The Team

Honorary Patrons

• President Daniel Francisco Chapo

  (Mozambique)

• President Hakainde Hichilema

  (Zambia)

• His Majesty King Letsie III

  (Lesotho)

• President João Lourenço

  (Angola)

• His Majesty King Mswati III

  (Eswatini)

• President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika

  (Malawi)

• President Cyril Ramaphosa

  (South Africa)

Board of Directors

• Mr JP Rupert

  (Chairman)

• Mr JA Chissano

  (Vice-Chairman)

• Mr W Myburgh

  (Chief Executive Officer)

• Mr TA Boardman

• Mr NH Döman

• Ms KMV Harris

• Mr AS Hoffmann

  (Switzerland)

• Mr EN Isdell

  (Ireland)

• Mr JS Loftie-Eaton

• Jhr Drs JHW Loudon

  (The Netherlands)

• Ms LM Lynch

• Mr M Msimang

• Ms CC Rupert

Senior Management

• READ MORE

  Werner Myburgh

  Chief Executive Officer

  Werner joined Peace Parks in 1998, serving in various capacities before being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2008. Leading a team that has achieved an average annual growth of 25% since 2010. Provides leadership for a staff component of around 400 with an annual budget of USD 30-50 million. The average annual running costs of Peace Parks’ head office have been below 12% of the total budget for the past decade.

  He has been involved in executing more than 500 different development projects within the transboundary landscapes across southern Africa and was part of the team responsible for facilitating the establishment of several transfrontier conservation areas, including Kgalagadi, Great Limpopo, /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld, Kavango-Zambezi, Lower Zambezi-Mana Pools, and Malawi-Zambia.

  His areas of expertise include protected area management and development, community development and alternative livelihoods, transboundary landscape development, and financial and project management. He serves on the Board and Executive Committee of Peace Parks Foundation and the boards of the SA College for Tourism, Southern African Wildlife College, and Southern African Wildlife College Trust. He is a member and advisor of the steering and management committees of 11 national parks and protected areas throughout southern Africa.

• READ MORE

  Verna Appollis

  Chief People Officer

  Verna is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over 25 years of experience, including nine years in senior leadership roles. As a Chartered HR Professional (SABPP), she is known for her strategic insight and operational excellence. She is passionate about people development, organisational effectiveness, and creating inclusive, values-driven workplaces. Verna has a proven track record of aligning human resource practices with business goals and leading cultural transformation. She values authentic connections and thrives in complex environments that require both empathy and strong leadership.

• READ MORE

  Helena Atkinson

  Chief Community Development Officer

  Helena is an avid wildlife photographer and hiker, often seeking adventures in the great outdoors.

  With a diverse background and extensive experience in community development, conservation, eco-tourism and environmental education, Helena brings a wealth of knowledge to our organisation. Helena’s professional journey includes serving as the Director of Conservation with Pangolin.Africa and managing a cross-border safari enterprise. Her expertise extends to species conservation, non-profit governance and programme management, acquired through her various leadership roles. As a former Social Ecologist for Wilderness Safaris, Africa’s largest ecotourism operator and the CEO of WESSA (The Wildlife and Environment of Society of South Africa) Helena has played a significant role in managing biodiversity, water, community, and education initiatives across the SADC region.

  Her dedication to conservation is evident through her research contributions, particularly in the community development space and the relationship between communities and protected areas. Furthermore, Helena’s involvement as the co-chair of the Southern African IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group underscores her commitment to wildlife conservation.

• READ MORE

  Lize-Mari Lynch

  Chief Financial Officer

  As Chief Financial Officer of Peace Parks Foundation, Lize is responsible for all finance and corporate governance matters. Lize comes from an auditing and banking background. After finishing her Bachelors in accounting degree at the University of Stellenbosch in 2000, she continued her training at PwC in Stellenbosch whilst finishing her Honours in Accounting through Unisa. She qualified as a chartered accountant in 2005 and went to Guernsey, Channel Islands to obtain international experience. Credit Suisse (Guernsey) Ltd offered her a permanent position in their accounting department, where she stayed for 4 years and from where she moved to Peace Parks Foundation.

• READ MORE

  Brad Poole

  Chief Operations Officer

  Brad has been working in the environmental and conservation sector for the more than 20 years and has accumulated vast experience in the development and implementation of a diverse suite of conservation, nature-based tourism and social development programmes.

  His qualifications include a Diploma in Financial Information Systems and Diploma in Advanced Project Management. His skills are centred on programme/project design, contract development and implementation of multi-disciplinary programmes involving stakeholders across the public and private sector.

