Africa
Africa has more intact landscapes, seascapes and
free-flowing rivers than any other continent on Earth.
Arguably the world’s greatest natural spectacle—and most famous animal migration—
takes place on the African Serengeti. Despite enormous pressures and centuries
of change, Africa boasts the planet’s fewest extinctions, and its lands and waters
continue to sustain people and wildlife. The Nature Conservancy’s mission
to protect the diversity of life on Earth would be incomplete without Africa’s
inclusion. It is a resilient place with great lessons to share.
Africaprogram
benefitsfor people & nature
Since the 2006 launch of our Africa Program, the Conservancy
has refined the tools needed to advance sustainable conservation
on this diverse continent. The Conservancy is protecting land,
freshwater and marine ecosystems that function much as they
have for generations. We aim to enable lasting conservation
results, empowering local communities to improve their
quality of life and balance the needs of people and nature.
Having recently honed our conservation priorities, the Conservancy is focused on critical lands and waters spanning Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique. And we continue
to assess threats and opportunities elsewhere to determine
where to expand our conservation programs and partnerships.
Challenges and Opportunities
Africa faces a future of increasingly fierce competition for
already-limited natural resources. The changing climate, an
expanding human population—expected to double by 2050—
and associated demands for energy, food and water will test
the resilience of the continent’s natural resources. And for
conservation, in particular, the sheer size and complexity of
Africa’s 53 nations pose both challenges and opportunities.
Among the substantial opportunities offering hope for the
future is the increasing influence of the community-driven
conservation movement, which proves that conservation
can be a positive force for poverty alleviation and conflict
resolution. As this movement gains momentum, it can be
leveraged to strengthen and expand the continent’s extensive
network of protected areas. Working with local communities,
the Conservancy implements conservation solutions that
bring tangible benefits to people: improving water quality,
developing sustainable food supplies and diversifying income
streams. We complement the work of our partners, providing
them with access to leading-edge training and technology
and new public and private funding opportunities.
Guiding Principles
The Conservancy has built its Africa Program on three main
principles:
• Work in partnership with government and local conservation
organizations to increase the scale of their impact
• Create and implement conservation strategies that provide
benefits for both people and nature
• Transfer technical tools, skills and resources to partner
organizations and projects
Conservation Priorities
KENYA Herds of elephants, wildebeest, Grevy’s zebra and
other wildlife, as well as pastoralists with their livestock,
seasonally crisscross northern Kenya’s acacia-studded savannas.
Life on these arid grasslands depends on high-elevation forests
—Africa’s “water towers”—to collect and distribute fresh water.
To conserve this mosaic of forest reserves, national parks,
communal lands and private ranches, the Conservancy is
partnering with conservation organizations such as the Northern
Rangelands Trust, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the Green
Belt Movement and the African Wildlife Foundation. Through
community-led wildlife conservancies, water-user associations,
sustainable livestock management, REDD (Reduced Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project exploration
and private-land acquisition, the Conservancy seeks to preserve
key wildlife corridors that link established protected areas and
maintain the pastoralist way of life.
TANZANIA Lake Tanganyika holds nearly as much water as all
the U.S. Great Lakes combined. The Conservancy is adapting
successful marine strategies to protect the lake’s more than 500
freshwater species found nowhere else on Earth. In the Greater
Mahale Ecosystem, the Conservancy is partnering with the
Jane Goodall Institute, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Tanzania
National Parks and local communities to conserve forests and
keystone species such as chimpanzees. By sharing technical
expertise, building local capacity and fostering big-picture
thinking, the Conservancy empowers local people to reduce
deforestation, adapt to climate change, and protect wildlife
and conservation areas.
NAMIBIA The arid mountains,
gorges, plains and ephemeral rivers
of Namibia’s Kunene region harbor
desert elephants, zebras, spotted
leopards and endangered black
rhinos. The Conservancy is working
with Save the Rhino Trust to
enhance protections for the world’s
largest free-ranging black rhino
population. These efforts complement
a successful community conservation
program developed here by the
Namibian government, World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) and others.
The region’s community and
government lands link Skeleton
Coast and Etosha national parks
to form one of the world’s largest
protected areas—more than 15 million
acres—preserving critical wildlife
corridors, while supporting community ecotourism ventures
and other sustainable uses of natural resources.
