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		The Nature Conservancy in Africa Africa Into Africa Where We Work How We Work Director's Message Our Partners Support our Efforts Expedition Namib   Videos &   Slideshows Contact Us

Support The Nature Conservancy's Africa Program! We need your help to foster effective partnerships—to secure the well-being of African people and protect, enhance and restore some of the most extraordinary habitats on Earth. Go Deeper Online Columns Can our lead scientist Sanjayan free a trapped lion in Kenya? And will it make a difference? Find out in the debut of Wild Life, his new online column! How is a conservation planner from Virginia helping protect chimpanzees in Africa? Read Gwynn Crichton’s postcards from Tanzania to learn more. Message from the Director Learn about David Banks' vision for the future of African conservation. Into Africa Read more about our Africa program in the Spring 2007 issue of Nature Conservancy magazine. Have a question? Contact us.

Africa — the mere word conjures images of wildness and majesty: great herds of wildebeest stampeding across grassy plains, elephants and hippos bathing in mighty rivers, wild chimpanzees climbing into a dense forest canopy. It’s also a place where many people still depend on the bounty of nature for their well-being. 

Working in Africa is essential for the Conservancy to accomplish both its goal of conserving exemplars of all major habitat types and its overall mission of protecting the diversity of life on Earth. The Conservancy's Africa program is initially focused on priority landscapes in Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya.

The Nature Conservancy brings both confidence and humility to its new conservation programs and partners in Africa. Over the last half-century, the Conservancy has developed successful strategies and tools to advance sustainable conservation in Africa.  Yet the Conservancy also recognizes it has much to learn from this diverse continent where humans and wildlife have evolved together over millions of years. 

Challenges and Opportunities

Even Africa’s vastness has limits. With its human population expected to triple within 50 years, Africa faces increasingly fierce competition for limited natural resources. Complicating these challenges are Africa’s sheer size and complexity.  Comprised of more than 50 countries — encompassing a wide range of geographies, cultures, religions and governments — Africa far surpasses Europe or the Americas in its diversity. 

Despite these challenges, substantial opportunities offer new hope.

The Conservancy’s work complements the actions of other large international organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society and Conservation International. Many smaller organizations also have delved deeply into specific issues and places, and the Conservancy offers a unique blend of scientific expertise and financial resources to bolster their efforts. 

Similarly, many African countries have already designated extensive networks of conservation lands. But they need more training and resources to manage and protect them. With new funding sources available, including U.S.-sponsored Millennium Challenge Compacts and USAID programs, the Conservancy can help empower Africans to preserve ecological diversity and their livelihoods.
 

Nature picture credits (left to right, top to bottom): Elephant bull, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania © Gwynn Crichton / TNC, Fishing boats on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma, Tanzania © Gwynn Crichton / TNC, Giraffes in the Serengeti, Tanzania © Gwynn Crichton / TNC.