Putting their lives on the line
AP’s highly trained rangers face numerous threats in the field.
African Parks works in often-troubled locations against a backdrop of terror and violence. No other conservation organisation in Africa has a ranger force as large as AP’s, which numbers more than 1,000 men and women. They’re well trained and well armed, equipped to counter the increasingly sophisticated challenges of ruthless criminal networks engaging in lucrative poaching.
Many have lost their lives. In 2012, six rangers were murdered by poachers in Zakouma, Chad, during morning prayers. Up until 2017, several rangers had been killed in shooting incidents in Garamba, DRC, where Ugandan rebel militia group the Lord’s Resistance Army and heavily militarised South Sudanese crime syndicates engage in relentless ivory poaching. Latterly, in January 2020, two rangers were murdered by poachers on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe’s Matusadona National Park.
“The worst part of my job is that call when they say ‘Peter, we’ve had a fatality in the field.’ It’s absolutely terrible,” Peter Fearnhead tells me, explaining why AP has developed its ranger force to paramilitary levels. “The more professional our people are, the better trained, the better equipment they have, the less likely that call will happen.
“For everyone in the service of conservation under our responsibility, we have a proper life policy if someone is killed,” Peter continues. “That’s not trying to put a value on someone’s life, it’s ensuring that the family left behind can set themselves up for life. We believe it’s necessary and it’s always appreciated.”
African Parks ( africanparks.org) has information on each of its national parks, with advice about travel and available accommodation.
Steppes Travel ( steppestravel. com) and Natural World Safaris ( naturalworldsafaris.com) both offer tailor-made trips to many of African Parks’ destinations. have been born in recent years, and numbers of rare roan antelope and Kordofan giraffe are rising. What was once Africa’s lawless ‘Wild West’ has attracted 28,000 visitors since 2010, half of them locals. However, much of 2019’s staggering $41.1 million in tourism revenue came through expert private guides bringing in high-end ‘safari connoisseur’ clients.
Lasting appeal
My work has taken me to several AP destinations, including Majete – where I tracked reintroduced black rhinos; Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua National Park, home to 20,000 Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas; and Zambia’s Bangweulu Wetlands – a vital breeding area for rare shoebill storks.
Rob Gardiner, Africa manager of Steppes Travel, believes AP’s success in tourism is due to its flexible approach. “Parks such as Zakouma and Liuwa in Zambia appeal to travellers who want exclusivity and wilderness, to whom travelling with private guides is the norm. Majete and Akagera appeal to the mainstream safari market – Akagera, in particular, has had success with domestic tourism.”
Aside from commercial income and community benefits, tourism importantly brings prospective donors, as Steppes’ MD Justin Wateridge explains. “When carefully managed, tourism has potential to create supporters and lifelong ambassadors of wildlife conservation throughout Africa. This is crucial when the potential for tourism income is seriously reduced, as it is now with COVID-19.”
Peter sees the pandemic as “a rallying cry for us to do a whole lot more, to treat nature better. If we do nothing, then we shouldn’t expect these incredible ecosystems to survive in the face of growing populations and hugely unsustainable consumption of natural resources. These are global challenges and the scale of success will be determined by the scale of commitment from the global community.”
I ask Peter if he is optimistic about the future of Africa’s incredible wild places. “Yes, absolutely,” he replies. “Because, despite the challenges, we’ve been able to show that success is possible.”
is a travel writer specialising in conservation and responsible tourism.