N’DJAMENA (Reuters) -Chad has reinstated management agreements with African Parks, the conservation group whose board includes Britain’s Prince Harry, and begun talks on new deals for joint management of ongoing projects, the environment ministry and the charity said on Friday.
The move reverses last week’s decision by the Central African country to break ties with the organisation.
The two parties said they had engaged “in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation” and restored the agreements “with full effect” while both sides negotiate new partnership agreements for Zakouma National Park, the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve, and the planned Aouk project.
African Parks will continue to finance and co-manage protected areas in Zakouma and Ennedi and keep advancing the Aouk project until new agreements are signed, the statement said.
Chad announced last week that it was ending the organisation’s mandates, citing a resurgence of poaching, under-investment, and alleged breaches of contract. African Parks said at the time it was seeking discussions with the government.
The European Union’s delegation to Chad said in a statement last week it had suspended implementation of grant-funded actions for at least 90 days, citing “force majeure,” after the environment minister moved to terminate management and financing agreements.
The EU asked African Parks to safeguard EU-financed infrastructure, equipment, and vehicles for potential transfer, and requested updates on talks with Chadian authorities to assess contractual implications.
The African Parks Network manages parks in a dozen African countries.
(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Writing by Ayen Deng Bior; Editing by Portia Crowe and Rod Nickel)
