Safeguarding the planet: Wildlife conservation

African Parks -Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the direct responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas in partnership with governments and local communities. The organization was founded in Africa as a local solution to local problems, with the initial objective to address the failing protected areas on the continent. Today, the organisation’s vision is for 30% of land in Africa to be effectively conserved and managed to protect and restore vital ecosystem services.  

  
​As of 2023, African Parks manages 22 parks across 12 countries in Africa, covering 20 million hectares and having positive impacts that span across three pillars of sustainability: ecological, social and economic. This is the largest and most ecologically diverse amount of land under protection for any one NGO on the continent. 
 
The Bennink Foundation has been supporting African Parks since 2019, helping implement an anti-poaching strategy in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in Congo. To that purpose the Bennink Foundation has supported putting the infrastructure required for two decentralised law enforcement bases in place and invested in the acquisition of an aircraft for aerial support. Since Odzala-Kokoua National Park is a biological hotspot of global importance situated in the heart of the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world, harbouring critically endangered western lowland gorillas, elusive forest elephants and over 440 bird species, these actions are crucial for the protection of African biodiversity.