Charitable Couple Gives $100 Million To Protect And Preserve 57,000 Of The African Protected Areas

When it comes to nature and the creatures living in it, help needs to be given right now. So much land has been destroyed to give way to buildings and technology. These poor creatures have lost homes, and not to mention the grave environmental impact this has brought about.

Unfortunately, money is needed in order to protect the wildlife. Groups of people have banded together just to come up with sufficient funds. Thankfully, there are those that actually go out of their way to help. Credit must be given to these charitable individuals.

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A selfless South Africa-based nonprofit conservation group oversees a total of 19 protected areas on the continent. They have fought hard for their cause, and now, they have successfully secured a donation of $100,000,000. This grant came from the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation. They have given the pledge to African Parks. To date, the corporation manages parks in a total of eleven African countries.

This whopping donation is considered of the largest contributions ever made to conservation in Africa to date. The money will go to good as this commitment will help in the expansion of the African Parks’ reach. With the sizeable amount, they will be able to preserve a significant portion of Africa’s biodiversity for the long haul. Both the local people and the animals can benefit from this kind act.

The African Parks was founded in 2000 and their job is to take on the long-term management of protected areas. The work in collaboration with governments to protect wildlife, restore landscapes, and ensure sustainable livelihoods for the communities around. They are managing 19 parks right now, the area of responsibility covers almost 57,000 square-miles (14.7m hectares). They have taken on the complete responsibility and are also answerable for all aspects of protected area management. This means that they are also in charge of law enforcement, community development, sustainable financing, infrastructure, and overall governance.


African Parks has more than 3,200 full-time staff, 98 percent of whom come from the local communities. They are also comprised of thousands of part-time staff, They have now become the largest employer in many regions where they work. Because of them, poaching has halted and has been practically eliminated in the parks that are under their management. This is a good sign because there are more than 80 percent of key wildlife populations on the rise under their care.

In the last year, a total of 110,000 people were able to get healthcare from the hospitals and mobile clinics they also support, Moreover, more than 100,000 children gained access to education provided by the schools they also support around the parks. Their ultimate goal is to directly manage a total of 30 parks that measure more 30 million hectares. They aim to do this by 2030. This would boost the African governments’ efforts and help reach the global target of protecting 30 percent of the nature portion of the planet.

Rob and Melani Walton have been longtime supporters of the sustainability and conservation efforts done all over the world. They have been valued partners to African Parks since the idea was conceived. “As global citizens, we have a responsibility to protect our planet and the people and species that create our dynamic, fragile ecosystems. We are honored to continue to work alongside African Parks, governments across the continent, and community leaders in support of their sustainability goals,” said Melani Walton of the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation. She is an African Parks Board Member.


The $100 million commitment they’ve promised will be spread over the next five years. The $75 million of which will be going to the creation of an endowment, which makes sure that long-term funding will be provided. The remaining $25 million will then go to maintaining and sustaining the parks under African Parks’ management that are in dire need. A portion of these funds will also be used for five-year matching grants that work in collaboration with the Legacy Landscapes Fund. This means that both Iona National Park in Angola and to Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo will also benefit from it. They also have an additional $10 million for each park over the next 10 years.

“This could not come at a more important time… providing a source of stable long-term funding that will contribute enduring protection for some of the most biodiverse, threatened landscapes on the planet,” shared African Parks CEO, Peter Fearnhead.

“This extraordinary gift will help to realize our vision of protecting vast ecosystems and their ecological functions for humanity in perpetuity.” Fearnhead said, and the money was the largest ever to its endowment. This came after a 2017 donation of $65 million from the Wyss Foundation to support other parks in the continent.

With the new funding and the added money, African Parks will be able to continue to go big. They want to increase their impact by bringing more parks under their management. They also plan to continue to reduce poaching, increase wildlife populations, and improve livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of individuals living in the large continent.

 

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