Prince Harry Exits African Parks Board After Ranger Atrocity Admissions

Prince Harry has formally stepped down from the board of African Parks, the conservation charity he has been associated with since 2017. His resignation follows the organisation's admission last year that its rangers had perpetrated human rights abuses in Congo-Brazzaville.

Ranger Atrocities Exposed

African Parks, a prominent player in African wildlife conservation, publicly acknowledged the abuses in September 2023. This admission came after an investigation by The Times newspaper and legal advocacy by Survival International, a non-governmental organisation, which documented severe mistreatment of local Indigenous populations by park rangers in the Republic of Congo's Odzala-Kokoua National Park.

Reports detailed allegations of torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings by rangers employed by African Parks. Survival International has consistently highlighted the forced displacement of Indigenous communities and the violent suppression of their traditional hunting practices within areas managed by the charity, often facilitated by substantial Western funding.

Prince Harry's Involvement

The Duke of Sussex joined African Parks' board in 2017 and was elevated to president in 2019, a role he held for four years. While he transitioned to a senior advisory role last year, his full departure from the board now distances him from the leadership of an organisation implicated in severe human rights violations against the very communities it purports to protect. The implications for Western-backed conservation models, which frequently displace Indigenous groups and militarise protected areas, continue to draw critical scrutiny.