Entrepreneurs in the Wild
The dispiriting story of a club of white benefactors in Africa: how nature parks have been corralled by modern imperialism
African Parks is considered a great success story in conservation. The organisation, founded by Paul Fentener van Vlissingen and supported by the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, has taken over full authority from the state in more than twenty African nature reserves. It manages an area comparable to Britain, with support from western governments, the European Union and philanthropic billionaires. But all is not what it seems.
Olivier van Beemen (b. 1979) is an investigative journalist and writes for Follow the Money and De Groene Amsterdammer. He has lectured at Princeton, Harvard and Sciences Po. His Beer for Africa (2019) was nominated for several awards at home and abroad. He spent three years researching Entrepreneurs in the Wild, including four days in a Benin prison on espionage charges.