Prince Harry Leaves African Parks Board After Rangers' Abuses

The Duke of Sussex has stepped down from the board of African Parks, the major conservation charity at the centre of a human rights controversy.

A spokesperson confirmed Prince Harry is no longer a trustee, adding that he remains an "active and avid supporter" of the organisation's mission. He was president of the charity for six years before joining its board of directors in 2023.

What the charity admitted

African Parks acknowledged last year that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in the Republic of the Congo, following an independent review into allegations from members of the Baka community.

In a 2024 report published by the Mail on Sunday, community members accused rangers of beating, waterboarding and raping locals to stop them accessing ancestral forests now inside a conservation area.

The charity's statement acknowledged abuses occurred in Odzala-Kokoua national park, which it manages, and said it had improved safeguarding processes at the park and institutionally.

The model under strain

African Parks operates on a delegated management basis: governments hand it control of national parks, and it runs them, including their armed ranger forces.

That arrangement produces measurable conservation results and a structural accountability gap. A ranger force that answers to a private organisation rather than a state is not covered by the oversight mechanisms built for police, and the communities most affected by its conduct are those with the least access to whatever complaint process the charity provides.

The departure of a high-profile trustee does not address that. It does remove the person whose name most reliably drew attention to it.