi parks, along with start-up funding for five new parks. This enabled the addition of Pendjari and W in Benin, Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique, Iona in Angola, Matusadona in Zimbabwe and Nyungwe in Rwanda. In 2021, the Foundation furthered its support of African Parks with another extraordinary commitment of US$108 million, which will provide for the continued support of current Wyss-funded parks, as well as start-up funding for a further five new parks. Three parks recently added to our portfolio – Kafue in Zambia, and Badingilo and Boma in South Sudan – are benefitting from the Wyss Foundation’s latest commitment and five others from renewal commitments: Bazaruto, Pendjari, Majete, Nkhotakota and Liwonde.