Safeguarding Africa’s biodiversity for people and nature
The Africa Keystone Protected Area Partnership is a bold new effort bringing together African governments, communities, NGOs, and funders to protect 162 of Africa’s most irreplaceable protected areas by 2035.
2022
African leaders issued the Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature, affirming the importance of protected and conserved areas.
2023
Eleven Heads of State followed with the Miombo Forest Initiative, pledging to protect one of the world’s great ecological treasures.
Today
In response the this call to action from Africa’s leaders, we welcome you to join this transformational effort to conserve critical landscapes.
-
Africa is experiencing rapid population and economic growth. To ensure this growth is successful, it is critical to invest in natural ecosystems, the backbone of economies across Africa:
$250 billion per year is generated by Africa’s wildlife economy across tourism and ecosystem services.
Africa’s agricultural outputs depend heavily on its forests, with roughly half of rainfall in sub-Saharan Africa originating from forests.
Intact ecosystems are not in trade-off with economic growth: they are a prerequisite for growth. With this new partnership, African leaders are investing in a successful foundation for the rapid economic and population growth to come.
Watch the overview
Keystone Protected Areas: Pillars of Africa’s Ecological Well-Being
A “Keystone Protected Area” is a critical landscape — on average, the size of Yellowstone National Park — and irreplaceable for nature and the millions of people who live in and around them.
Keystone Protected Area
Other Protected Areas
Over 70% of Africa’s endangered species reside in these lands.
5.8 billion tons of carbon are stored in the Keystone Protected Areas.
Over 70 million people live in surrounding nature-based economic zones.
Nearly 250 million Africans depend on them for water.
How we get there
The Keystone Partnership sets a new benchmark for conservation—one where African institutions, governments, communities, NGOs, and funders work together ensuring African voices shape the future of conservation.
Path to safeguarding 162 Keystone Protected Areas
DEFINE THE NEED
Read the white paper
Determine the most critical protected areas for nature and people in Africa
CREATE A BIG TENT
We are here!
Rally stakeholders across African governments and communities, operator NGOs and funders
STRUCTURE OUR COLLABORATION
Determine how to achieve shared goals across operators, funding types and government priorities
EXECUTE OUR SHARED VISION
Build operator capacity, secure funding and work closely with governments and communities
African Union
Angola
Botswana
Republic of the Congo
Gabon
Mozambique
Namibia
South Africa
Zambia
Zimbabwe
PARTNER COLLABORATORS
FOUNDING PARTNERS
