The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is the government agency responsible for managing Rwanda’s national parks and protected areas. Its mission is to transform Rwanda into a dynamic hub for business, investment and innovation, with a mission to fast-track economic development in Rwanda by enabling private sector growth. Following our decade-long partnership with the RDB for Akagera National Park, Nyungwe is the second park in Rwanda and the 19th park to join our management portfolio.
The Wyss Foundation
The Wyss Foundation is a private charitable foundation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities and strengthen connections to the land. The relationship with African Parks began in 2015 with a grant to support the restoration of Akagera National Park followed by a significant investment in Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, both in Malawi. In 2017, The Wyss Foundation made a ground-breaking commitment of US$65 million to provide on-going support for Akagera and the Malawi Parks along with start-up funding for five new parks. This enabled the addition of Pendjari and W National Parks in Benin, Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in Mozambique, Iona National Park in Angola, and Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe.
Fondation Segré
Fondation Segré is a Swiss foundation established in 1996, committed to help protect the biodiversity of our planet through the active conservation of threatened species and their habitat, and the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Fondation Segré became a strategic funding partner of African Parks in 2016 and has supported our work in the Bangweulu Wetlands, Chinko, Bazaruto Archipelago, Odzala-Kokoua, Zakouma, and most recently also Nyungwe National Park. To date, they have provided over US$5 million.
Hempel Foundation
The Danish Hempel Foundation recognises biodiversity loss as one of the most urgent global problems today. The Hempel Foundation has defined global priorities and partners with organisations in order to support interventions that align with its core beliefs and that have proven potential to sustain biodiversity at scale. On the African continent, Hempel supports the work of African Parks in Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda and in the Boma-Badingilo-Gambella-Omo landscape (in South Sudan and Ethiopia), which includes part of the Eastern Afromontane Hotspot.
