Re-establishing Effective Management in Southern NP

Re-establishing Effective Management in Southern National Park

South Sudan’s wildlife areas have been decimated by decades of civil war. Political instability resulted in the breakdown of law enforcement and the proliferation of automatic firearms. As the country gradually returns to peace, there is now the opportunity to re-establish effective management in the country’s iconic national parks. Southern is South Sudan’s largest PA and is an area with massive potential for lion recovery, though the current status of the species in the area is unknown. LRF has granted Fauna and Flora International to help them work with the South Sudanese authorities to reassert a management presence in the park. In June 2021, the LRF issued a second grant of $200,000 to support ongoing work in the park. During their first year of operations, FFI documented the presence of Endangered African wild dogs, leopards and several key lion prey species, but the hunt for lions in this vast wilderness continues. There can be few areas within Africa with greater recovery potential for the species.