Peace Parks Foundation

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Peace Parks Foundation

"On 27 May 1990, Anton Rupert, President of WWF South Africa (then called the Southern African Nature Foundation) had a meeting in Maputo with Mozambique's President Joaquim Chissano, to discuss the possibility of establishing a permanent link between some of the protected areas in southern Mozambique and their adjacent counterparts in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

"The concept of trans-border protected area cooperation through the establishment of peace parks had already been accepted internationally. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) had long been promoting their establishment because of the many associated benefits (Hamilton et al, 1996; Westing, 1993). In 1988, the IUCN's Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas had identified at least 70 protected areas in 65 countries which straddle national frontiers (Thorsell, 1990).

"As a result of Rupert's meeting, WWF South Africa was requested to carry out a feasibility study, which was completed and submitted to the Government of Mozambique in September 1991 (Tinley & van Riet, 1991). The report was discussed by the Mozambican Council of Ministers, who recommended further studies to assess fully the political, socio-economic and ecological aspects of the feasibility study. The Government of Mozambique then requested the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of The World Bank to provide assistance for the project, which was granted. The first mission was fielded in 1991, and in June 1996 The World Bank released its recommendation in a report entitled Mozambique : Transfrontier Conservation Areas Pilot and Institutional Strengthening Project (World Bank, 1996)." [1]

In a critical examination of Southern African Peace Parks, Marloes van Amerom and Bram Buscher (2005) observe that:

"The widespread popularity of the concept of Peace Parks has attracted a wide range of donor agencies (such as the World Bank, USAID and the German KfW – Kredietanstallt fur Wiederaufbau), NGOs and private sector interests. Even the United States Congress recently officially approved of the concept. However, reflecting Africa’s weak position in the international system (Clapham 1996) the funding provided by Western donors such as the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has also meant that pressure was applied for the concept of Peace Parks to be operationalised on the basis of dominant Western economic paradigms that, like the dominant ‘globalist’ interpretation of African Renaissance, reflect the neo-liberal outlook of the Washington consensus. Thus, privatisation, free trade, private land ownership and the commercialisation of conservation have increasingly become important cornerstones of Peace Parks. Moreover, as is so often the case, the practice of Peace Parks increasingly contrasts with its rhetoric." (p.168)

Unfortunately they go on to note that:

"Altogether, this evidence supports the conclusion, also drawn by Dzingirai (2004), that, rather than democratisation and decentralisation, Peace Parks seem to promote greater inequality between governments and communities or ‘disenfranchisement

at large’." (p.175) [2]

"Mr Werner Myburgh has been appointed as the new CEO of Peace Parks Foundation, as of 1 April 2008. He takes over from Prof Willem van Riet, who retires as CEO but has been appointed as Vice-Chairman: International Relations responsible for fundraising and providing support to specialist projects such as GIS and park planning." [3]

Conservation Partners

Accessed June 2009: [4]

Donors

Accessed June 2009: [5]

Current Donors

DONATIONS

'DONATIONS-IN-KIND

Founding Patrons

People (2009)

Accessed June 2009: [6]

Board (2012)

Accessed February 2012: [7]

Directors (2007) [8]

  • JP Rupert (Chairman), GJ Gerwel (Vice-Chairman); WF van Riet (Chief Executive Officer), LN Angel, HL Hoffmann, (Switzerland), HM Holz (Germany), JHW Loudon (The Netherlands), MD Mabunda, M Msimang, FE Raimondo, PE Schlettwein (Switzerland), DF Strietman (The Netherlands), JJM van Zyl, PJ van Zyl

Advisory Committee (2012)

Accessed February 2012: [9]

  • Vitalis Chadenga - Director-General: Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority
  • Titus Dlamini - Chief Executive Officer: Swaziland National Trust Commission
  • David Mabunda Chief Executive: South African National Parks (SANParks)
  • Mamoruti Malie - Principal Secretary: Lesotho Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment
  • Fundisile Mketeni - Deputy Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa
  • Bandile Mkhize - Chief Executive Officer: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, South Africa
  • Edwin Motokwani - Director-General: Zambia Wildlife Authority
  • Francisco Pariela - National Director: National Directorate of Conservation Areas, Mozambique
  • Leonard Sefu - Director: Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi
  • Kalumbi Shangula - Permanent Secretary: Ministry of Environment & Tourism, Namibia
  • Bartolomeu Soto - Director: TFCA Coordinating Unit, National Directorate of Conservation Areas, Mozambique
  • Jameson Vilakati - Director: Swaziland Environment Authority

Advisory Committee (2007) [10]

  • Ezekiel Dembe - Director, Planning and Projects Development: Tanzania National Parks
  • David Mabunda - Chief Executive: South African National Parks (SANParks)
  • Rapelang Majophoko - Director: Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Botswana
  • Khulani Mkhize - Chief Executive Officer: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, South Africa
  • Morris Mtsambiwa - Director-General: Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe
  • Lewis Saiwana - Director: Zambia Wildlife Authority
  • Leonard Sefu - Director: Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi
  • Emmanuel Severre - Director: Wildlife Division, Tanzania
  • Bartolomeu Soto - Director: Directorate of National Conservation Areas, Mozambique
  • Jameson Vilakati - Director: Swaziland Environment Authority
  • Pam Yako - Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa

People (2007)[11]

Club 21 Members

Honorary Patrons

Contact

Web: http://www.peaceparks.org

Resources and articles

Related Publications

  • Annon, "Conservation by Dispossession in Ethiopia", Guerilla News Network, September 13, 2007.
  • Carruthers, J. (1997). Nationhood and national parks: comparative examples from the post-imperial experience. In T. Griffiths & L. Robin (Eds.), Ecology and empire: environmental history of settler societies. Pietermartizburg: University of Natal Press.
  • Dzingirai, V. 2004. Disenfranchisement at Large: transfrontier zones, conservation and local livelihoods. Harare: IUCN ROSA.
  • Gibson, C. C. 1999. Politicians and Poachers: the political economy of wildlife policy in Africa. Cambridge University Press.
  • Goldman, M. (ed) (1998) Privatizing Nature: Political Struggles for the Global Commons. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
  • Jaidev Singh & Henk van Houtum, "Post-colonial nature conservation in Southern Africa: same emperors, new clothes?", GeoJournal 58: 253–263, 2002.
  • John MacKenrie, The Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservntiorz and British Imperialism, Manchester and New York, 1988.

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. ↑ The Origins of Peace Parks Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed November 26, 2007.
  2. ↑ Marloes van Amerom and Bram Buscher, "Peace parks in Southern Africa: bringers of an African Renaissance?", Journal of Modern African Studies, 43, 2 (2005), pp. 159–182.
  3. ↑ New CEO, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed June 26, 2009.
  4. ↑ Conservation Partners, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed June 26, 2009.
  5. ↑ Donors, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed June 26, 2009.
  6. ↑ People, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed June 26, 2009.
  7. ↑ Peace Parks Foundation People, organizational web page, accessed February 20, 2012.
  8. ↑ The Origins of Peace Parks Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed November 26, 2007.
  9. ↑ Peace Parks Foundation People, organizational web page, accessed February 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ The Origins of Peace Parks Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed November 26, 2007.
  11. ↑ The Origins of Peace Parks Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, accessed November 26, 2007.
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