The Chadian government has severed ties with African Parks, a prominent conservation charity whose board includes the Duke of Sussex, following allegations of serious financial misconduct and failure to adequately protect wildlife.
Announcing the end of a 15-year partnership, Chad’s Environment Minister accused the organisation of displaying a “recurring, indelicate and disrespectful attitude towards the government.”
African Parks, a non-profit founded in 2000, manages 24 protected areas across 13 African countries, covering more than 20 million hectares of land.
The charity helped look after two wildlife reserves in Chad: the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve and the Greater Zakouma Ecosystem, which includes the Zakouma and Siniaka-Minia national parks.
A four-page government report, obtained by The Times, accused the organisation of financial wrongdoing, including the illegal collection of tourism revenues, the use of offshore bank accounts, and the transfer of funds overseas “to the detriment of Chad and in flagrant violation of national banking and tax regulations”.
The move marks a significant setback for Prince Harry’s charitable work, coming just months after he stepped down from Sentebale, the organisation he co-founded to support children orphaned by AIDS.
He has served on the board of African Parks since 2023, following a six-year tenure as its president.
Prince Harry first became involved with the charity in 2016, when he took part in its flagship 500 Elephants relocation project in Malawi. He has remained closely engaged with its conservation mission ever since.
African Parks said it had opened discussions with the Ministry to determine the best path forward.
The charity said in a statement: “African Parks has initiated discussions with the Ministry to understand the Government’s position and to explore the best possible way forward in support of the continued protection of these critical conservation landscapes, as well as to ensure that the significant conservation and social gains achieved over the past 15 years, are sustained African Parks will continue to keep its partners and stakeholders informed, as further clarity is obtained.”
It comes as the latest scandal to plague the charity after it admitted earlier this year that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in Confo-Brazzaville following an independent review.
In a report published by the Mail on Sunday, community members accused African Parks rangers of beating, waterboarding and raping locals to stop them from accessing the ancestral forests which are in the conservation area.
African Parks has not made the findings of this review public.
