In the year 2000 a group of experienced conservationists, who were concerned about the decline of many of Africa’s national parks, established The African Parks Network as a visionary and innovative approach to conservation that involved taking on the management and financing of national parks. Working in the sector, they were all too familiar with the inadequacies and inefficiencies associated with the traditional approach to park management and anticipated the benefits of a more commercial approach with parks being run on business principles.

The group, namely Mavuso Msimang, Dr Anthony Hall-Martin, Michael Eustace and Peter Fearnhead approached the late Paul Fentener van Vlissingen who, as a multinational businessman with a strong interest in conservation, was immediately intrigued and they joined forces. Only six years later, The African Parks Network has established a meaningful presence on the continent and demonstrated that national parks can be managed responsibly by a private organisation in partnership with governments, and that the results can be remarkable.

The African Parks Network went through a number of institutional changes in its early years, designed to assist the organisation to be more effective in achieving its objective. These changes included a shift of the legislative base and Head Office to the Netherlands in 2004, and back to South Africa in 2007.

Structure

The African Parks Network is registered as a not-for profit organisation in terms of Section 21 of the Companies Act of South Africa. Although the Foundation is registered in South Africa and the Head Office is in Johannesburg, each park is managed by a separate legal entity, registered in the host country. These legal entities are mostly special purpose vehicles established by The African Parks Network, explicitly for the purpose of implementing an agreement with the Government for the management of a specific national park.

The Board of The African Parks Network is supported by a number of affiliate organisations, whose primary role is to facilitate the establishment of partnerships with individuals, institutions and companies in their respective host countries, who are willing to become involved in and support the work of African Parks. Currently these affiliate organisations include: 

•   Stichting African Parks Foundation, Netherlands
•  African Parks Foundation of America
•   African Parks Foundation (UK)

Attachments:

The African Parks Network

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