Strengthening Africa’s Parks and Strategic Landscapes
An ICCF Group Initiative to manage Africa’s parks and natural landscapes, critical to regional stability, economic growth, and long‑term U.S. strategic interests.
Our Purpose
The ICCF Group’s flagship initiative supports African‑led, market‑driven conservation efforts that protect vital ecosystems, strengthen governance, reduce pressures that fuel instability, and expand opportunities for local communities.
By mobilizing private‑sector investment, advancing sound natural‑resource management, and building durable partnerships with African governments, the ICCF Group helps create conditions for security, prosperity, and long‑term stewardship of some of the continent’s most important landscapes.
Advancing the Miombo Forest Initiative
The Miombo Forest Initiative is an eleven-country collaboration to protect the Miombo woodlands, an ecosystem spanning approximately 1 million square miles in Southern and Central Africa that sustains the livelihoods of more than 300 million inhabitants. The Government of Mozambique has spearheaded the Miombo Initiative, bringing together Southern and Central African states to develop a common approach for the "Sustainable and Integrated Management of the Miombo Woodlands and the Protection of the Greater Zambezi Basin."
This initiative was endorsed by eleven signatory countries as the "Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Forest" in Maputo, Mozambique in 2022. As one of the world’s largest nature conservation initiatives, the Miombo Alliance mobilizes finance to restore, sustainably govern, and invest in the natural resources of the Miombo ecosystem, focusing on three pillars: biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and energy transition.
ICCF has supported the initiative by convening a policymaker conference in Washington, DC, as well as by educating government officials and parliamentarians in the eight Miombo Alliance countries in which the ICCF Group supports caucuses. ICCF also serves as the secretariat of the Miombo Restoration Alliance, a partnership to scale native species restoration in the Miombo ecosystem, underpinned by a $500 million investment in restoration by Trafigura, and supported by Conservation International as an adviser on environmental and community outcomes.
The Alliance is working with countries across the Miombo region to create a robust framework for investments in large-scale native species restoration projects designed to produce carbon removals under Article 6.
In PictureWashington, DC, April 2024 -- The ICCF Group, together with the Government of Mozambique, WCS, and Rainforest Trust, host international conference on the Miombo Forest Initiative. From left to right: H.E. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, then-President of Mozambique; Ivete Maibaze, Minister of Land and Environment of Mozambique; and H.E. Amb. Hilda Suka-Mafudze, Permanent Representative of the African Union Mission to the USA.
Supporting The Africa Keystone Protected Area Partnership
ICCF is also a proud partner of the Africa Keystone Protected Area Partnership, a bold new effort supported by the Rob Walton Foundation bringing together African governments, communities, NGOs, and funders to protect 162 of Africa’s most irreplaceable protected areas by 2035.
Responding to calls by African leaders to increase public and private investment in conservation, the Keystone Partnership supports collaborative management agreements for protected areas, helping to ensure that they conserve biodiversity while creating opportunities for local communities.
The Africa Keystone Protected Area Partnership, launched by five African heads of state, with the support of the Rob Walton Foundation, at an ICCF reception in September 2025, responds to calls by African leaders, such as the Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Forest, to invest in African-led conservation.
official websiteIn PictureNew York, NY, September 2025 -- Presidents of Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa launch the Africa Keystone Protected Area Partnership at an ICCF Group reception on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
From left to right: H.E. Moses Vilakati, African Union Commissioner; John B. Gantt, CEO, the ICCF Group; Cristián Samper, Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions, Bezos Earth Fund; Rob Walton, Founder, and Duko Hopman, Executive Director, Rob Walton Foundation; U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE); Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya, CEO, African Wildlife Foundation; H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa; H.E. Duma Boko, President of Botswana; Susan Lylis, Executive Vice President, the ICCF Group; H.E. Daniel Chapo, President of Mozambique; and H.E. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of Namibia.
More about Our Flagship Initiatives
The ICCF Group’s flagship initiatives advance global stability, U.S. interests, and partner nations’ ability to steward the natural systems that underpin economic resilience and security.
Our Initiatives
Building a Modern Financial Architecture for International Conservation
The ICCF Group is helping shape a new financial architecture for international conservation.
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Delivering Stability and Strong Governance in the Amazon Basin
Working with our partners, we support Amazon nations close critical governance, policy, and financing gaps.
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Advancing Leadership in Ocean Stewardship and Security
In partnership with WWF, we support strategic shifts at the intersection of national security and the marine environment.
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