Prince Harry leaves African Parks board of directors
Prince Harry has left the board of directors of the African conservation organization African Parks. A representative for the Duke of Sussex confirmed that he is no longer a board member of the organization, which previously acknowledged human rights violations by its rangers in the Republic of the Congo.
Investigation into Baka community allegations
As The Guardian reports, this acknowledgement was preceded by an independent review of allegations made by representatives of the Baka people. In a 2024 Mail on Sunday report, community members accused African Parks rangers of beatings, water torture and rapes of local residents. According to them, this was allegedly done to prevent people from accessing their traditional forests, which are now part of a protected area.
After the review was completed, African Parks said that human rights violations had occurred in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, which it manages. The organization also reported strengthening protection procedures both in the park itself and at the institutional level.
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Ten years of cooperation
Harry was president of African Parks for six years and joined its board of directors in 2023. His representative said that the duke is proud of ten years of cooperation with the organization, supports the further strengthening of its board and remains an active supporter of its conservation mission in Africa.
The human rights organization Survival International, which advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples, had previously called on Harry to step down as a board member. African Parks thanked the duke for his ten years of work and noted that his cooperation with the organization began in Malawi in July 2016, when he supported one of the largest elephant relocation operations in history.
African Parks was founded 26 years ago and manages more than 20 million hectares of territory in partnership with the governments of 13 African countries and hundreds of local communities.
