The Peace Park Foundation, founded in 1997 by Dr Anton Rupert, President Nelson Mandela and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, is an organisation that aims to re-establish, renew and conserve large ecosystems in Africa, transcending man-made boundaries by creating regionally integrated and sustainably managed networks of Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs).
One of the greatest barriers to the protection of cross-border ecosystems, is the lack of sufficient resources with which to successfully implement the plans and visions of those who commit themselves to the pursuit.
Most of these areas suffer from devastated ecosystems and depleted wildlife, because the ravages of war and excessive commercial exploitation of these natural resources.
The organisation plans and implements innovative strategies that revitalise habitat integrity, restore ecological functionality, and protect biodiversity.
This includes translocating thousands of animals each year to rewild previously decimated wilderness areas, as well as investing significant resources into the reduction of wildlife crime.
At the same time, it focuses on communities living in and around these wild spaces, capacitating them in the sustainable use of natural resources and unlocking opportunities for them to derive equitable benefits from conservation.
The Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation and Resource Area (TFCA) Protocol was signed between the Governments of Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland on 22 June 2000.
On 7 December 2006, the five partner countries sign an MoU to establish the world's largest transfrontier conservation area and appoint the KAZA Secretariat to steer its development.
In August 2003, Namibia and South Africa signed a treaty to officially establish the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, and joint management, tourism and financial protocol plans were completed.
[7] Situated at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers, the Greater Mapungubwe TFCA measures 5 909 km2 and encompasses areas in three countries, which are Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was once the centre of civilisation in the south with evidence of the oldest modern capital city in southern Africa with over 5 000 inhabitants living there at its peak in ±1 100 AD.