The Wyss Foundation has announced a commitment of up to $108 million over five years to African Parks in support of conserving protected areas.

Based in South Africa, African Parks handles the long-term management of nineteen protected areas on behalf of eleven countries across the continent, protecting wildlife, restoring landscapes, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for local communities. The foundation's commitment will support up to half of the annual budgets of nine parks currently under African Parks' management in Angola, Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe and up to two-thirds of the annual budgets of five additional parks yet to be identified. Park budgets range between $1.5 million and $4 million annually, and funding for the new parks will come with a matching requirement to entice additional diversified funders.

The commitment, one of the largest single gifts ever made in support of the conservation of protected areas in Africa, is part of the foundation's Wyss Campaign for Nature, a $1 billion investment aimed at accelerating land and ocean conservation efforts around the world. Announced in 2018, the campaign is working to encourage conservation of 30 percent of the planet in a natural state by 2030.

"We are in a race against time to save Africa's wildlife and wild places," said Wyss Foundation founder and chair Hansjörg Wyss, who signed the Giving Pledge in 2013. "Multiple and compounding threats, including deforestation, illegal mining, poaching, and wildlife trafficking...have imperiled Africa's lands, waters, and wildlife — some of the most awe-inspiring on Earth. Only by working with governments and local people can we protect natural areas for the benefit of people and wildlife across the African continent. By supporting African Parks, I know that funding is being used effectively to help nations and communities protect nature and their economy now, not tomorrow."

(Photo credit: Jonas van de Voorde)