It was inspiring to see EU NaturAfrica programmes from Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan come together to share experiences, strengthen capacity, and build lasting professional relationships.
Transboundary conservation and development unite governments, communities, NGOs, and the private sector around shared landscapes and shared responsibility.
At the heart of these partnerships are trust, mutual respect, honorable intent, and long-term commitment.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Enjojo Foundation (
enjojofoundation.org) for their brave and ambitious work in South Sudanās Kidepo Game Reserve and Latoto National Park.
Operating in historically unstable regions requires exceptional leadership, and Enjojoās efforts are laying foundations for peace, security, conservation, and development. As part of this journey, new scouts and park administrators from South Sudan visited Queen Elizabeth National Park for hands-on training and professional development.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) were delighted to host the group and support Operations Room and EarthRanger awareness training, demonstrating the power of collaboration across borders.
Erik Enyel, Chief Warden of Queen Elizabeth National Park, said:
āYou could see the raw talent of South Sudanās scouts as they rapidly absorbed and learned from everything they saw and participated in. It was a wonderful experience to host them, we are truly in this together.ā
Several EU programmes intersect through this collaboration, including EU NaturAfrica initiatives in the KidepoāTurkana landscape (Uganda/Kenya), Kidepo Game Reserve (South Sudan), and the Queen ElizabethāVirunga National Parks landscape (Uganda/DRC), as well as the now-completed EU CITES MIKES programme.
In Uganda, the KidepoāTurkana landscape EU NaturAfrica programme is implemented by a core team including the UWA, UCF, Northern Rangelands Trust, the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute, and Ugandaās National Forestry Authority.
The programme supports transboundary conservation across Ugandaās KidepoāKaramoja and Kenyaās Turkana landscapes, strengthening protected area management, wildlife monitoring, humanāwildlife conflict mitigation, and community livelihoods through a people-centered landscape approach.
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ALT Chief Warden, Queen Elizabeth Conservation (Uganda Wildlife Authority) extending his welcome to South Sudan's young scout team - and sharing his career learning.
ALT Jimmy Kisembo, Project Manager, Uganda Conservation Foundation - Queen Elizabeth National Park sharing supporting #EarthRanger training and his career experiences in UWA and UCF, including leading the Queen Elizabeth National Park @lionrecovery and @earthranger management.
ALT What a moment in time - Uganda hosting South Sudan's scouts in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Well done Kris Debref and the Enjojo Foundation. We can see some @WildlifeRangerChallenge t-shirts in there - on the UWA QE local community scouts / lion recovery team!