Southern Sudan Program

WCS in Southern Sudan

In the 1960s-1980s WCS (then the New York Zoological Society) led efforts to conserve the wildlife and wild places of Southern Sudan. Work included assisting the Govenement of Southern Sudan (GoSS) to establish the Boma National Park and supporting the pioneering work on the migration and lekking (communal bredding) of the white-eared kob in this Park. All conservation efforts ceased when Southern Sudan descended into civil war in 1983. 

Before the war, the protected areas of Southern Sudan supported some of the most spectacular and important wildlife populations including the second largest wildlife migration in the world.   The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a number of surveys of existing and potential protected areas in Southern Sudan.  The Boma National Park, west of the Ethiopian border, the the Sudd swamp, and Southern National Park in the southwest near the border with Congo, boasted tremendous populations of kob, tiang, buffalo, elephants, giraffe, hartebeest and lions.  Sudan even had forest reserves that held bongo, giant forest hogs, red river hogs, chimpanzees and forest monkeys.

WCS, in partnership with the Government of Southern Sudan, recently carried out the first systematic aerial surveys of all of the parks and other potentially important wildlife areas since before the civil war.  These surveys showed that there are still significant wildlife populations remaining in these areas and have prompted WCS to relaunch its activities in the Boma-Jonglei Landscape (outlined in yellow in the map below).

On the 10th April 2006, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, H.E. Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit declared the following in a policy statement delivered at the opening of the second session of the Southern Sudan legislative assembly in Juba:

“Our Wildlife (fauna and flora) is a national natural wealth and heritage that should be preserved, protected, propagated, managed and utilized sustainably for the present and future generations of Southern Sudan.  In this regard, the newly created and expanded Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation and Tourism is charged with ensuring that the environment of Southern Sudan is protected against harmful human activities,  wildfires, waste deposits, water pollution and any natural hazards. It is assigned the responsibility to develop the designated parks and game reserves for the protection of endangered and rare species of our wild animals. The intention is to make Southern Sudan an environmentally friendly place for both humans and animals. ….”

The Boma-Jonglei conservation initiative in Southern Sudan will act as a catalyst and platform to mobilize donor support and attention to conservation and natural resource management in Southern Sudan and the overall Sudano-Sahelian region.  In addition, the development and management of a protected areas network and capacity building will contribute directly and indirectly to improving natural resource sector governance, reducing conflict and improving security.  It will also contribute to development for the benefit of local communities and the Government of Southern Sudan.