Partners

The Rwandan Development Board (RDB)

The RDB is the government agency responsible for managing Rwanda’s national parks and protected areas. Its mission is to transform Rwanda into a dynamic hub for business, investment and innovation, with a mission to fast-track economic development in Rwanda by enabling private-sector growth. We recognise Ms Claire Akamanzi for her unwavering support of Akagera and Nyungwe.

The Wyss Foundation

The Wyss Foundation is a private charitable foundation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities, and strengthen connections to the land.

Rob and Melani Walton Foundation

The mission of the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation is to elevate people, planet, and purpose by changing what people feel is possible and know is doable. The Rob and Melani Walton Foundation seeks partners who focus on the essential and interconnected elements of sustaining life, advancing all forms of knowledge, promoting understanding of healing, and increasing the sustainability of people and our planet.

Melani and Rob have supported the reintroduction of species such as lions and black rhinos to Akagera National Park, the development of evidence-based performance metrics, and our close collaboration with governments and communities to identify and share best practices.

Howard G. Buffett Foundation

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation views its resources as rare risk capital that can improve conditions and create change in the most difficult circumstances and geographies. The Foundation has supported security improvements at Rwanda’s Akagera National Park.

In 2021, the Foundation was the lead supporter of the historic translocation of 30 white rhinos to Akagera National Park.

In 2010, African Parks assumed management of Akagera National Park in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), shifting the park’s trajectory from one of oblivion to prosperity and hope.

From the beginning there was a clear joint vision: to transform Akagera from a depleted landscape overrun by more than 30,000 cattle into an income-generating park for the benefit of people and wildlife.