SADC to host landmark Transfrontier Conservation Areas Summit in Harare

By Regina Pasipanodya

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is set to organize the Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) International Conference and Summit from May 19 to 23, 2025, at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC).

The most newsworthy event, graced by the presence of presidents and ministers, conservation partners, and international organizations, marks 25 years of cooperation in regional integration and sustainable development.

Under the theme; “Transfrontier Conservation Areas: 25 Years of Cooperation for Regional Integration and Sustainable Development,” the summit will be working on promoting the development and implementation of integrated, coherent conservation and natural resource management strategies and approaches, incentives for investment and innovative financing, removal of barriers to improve conservation at national and local levels, international cooperation for policy development and implementation, encouragement of multi-sectoral investments and resource sharing, and sustainable environmental development.

TFCAs is a strategic means of managing and developing the natural resources across the borders for the benefit of all parties and they are implementing tourism development, biodiversity conservation, and the sustainable management of natural resources.

TFCAs are a great help as they preserve life-saving ecosystems, create sustainable economic growth, enhance cooperation among nations, and the program is responsible for the establishment of strong local units in Zimbabwe and other SADC member states.

Support for the conference will come from NaturAfrica/Climate Resilient and Natural Resource Management (C-NRM)—a joint action co-financed by the European Union (EU) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The two organizations have shown their commitment to TFCA initiatives by providing technical and financial assistance for more than 20 years.
Key sessions will focus on the issue of tourism development within TFCAs and disaster risk reduction strategies.

The delegates will be required to work on an action plan in addition to the completion of binding agreements for the establishment of new TFCAs, the signing of joint management frameworks, and the obtaining of sustainable finance sources from the SADC governments and international partners.

One of the elements of the conference will be a review of the SADC TFCA model thereby ensuring that the partnerships of the respective member states are reinforced and the efforts of the parties involved are reconfigured in line with the long-term conservation goals.

Given the fact that southern Africa’s biodiversity is becoming increasingly under pressure, the SADC authorities as well as stakeholders are expected to reconfirm their support to conservation efforts and at the same time guarantee the communities in the region to be mainly on the ground for these efforts.