Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
THIRTY-FIVE critical biodiversity sites across Africa have been saved from or had damaging developments stopped or slowed down over the past 15 years through interventions by BirdLife International’s African Site Casework on Emerging Threats Taskforce (ASCET).
The sites cover 79 889 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of Sierra Leone, and include World Heritage Sites, Key Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction Sites and Ramsar sites, some of which are protected areas.
BirdLife International marked the 15-year milestone of ASCET as the continent faces increasing pressure on its natural ecosystems.
Africa lost about 29,6 million hectares of forest between 2015 and 2025, while more than 30 percent of its grasslands are facing severe degradation.
BirdLife International Policy, Climate and Communications Coordinator for Africa, Mr Ken Mwathe, said economic development should not come at the expense of critical ecosystems.
“Socio-economic development is an imperative for our people. However, development that threatens Africa’s iconic and natural places is inherently destructive and must be challenged,” he said.
Mr Mwathe said BirdLife partners working through ASCET had promoted development that balances human progress with the protection of Africa’s remaining natural areas.
In Zimbabwe, ASCET supported advocacy efforts by BirdLife Zimbabwe and BirdWatch Zambia that contributed to the shelving of a proposal by Shalom Mining Corporation Ltd to undertake oil and gas exploration in the 219 600-hectare Mana Pools National Park in 2023.
The proposal was shelved following protests by conservation organisations.
In neighbouring Zambia, the Government cancelled an Environmental Impact Assessment licence granted to Mwembeshi Resources Ltd following nearly a decade of campaigning against proposed copper mining in Lower Zambezi National Park.
In South Africa, litigation by BirdLife South Africa and its partners resulted in the establishment of 10-year no-fishing zones around six African Penguin breeding colonies.
In Kenya, BirdLife partner Nature Kenya secured the revocation of a title deed allocated to a private developer for 7 249 hectares of Yala Swamp, the country’s largest swamp.
In Malawi, the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi, with support from ASCET, led a campaign that helped protect the 3 004-hectare Michiru Forest Reserve from human damage.
In Uganda, advocacy by NatureUganda over the degradation of Bugoma Central Forest Reserve resulted in a presidential directive and the transfer of management of the site from the National Forest Authority to the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
ASCET has evolved from a reactive site casework unit into an early-warning mechanism that identifies emerging threats and supports rapid interventions before they escalate.
The taskforce provides flexible financial support for early-stage threat surveillance and emergency site interventions, while facilitating information sharing and advocacy among conservation partners.
It has also supported the roll-out of Key Biodiversity Areas and the establishment of 15 KBA National Coordination Groups across Africa.
The groups bring together Government and non-state actors to coordinate conservation efforts at national level.
BirdLife International Regional Director for Africa Dr Kariuki Ndang’ang’a said protecting critical sites required sustained collaboration between conservation partners, communities and Government agencies.
“Protecting sites is not a one-time event. It takes deliberate planning and collaboration amongst partners, local communities, and government agencies,” he said.
Dr Ndang’ang’a said the taskforce’s role would become increasingly important as threats to Africa’s critical sites continued to grow.
BirdLife said hundreds of community members and local authority officials had been trained in conservation advocacy, while its awareness campaigns had reached more than 10 million people through social media, television, radio and grassroots initiatives.
