Over the past ten years, GKEPF has worked alongside partners across the Greater Kruger landscape to support a shared response to wildlife crime and broader conservation challenges.
What began as a response to a very real and urgent crisis has gradually evolved into something more structured and long-term. The organisation has settled into its role as a connector across a complex system, working with management authorities, government, and partners to support coordination where it matters most.
A new five-year strategy has now been developed to guide that work from 2026 to 2030. It builds directly on what has been learned over the past decade and sets out a clear direction for how GKEPF will continue to support the landscape going forward.
At the centre of this strategy is a clear vision for the future: a safe and thriving Greater Kruger where people and wildlife prosper. Supporting that is a mission focused on uniting partners and communities in stewarding the region’s biodiversity through accountable collaboration, countering wildlife crime while also generating meaningful social, economic, and environmental benefits.
The Greater Kruger is not a single entity. It is made up of multiple reserves, protected areas, and partners, all operating within an open system. Wildlife moves freely across these boundaries, and so do the pressures facing it. That reality makes coordination essential, and it is where GKEPF has always added value.
The strategy keeps that focus. It centres on strengthening relationships across the landscape through the Partner programme, supporting collaboration, alignment, and shared action across a complex system. Read more about this work here:
Partner: https://gkepf.org/2026/01/23/partnering-across-the-greater-kruger/
It also supports the protection of key species, people, and protected areas through the Protect programme, which focuses on strengthening coordinated responses to wildlife crime and related threats. Read more here:
Protect: https://gkepf.org/2026/01/27/protecting-wildlife-and-people/
The strategy also recognises that conservation does not exist in isolation. Communities, governance, and long-term sustainability all play a role in whether these efforts succeed. Through the Prosper programme, GKEPF supports both ecological resilience and human wellbeing across the landscape. Read more here:
Prosper (Ecological resilience): https://gkepf.org/2026/01/31/gkepf-ecological-propser-programme/
Prosper (Social resilience): https://gkepf.org/2026/02/10/gkepfs-prosper-programme/
While the early years were heavily focused on responding to immediate threats, there has been a gradual shift towards something more balanced. There is still a need to respond, but there is also a growing emphasis on building systems that can hold up over time. That includes stronger collaboration, better information sharing, and a more consistent approach across different parts of the landscape.
The strategy reflects that shift. It brings together the different areas of work into a single framework and creates a clearer link between day-to-day activities and long-term outcomes. The aim is not to change what is being done, but to strengthen how it all fits together.
Over the next five years, the focus will remain on supporting partners across the landscape, contributing to the protection of biodiversity, and strengthening the connections that allow this system to function as a whole. There is also a clear intention to keep improving how information is used, how decisions are made, and how progress is understood over time.
At its core, the strategy is about consistency. It provides a shared direction that can guide collective effort across a landscape where no single organisation operates in isolation.
GKEPF will continue to play its role within that system, working alongside others to support a Greater Kruger that remains secure, resilient, and able to sustain both wildlife and people into the future.