MOZAMBIQUE With huge stretches of coral reefs, mangrove
forests, estuaries and archipelagos, the Western Indian Ocean
supports a wide diversity of life—from sea turtles and sharks
to people. The Conservancy is contributing marine science
expertise, and utilizing reef resiliency approaches developed in
Indonesia, to design and implement Africa’s largest marine
protected area with the Mozambique government and WWF.
Protecting this critical reef and helping it adapt to climate
change will improve fisheries and enhance livelihoods for the
40,000 people who depend on these natural resources. Through
the Western Indian Ocean Challenge, we will bring together
diverse partners to reduce the impacts of climate change by
fostering sustainable livelihoods and resilient ecosystems along
the coast of East Africa and the Indian Ocean islands.
ZAMBIA Home to iconic hippos, Cape buffalo and elephants,
the Zambezi River’s rich freshwater ecosystems include dambos
(shallow wetlands), tropical floodplain grasslands and the
magnificent Zambezi Delta. The Conservancy is working to fill
a critical protection gap in the headwaters of the Kafue River,
the Zambezi’s largest tributary, at Kafue National Park. This
unfenced park and surrounding game management areas cover
more than 16 million acres, creating the 5th-largest protected
area in the world. The Kafue Trust and the Zambia Wildlife
Authority requested help from the Conservancy to enhance the
potential for restoring wildlife habitat, improve local livelihoods
and allay threats from climate change.
The Conservancy begins its work in Africa by focusing
on priority lands and waters in five countries.
Africaprogram
lasting results
Sharing Skills and Knowledge
About The Nature Conservancy
The Conservancy brings a unique array of assets to
the table, from policy and scientific expertise to
technical assistance and financial resources. We seek
to maximize our conservation impact in Africa by
joining these resources with the established presence
and homegrown knowledge of our varied partners.
Some examples include
• Conservation planning and measuring conservation
impact
• Freshwater, marine and terrestrial conservation
science
• Climate change science
• Fire management
• Public policy expertise and public funding resources
• Real estate and conservation financing expertise
• Fundraising and marketing expertise
Since 1951, The Nature Conservancy has worked around the world to protect
ecologically important lands and waters for people and nature. It’s how we
work that has made the Conservancy successful:
Enhancing collaborative
conservation efforts
Collaboration continues to be the foundation of our
work in Africa. In that spirit, The Nature Conservancy
is a member of the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative
Group. ABCG is comprised of international conservation organizations that work in Africa (African Wildlife
Foundation, Conservation International, Jane Goodall
Institute, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Resources
Institute and World Wildlife Fund). It is a forum unique
to the Africa region and brings together the best
conservation resources to conserve the continent’s
natural diversity in balance with sustainable human
livelihoods.
cover: Elephants on Zambezi riverbank © Daniel White/TNC; page 2: Reservoir
on Kafue River © Patrick McCarthy/TNC; Samburu Moran (young men) in
Kenya’s northern rangelands © Tim Boucher/TNC; Children from Goba tribe, in
Zambia © Brian Richter/TNC; page 4: Grevy’s Zebra © Kenneth K. Coe
© 2010 MRCE AfSum10_1
Africaprogram
• We work in more than 30 countries—from Australia to Mongolia—and
across the USA with partners in communities, governments, businesses
and other non-profits—in other words, people like you.
• We work with local communities to protect their lands and livelihoods,
from indigenous tribes in Colombia to soy farmers in Brazil to fishing
villages in Jamaica.
• We build conservation knowledge and skills, helping establish training
programs in such places as the Amazon, Mexico and Indonesia.
• We work with governments and public funding agencies to leverage our
site-based conservation successes into large-scale conservation results.
• We pursue non-confrontational, practical solutions to conservation challenges.
• We are a science-based organization, with more than 500 staff scientists.
Our history of success and our diverse partnerships give us great hope for
the future. Together, we can overcome the challenges ahead to help improve
the quality of life for Africa’s people and conserve some of the most extraordinary lands and waters on Earth.
Contact Us
Africa Regional Office
Plot #16002 Mawalla Street
PO Box 13265 (Meru branch)
Arusha, Tanzania
+255 73 297 9681
The Nature Conservancy
4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203-1606
+1 (703) 841-5300
nature.org/africa
The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and
natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the
lands and waters they need to survive.