20 Years in Africa

Communities at the Center

Whether you take a bottom-up approach by partnering directly with communities or a top-down approach by sharing expertise in policies and best practices with governments or the private sector, conservation endures when local communities shape decisions.

We have seen this in Seychelles, where artisanal and industrial fishers' participation in consultations on new national marine protected areas, funded by our first debt-for-nature conversion in Africa in 2016, has ensured the initiative's longevity and enabled the country to now protect 30% of its ocean, up from just 0.04%.

Together with our partners, we’ve seen it in river catchments supported by Water Funds across Africa. Specialist local teams have cleared invasive plants above Cape Town, restoring 15 billion liters of water to the city’s homes and businesses. Upstream of Nairobi, we worked with 44,000 farmers to improve crop yields while keeping the rivers that supply 95% of the city’s water cleaner and healthier. 

We’ve seen it in Gabonese rainforest lakes, in rivers in Angola that feed the Okavango Delta, and on the beaches of Lake Tanganyika and Lamu in Kenya, where our partners have established cooperatives to help communities sustainably manage their fisheries, forests, and farms. Nature-based entrepreneurs are shaping tomorrow’s local business leaders.  

We’ve seen it across the vast community-based natural landscapes surrounding national parks and preserves in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. There, we continue the work we began in 2006 by strengthening local organizations and helping Indigenous Peoples and local communities secure their rights, manage their land sustainably, and realize greater returns on their generations-long stewardship of key wildlife areas. 

Together, our work in Africa so far has protected, restored, or improved 21.7 million hectares of land and 46 million hectares of marine ecosystems. It has avoided or sequestered 7.3 million tons of carbon emissions through nature-based solutions. It has mobilized more than half a billion U.S. dollars for conservation and climate action, benefiting at least 3.7 million Africans. 

Partnerships, Policy, and Finance

None of this would have been possible without our partners: the community-based groups, scientists and researchers, celebrities and influencers, donors, conservation organizations, and the government administrators and leaders we have worked with. 

Little of it would have been possible without smart, nature-positive policies and robust governance, the frameworks that sustain good conservation work, or without sustainable, fair, and adequate finance, the fuel that drives it forward. 

Over the past 20 years, TNC has helped pioneer conservation finance approaches across Africa that move beyond short‑term funding and can be scaled to directly protect nature. These include water funds, sustainable finance mechanisms, nature bonds, and ocean debt conversions. 

We have guided, facilitated, or strengthened policy reforms that better recognize Indigenous stewardship of nature and foster authentic partnerships with local communities. We’ve leveraged technology and innovation to improve transparency in industrial fishing, strengthen freshwater and fisheries governance, and align food systems and carbon markets with biodiversity and climate goals. We’ve also worked to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders. 

Looking Ahead

As we look ahead, the next chapter addresses scale and permanence. We are now focused on Africa’s Big Five Irreplaceable Landscapes, where healthy ecosystems sustain large-scale economies and livelihoods. These include the Blue Benguela, the continent's most productive marine area, which hosts a current that supports fisheries relied on by tens of millions of people; and the Congo Basin, a globally significant rainforest that regulates climate and rainfall.

The Greater Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier area (KAZA) is among the planet’s largest internationally shared conservation regions and is home to half of Africa's elephants. The Kenya-Tanzania Rangelands sustain major, ancient wildlife migrations, and the Lake Tanganyika Basin contains nearly 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater and supports more than 12 million people. All five landscapes are rich in biodiversity and offer opportunities to strengthen community-led approaches to biodiversity conservation, resilience, and human well-being.

We have tested and know what has worked over the past 20 years across many projects. What's new is our laser focus on achieving conservation outcomes at the system-wide scale. What remains constant is what has driven our progress so far: listening to and working with local communities, building resilience to climate change, and conserving nature through science-led planning, long-term partnerships, and the flexibility to adapt to emerging opportunities and challenges.