Request for Proposals (RfP) : Development of Management Plans for the Botswana Component of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and adjacent WMAs

African Parks (AP) is a non-profit conservation organisation that works with governments to
manage protected areas under long-term delegated agreements. AP manages parks on behalf
of governments taking responsibility for day-to-day operations to restore ecosystems, protect wildlife, and support community development, while governments retain full ownership and sovereign authority over the protected areas.

AP currently manages 24 protected areas in 13 countries covering over 20 million hectares in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose mission is to support global biodiversity conservation and promote equitable, sustainable use of natural resources, has received funding from the European Union to implement NaturAfrica Action Grants for Transfrontier Conservation Areas in the SADC Region. In this context, IUCN has appointed African Parks (African Parks) to implement the “Integrated Management for Biodiversity Conservation and Community Resilience in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP)” Project in Botswana. The Government of Botswana (Government of Botswana), through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, provides statutory oversight and ensures alignment with national conservation priorities. The KTP is jointly governed by Botswana and South Africa under a bilateral framework linking DWNP and South African National Parks (SANParks), which guides coordinated cross-border ecosystem management. The Kgalagadi
Management Company (KMC), as the legal entity of African Parks in Botswana, is responsible for implementing project activities on the Botswana side.

Statement of Need: Ensuring the long-term sustainability of conservation and economic development on the Botswana side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) requires a strategic, results-based approach that integrates financial resilience, capacity strengthening, and effective governance. A core element of this management framework is alignment with the 2025 Land-Use and Management Plan, which provides the operational blueprint for the landscape and establishes measurable outcomes for biodiversity protection, tourism development, and community benefits. The Management Plan for the Botswana portion of the KTP should incorporate a dedicated Tourism Development and Community Development components (Tourism and Community Components), each with defined outputs such as improved visitor infrastructure, strengthened community livelihoods, and enhanced participatory governance.
It also includes tailored management plans for each Wildlife Management Area (WMA Management Plans), ensuring alignment with national legislation while enabling monitoring
through clear indicators—such as habitat condition scores, wildlife population trends, revenue-generation metrics, and community engagement benchmarks. Together, these instruments create a structured pathway for tracking performance, demonstrating compliance and achieving measurable conservation and socio-economic results.
Tailored management plans for the Botswana section of the KTP and each WMA, ensuring full
compliance with national legislation and policy frameworks should be established in full alignment with the Land-Use and Management Plan, formally gazetted in 2025. From this
process, a Tourism development plan as well as a community development plan is developed
Interested parties must request the full Statement of Need and any Clarification documents by contacting: ktpprocurement@africanparks.org
Procurement Timetable
• Deadline for Proposal Submission: 16 July 2026 (COB)
• Selection of Preferred & Back Up Bidders: 21 July 2026
• Contract Signature & Start of Work: 01 August 2026
Non compliant or incomplete submissions may result in disqualification.