Another African charity blow for Prince Harry
Chad’s government has cut ties with an African wildlife charity that had Prince Harry as a board member.
The nonprofit conservation organization African Parks was given the authority to manage key animal reservations in Chad on Monday.
African parks managed 22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries, including two wildlife reserves in Chad – the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve and the Greater Zakouma ecosystem, which includes Zakouma and Siniaka-Minia National Parks.
But the charity, of which Harry is a board member and former president, said on Tuesday that the Chadian government had ended its duties managing wildlife reserves.
They were informed of the government’s “unilateral decision” in a letter from Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous.
The charity said it had “begun discussions with the ministry to understand the government’s position and explore the best way to support the continued protection of these conservation-critical landscapes”.
Djamous said in a statement that African parks showed a “recurrent vigilantism and disrespectful attitude toward the government,” The Associated Press reported.
There has been a resurgence in poaching and a lack of investment in reserves managed by the conservation group, the AP added.
The decision ends a 15-year partnership between African parks and the government of Chad to combat poaching and protect elephant populations in the two reserves.
Founded in 2000, the charity aims to protect Africa’s national parks and advance conservation on the continent and around the world, particularly in countries struggling to care for their wildlife due to poverty and conflict.
It manages more than 20 million hectares of protected areas, with the aim of making each park “ecologically, socially and financially sustainable in the long term”.
Earlier this year, the charity admitted that its staff were continuing human rights abuses against indigenous people in the rainforests of the Republic of Congo.
The announcement was followed by an independent human rights investigation into allegations that guards run and paid by the charity beat, raped and tortured local people in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
The Chad government’s decision is a fresh blow to Harry’s philanthropic efforts after he resigned earlier this year from Sentebale, an organization he founded to help AIDS-disabled children in Botswana and Lesotho.
His resignation as boss of the charity followed a highly public boardroom battle with chairman Sophie Chandauka.
Chandaka had leveled accusations of bullying and harassment against the Duke, which he had previously denied.
