Zakouma Conservancy

The proposed Zakouma Conservancy would establish a community-led, sustainable development and conservation “thrive buffer” around Zakouma National Park, creating a connected landscape in which wildlife conservation, community livelihoods, tourism and responsible economic development reinforce one another. Building on the existing Greater Zakouma Ecosystem, which extends across more than 28,000 km² and is already managed through a partnership between the Government of Chad and African Parks, the proposed Conservancy would provide a destination-led framework for bringing surrounding communities, traditional leaders, NGOs, private-sector investors and tourism operators together around a shared vision.

Rewilding Africa CIC would propose its two-phased National Park Conservancy programme as a potential platform: Phase 1 would establish the Zakouma destination brand, stakeholder strategy, investment proposition and funding plan; Phase 2 would develop and implement the Conservancy through integrated land-use planning, governance, conservation corridors, community enterprises, tourism and investment opportunities, landscape restoration and long-term conservancy management. This would complement, rather than replace African Parks’ responsibility for protected-area management and the MEPDD’s role as Chad’s protected-area governance authority, while helping translate Zakouma’s conservation success into a wider model of community-led conservation and sustainable economic development.