Partners

African Parks signed a long-term management agreement for Iona National Park with the Angolan Ministry of Environment (MINAMB) and the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation (INBC) in 2019. The MINAMB is the ministerial department responsible for the formulation, execution and control of the Executive’s policy regarding environmental protection. This includes the preservation and conservation of environmental quality, pollution control, terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, conservation areas and enhancement of the natural heritage, as well as the preservation and rational use of renewable natural resources. The INBC was created to ensure the implementation of the Biodiversity Conservation Policy and management of the National System of Conservation Areas. Ms Ana Paula Chantre Luna de Carvalho is the current Minister of the MINAMB.

An ambitious new financing instrument, the LLF aims to protect the world’s most outstanding natural places and close the funding gap for biodiversity conservation in the Global South. It is a joint initiative by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW Development Bank (KfW), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Campaign for Nature (CfN), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The LLF provides financing for a period of 15 years to protected areas, with a long-term, flexible programme approach, in partnership with a philanthropic partner who provides match-funding of US$1m a year for the first five years. LLF funding commences from year six at the same rate for a further 10 years. Two protected areas managed by African Parks are among the pilot sites receiving funding from the LLF: Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo and Iona National Park in Angola.

The RWF supports initiatives that advance its founder’s passion for environmental conservation and creative coalition building. Rob Walton has been an invaluable partner to African Parks since 2003, providing support to safeguard the long-term survival of parks and wildlife across the continent. In 2021, operating as the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, the RWF made a transformational US$100m 5-year commitment, the largest endowment gift in African Parks’ history. Portions of the Foundation’s annual contributions have supported the reintroduction of species such as lion and black rhino to Akagera National Park, as well as sparked matching grants to Iona and Odzala-Kokoua, in conjunction with the Legacy Landscapes Fund.

The 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, followed by a significant investment in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. In 2017, the Foundation made a groundbreaking commitment of US$65m to provide ongoing support for Akagera and the Malawi parks, along with startup funding for five new parks. This enabled the addition of Pendjari and W in Benin, Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in Mozambique, Iona National Park in Angola and Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe. In 2021, the Foundation furthered its support of African Parks with another extraordinary commitment of US$108m, which will provide for the continued support of current Wyss-funded parks, as well as startup funding for another five new parks. Two new parks in our portfolio – Kafue National Park in Zambia and Badingilo National Park in South Sudan – are benefitting from the Wyss Foundation’s latest commitment.

A charitable foundation established in 2017 by Jan Verhagen, a Dutch entrepreneur, Natura Africae is dedicated to the conservation of national parks and protected areas in Africa, recognising the reciprocal relationship between the livelihoods of local communities and the successful protection of an ecosystem’s wildlife. The Foundation provided €4,75m in 2022, supporting park operations in Liuwa Plain, Odzala-Kokoua, Matusadona, Nyungwe, Iona and Ennedi. The grant also provided catalytic funding to strengthen African Parks’ organisational costs and institutional platform.