Africa

With waterfalls and mountains, deserts and rainforests, wetlands and savannah, Africa is a continent of true splendour. Beneath its wild and ancient landscapes lie resources literally as rich as diamonds, copper and coltan, and its wildlife is as diverse as its cultures.

Africa harbours fauna and flora as magnificent as its terrains, including large mammals that occupy huge expanses of land. Mountain gorillas, pygmy hippos, mpingo trees (whose timber is prized for musical instruments) and the desperately rare northern white rhino are just some of the species symbolic of this region.

Africa’s natural environment faces intense pressure on many fronts. Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, hunting for bush meat and illegal logging are directly causing massive population declines for many species.  Meanwhile habitat loss and fragmentation caused by land-use change (such as agricultural expansion and mineral extraction) for developing human populations, amplified by the impact of climate change, are placing intense pressure on the continent’s unique biodiversity.

These pressures extend offshore too. Though Africa is better known for its terrestrial wildlife, its coastal waters are also home to an astonishing variety of species and ecosystems, many of which are crucial for livelihoods and sustenance.

With many African states undergoing rapid economic development, the challenge for conservationists is to ensure that local people are able to improve their living standards without sacrificing the rich natural resources on which they depend in the long term.

African wildlife conservation has been at the heart our work ever since Fauna & Flora International was first established in 1903. Today, our work spans the entire continent, from the rainforests of Liberia and Guinea, to the savannah grasslands of Kenya and coral reefs of Tanzania, and the unique fynbos wild flower landscapes of South Africa.

We have played an instrumental role in many success stories, such as tackling threats to mountain gorillas through the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, which has helped improve the fortunes of these magnificent great apes.

Even during times of great difficulty we have persevered, and the major accomplishments achieved through our post-conflict work in countries such as Rwanda, DRC, Guinea, Liberia and South Sudan are a testament to our tenacity.