African Parks, a non-profit conservation organisation that manages 3 of Malawi’s main parks and also the Mangochi Forest Reserve, welcomed HRH The Duke of Sussex to Malawi recently and CEO Peter Fearnhead provided the following release regarding his trip:
Dear Friends,
We have had the fortunate opportunity to spend time with our President, His Royal Highness (HRH) The Duke of Sussex during his Royal tour of Africa. I personally accompanied him first to Dirico in Southern Angola, and then we travelled on to Malawi, where we hosted him in Liwonde National Park.
The Angola visit afforded us the chance to continue our engagement with senior levels of Government, and other organisations operating in Angola including the HALO Trust which is doing excellent work on demining. During the visit, HRH and I met with His Excellency the President of Angola João Lourenço, the Minister of Tourism Ângela Bragança, and Minister of Environment Paula Coelho with whom I was able to discuss our proposed management of Iona National Park as well as other possibilities. I was able to reaffirm African Parks’ desire and commitment to managing some of these landscapes for the benefit of the people and the country. Based on discussions over those few days, I feel confident that the agreement for Iona National Park is advancing towards a near conclusion.
We were then pleased to host HRH in Liwonde on September 30th, along with senior representatives from our key partners, including Malawi’s Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaila, the Director of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) Brighton Kumchedwa, and British High Commissioner Holly Tett. The Duke’s visit cast a spotlight on Malawi emerging as a conservation leader on the continent, the progress achieved through our partnership with the DNPW, and more recently our joint collaboration with the British Military.
While in the park, the Duke laid a wreath in tribute to British Military Guardsman Mathew Talbot, who was tragically killed by an elephant while on a joint patrol exercise earlier this year. He also observed a live tracking demonstration, exhibiting some of the core skills being shared between rangers and soldiers through the African Parks, DNPW and British Military counter-poaching partnership. The Duke unveiled a plaque welcoming Liwonde and the contiguous Mangochi Forest Reserve into the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, a network of forest conservation initiatives from 53 countries across the commonwealth. Closing out the day, he visited Namalasa Primary School, one of the projects receiving African Parks’ support to improve the effectiveness of education in the area.
While Liwonde was the central focus of the Malawi visit, it underscored the broader conservation vision of the country, and our sixteen-year-long partnership with the Malawi Government starting with Majete in 2003. Together, we have been able to transform these landscapes through species translocations and reintroductions, increase employment, tourism and other economic developments benefitting surrounding communities. We are truly proud to be affiliated with the Malawi Government, and our strategic partners whose support has helped make our progress there possible, including the People’s Postcode Lottery, the Dutch Government, the Wyss Foundation, WWF-Belgium, the US Government and UK Aid, among others.
Lastly, in an OpEd written by the Duke for The Telegraph published while en-route to Liwonde, he highlights his support of African Parks and the importance of collective leadership to protect our natural heritage saying “We should be celebrating the vision and leadership of Governments and inspiring individuals, who are utilizing public-private partnerships to integrate conservation into their development agendas.” This sentiment prevailed during the Angola and Malawi visits and we look forward to only moving forward in both countries and across the continent.
.jpg){kind=tracking}
