How Africa can scale large-area conservation

October 19, 2025

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Africa’s conservation future depends on linking existing protected areas across boundaries, according to a new conservation guideline by the IUCN. It sets out strategies for countries and conservationists in Africa to create and manage connected systems that sustain transboundary conservation in the continent.

  • The publication titled Scaling Up Conservation in a Connected World, was launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 in Abu Dhabi.

  • The report warns that fragmented parks and isolated management models will not be enough to counter biodiversity loss.

  • Our take: The continent saves more and earns more when ecosystems and economies are managed beyond lines on a map…Read more (2 min)

Africa must think outside the box and explore every financial mechanism available to successfully achieve biodiversity conservation. In an interview with Conservation Rising, Beatrice Karanja, Senior Advisor to the Executive at Natural State, explains how the organisation is building measurable, investable pathways for Africa’s nature restoration.

  • Only $143 billion is invested annually in biodiversity conservation, far from the estimated $824 billion needed for the sector. This highlights the need for the adoption of innovative approaches to raise the necessary funds.

  • “At Natural State, we know that protecting our planet is a financial challenge on a global scale. The cost of financing the nature-based solutions our world urgently needs currently stands at $3.7 to $4 trillion and rising. That number reminds us how much is at stake and how fast we need to act.” Says Mrs Karanja. 

  • Read the full Q&A here…Read more (2 min)

Zambia has launched its Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme Legal Hub, a first-of-its-kind online platform giving open public access to all national laws and regulations covering wildlife, forestry, land tenure, animal health and ecotourism. The Hub could help Africa turn years of fragmented legal mapping into one user-friendly digital resource.

  • It was developed by the government, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and funded by the European Union. 

  • The hub serves conservationists managing wildlife and natural resources sustainably. It brings together years of legal mapping and analysis into one digital resource designed to support evidence-based policy and community participation in conservation.

  • Our take: It is great to create conservation infrastructure, but it can only succeed if people are trained on how to use it…Read more (2 min)

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A new resolution has been passed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress to formally recognise the role of wild animals as critical enablers of natural solutions to climate change

Events

🗓️ Attend the Pan-African Conference on Environment in Kenya (October 21)

🗓️ Attend the 6th World Congress on Agroforestry in Rwanda (October 20)

🗓️ Register for the Africa Biodiversity Summit in Botswana (November 2)

Jobs

👷 Be Director at Conservation International (West Africa)

👷 Be the Operations Lead, Rhino Conservation at KRRE (Kenya)

👷 Join IUCN as a Programme Assistant (Tanzania)

Various 

🌳 WCS launches a coral reef conservation strategy

🌳 UK announces $40 million for global nature conservation projects

🌳 AI-powered monitoring could boost marine conservation efforts

Seen on LinkedIn 

Nancy Krikari, a conservation expert, says, “One common misconception in conservation is that local communities are a threat to biodiversity and should be kept away from protected areas. The truth is, Indigenous and local knowledge often complements scientific approaches.”_________________