Africa’s peace parks can promote development

Protecting Africa’s wildlife is essential. However, protecting indigenous populations and local communities is equally important. The traditional use of wildlife by Indigenous peoples is often ignored and even criminalised; history is littered with cases of evictions, forced removals and open conflict between communities and conservation authorities.

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But when communities and protected areas benefit each other, economic and human development can occur through sectors such as conservation and tourism.

To achieve this, some countries have entered into bilateral or multilateral agreements to create Transfrontier Conservation Areas with neighbouring states. These ‘peace parks’ are designated to encourage a spirit of cooperation and a mutual commitment to conservation. They also focus on historical restitution and the meaningful inclusion of local communities.

The accrual of benefits is not always even and may take time to emerge. However, Rwanda’s Akagera National Park is an example of how a park can become self-funding through tourism revenues. In 2022, the park ploughed back nearly $1 million into bordering communities through various socioeconomic activities.

Private participation in wildlife-based tourism is part of the success formula for conservation. Among others, the tourism companies &BEYOND and Wilderness show how private players can invest in and support conservation as part of a model that includes local communities in governance, employment and decision-making structures.

Another example is the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) declaration, which in 2000, brought South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique together to conserve and share the benefits of wildlife-based tourism. A study published in 2020 showed that the Greater Kruger National Park (part of the GLTP) contributed approximately R6.6 billion to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Tourism contributed nearly 6 per cent to Africa’s GDP as a whole in 2022, and further growth is predicted. This has motivated decision-makers and economic policy specialists to include tourism products and services in their economic mix and planning.

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However, doing so is hard in areas where insecurity is rife – and protected areas are often located in regions of armed conflict. Many national parks such as Upemba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), P-W-Arly-Pendjari (Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso), Chinko (Central African Republic) and Queen Elizabeth (Uganda) – face far bigger problems than species management or visitor coordination.

These include insurgency, terrorism and open warfare between competing groups fighting with the support of various states, or militants challenging the legitimacy of governments. The violence disrupts conservation efforts, deters tourism and displaces people who resort to subsistence activities like wildlife hunting.

Militias like the diverse range of Mai Mai groups in DRC and local armed groups with little or no ideological identity, fight for control to manage and accrue the biodiversity benefits, including exploiting commodities like mineral resources.

Park rangers in these situations play a different role to those in Southern Africa. They must protect themselves from armed groups while dealing with internally displaced people who find refuge in their parks, and the hunting of bushmeat to feed insurgents. These situations inevitably lead to conflict with park rangers. Since 2021, many rangers have died due to conflict with militias and armed groups.

Also, many parks that make up Transfrontier Conservation Areas were founded in colonial times. Their negative histories mean the parks are often sites of conflict that influence local communities’ perspectives on conservation. Compounding the historical challenges are the impacts of climate change, population growth and poor government services.

The model for transnational conservation in Southern Africa is not necessarily the solution for other parts of the continent, especially those affected by violent conflict. Nonetheless, a commitment to conservation that provides inclusive benefits has a place in Africa’s future.

Organisations like African Parks, Peace Parks Foundation and Forgotten Parks Foundation operate in conflict regions. They enter into co-management agreements with governments to help manage and develop parks in fiscally constrained states. Parks like the DRC’s Upemba and Garamba, Akagera in Rwanda, and Niassa Game Reserve, Gorongosa and Zambezi Delta in Mozambique show that conservation can work despite the threat of conflict.

The importance of such efforts was illustrated by a significant recent conservation discovery in war-torn South Sudan. The African Parks Foundation found the world’s largest land mammal migration in the Boma Badingilo Jonglei Landscape, where an estimated six million white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang and reedbuck migrate into Gambella National Park in Ethiopia every year. This finding was made possible by South Sudan entering into a park management agreement.

In South Africa, land restitution beneficiaries can enter into conservation partnerships that enable wildlife tourism – delivering socioeconomic benefits in the form of jobs, infrastructure and more.

The 24,000-hectare land claim in the northern Kruger National Park by the Makuleke tribe in 1998 was one of the first successful claims on formal conservation land. A co-management agreement ensured that ownership was returned to the Makuleke and that the land would continue being managed as a conservation area. Over time, two luxury lodges and a training institution were developed. Over 70 per cent of their employees are from the Makuleke tribe.

Other African countries developed similar initiatives. In 2011, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Botswana formed the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. This is the largest ‘peace park’ worldwide, with about two million people deriving their livelihoods from its natural resources and economic activities, including wildlife-based tourism.

Using innovation approaches, conservation in high-risk regions is possible. But transplanting successful models from one area to another can be problematic. The unique challenges of each park must be recognised and accommodated.

As stability returns to conflict-affected countries and regions, peace parks can become assets for socioeconomic development and, in many cases, support the livelihoods of local communities.

Ashwell Glasson, College Registrar, Southern African Wildlife College

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).