African national parks supported by nature conservancies

03oktober2007
Source: Vroegevogels.vara.nl
Two nature conservancies, the World Wide Fund (WWF) and African Parks, will try to make the national parks in Africa financially healthy. The organisations wish to run the parks as a company. They believe that this way they can secure the future of the parks.
African Parks was founded in 2003 by wildlifer Paul Fentener van Vlissingen. According to the WWF and African Parks, both nature and the local economy will profit from a professional approach. At the moment, many parks can’t afford supervision, training, and surveillance. Poachers profit from this, and as a result, several animal species have decreased in number.
It is expected that the interference of companies will be profitable after several years already. ,,After an initial investment, the income from tourism and other forms of long-lasting usage should be sufficient to cover the annual management of the national parks and even make the enterprise profitable. The profit can be used for projects of local development and economical activities.''

The proposal of WNF and African Parks goes along with the development to loosen the national parks from government management. This development is taking place in for example Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, and Ethiopia. Peace Parks Foundation, with Nelson Mandela as a patron, also supports the new approach, that will safeguard the enjoyment of African landscapes and animals for future generations.
The new approach is to be applied in Akagera National Park (Rwanda).