Country/Region: South Sudan
Partner: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
The Boma-Jonglei landscape, located in south-eastern South Sudan, includes Boma National Park, Badingilo National Park, and Shambe National Park and is contiguous with the Gambella National Park landscape in Ethiopia. It encompasses the largest intact savanna in East Africa and Africa’s largest wetland, the Sudd. It is home to an estimated 2’200 elephants, Kordofan and Nubian giraffe, and the great antelope migrations of white-eared kob, tiang, and Mongalla gazelle.
The armed conflict has severely impacted the lives of communities in and around protected areas in South Sudan, and as such, has resulted in a major assault on the country’s wildlife and their habitats. With the peace process to end the conflict still ongoing, there is a very critical need to address the expanding threats of commercial poaching, unsustainable natural resource exploitation and habitat destruction in order to secure the wildlife resources and protected areas of the country.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been working with the Government of South Sudan to conserve and protect these National Parks and landscapes since 2008. WCS has co-management agreements with the Government and well-established operations in place in and around Boma and Badingilo National Parks. With the support of Fondation Segré, this project will reinforce and expand intelligence led anti-poaching and anti-trafficking operations to protect key elephant and other vulnerable wildlife species in the landscape. A special ranger unit will be trained and equipped to undertake anti-poaching operations and patrolling.