  Brad has previously served as the Partnership and Programmes Director within Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and spearheaded a vast portfolio of conservation, commercial and social development initiatives on behalf of the provincial conservation management authority working closely with government and private sector to structure public private partnerships.

  He started at Peace Parks Foundation as a technical advisor in 2008 and has been instrumental in helping the Foundation mobilise new programmes such as the Community Development Facility in Mozambique. In 2015 was appointed as head of the Foundation’s Combatting Wildlife Crime programme and now serves as Chief Operations Officer for this leading conservation NGO.

• READ MORE

  Colin Porteous

  Chief Investment Officer

  Colin Porteous is a highly experienced investment professional, with a passion for conservation and social impact – endeavouring to make conservation a commercially attractive asset class.

  Colin was born in Johannesburg and grew up spending as much time as possible in nature. He obtained his honours in Finance and a post graduate diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town. He specialised in Financial Institutions with Deloitte, was seconded to Luxembourg and Sydney, and travelled widely.

  He has extensive Treasury experience with one of the market leading investment banks in South Africa, Rand Merchant Bank and worked across multiple African jurisdictions in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities space.

  His experience includes ten years in the private investment industry, executing deals in, and managing a portfolio comprising of, assets in infrastructure, financial services, engineering, information technology, mining and agriculture, using various structured finance mechanisms across South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Hungary, Poland, UK and the Netherlands. This includes both buy and sell-side experience and Colin has actively served on boards and management committees of the portfolio assets.

  He decided to utilise his passion for nature and his investment experience to find the nexus between conservation and commerce and joined Peace Parks in 2020.

• READ MORE

  Sonja Rabé

  Chief Communications Officer

  Sonja is a strategic communicator and brand leader with a passion for connecting purpose-led organisations to audiences that drive change.

  Born in Hong Kong and Dutch by nationality, Sonja has lived and worked across Asia, Europe, North America and the UK. Her 20-year career in broadcast and digital media has been shaped by leading communications for international ventures, scaling brands from startup to acquisition, and expanding into new markets through narrative strategies that deepen engagement, build trust, and attract investment. Her experience spans the sports, media, and investment sectors, where she has overseen multi-platform communications, built high-performing teams, and shaped storytelling that resonates across cultural and geographic divides.

  She joined Peace Parks Foundation in April 2025 with the objective of bringing this expertise to bear in strengthening the organisation’s global voice, supporting donor engagement, and helping amplify the impact of its transboundary conservation efforts across southern Africa and beyond.

• READ MORE

  Lilian Spijkerman

  Chief Development Officer

  Lilian is a seasoned fundraiser and communicator driven by a passion for nature and people.

  Born and raised in the Netherlands and trained as an Environmental Engineer and Physical Geographer, she spent much of her initial career in remote areas in the Amazon, the Andes and the Philippines. Her 20-year journey working in nature conservation and sustainable development has been focused on institution building, design and management of multi-country initiatives, public sector finance, blended finance and financing solutions for remote areas and communities.

  Lilian’s extensive experience includes successfully setting up accredited entities for the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, connecting funding at scale to programs that deliver clear impacts, and leading complex processes in multicultural settings throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America.

  She joined Peace Parks Foundation in November 2021 with the objective of applying her extensive skills and experience to connect Peace Parks’ scalable successes to funders looking for transformative impact.

• READ MORE

  Antony Alexander

  Regional Manager: South

  Antony joined Peace Parks in 2010 in the position of Project Manager for the development of Limpopo National Park (Mozambique) focusing primarily on including resettlement, community, anti-poaching and infrastructure programmes. In 2017 with the expansion of Peace Parks Mozambique portfolio he has subsequently filled the position of Programme Manager based in Maputo, Mozambique where he is responsible for the operations and development support by Peace Parks in Maputo National Park and Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve as part of the Lubombo TFCA and of Banhine, Limpopo and Zinave National Parks as part of the Great Limpopo TFCA.

  His qualifications include a BSc (Civil Engineering) and a BComm degrees and his career to date has over 20 years operational and project management experience throughout Southern and West Africa as well as South East Asia primarily in the Oil and Gas and Engineering construction sectors for a variety of European and African based clientele.

  Regular exposure and interest in conservation since a young age provided Antony with a sound foundation and passion to transfer these skills and experiences to the conservation sector.

• READ MORE

  Ghislain Rieb

  Regional Manager: North

  Ghislain Rieb is an experienced Senior Programme Manager with a background spanning various roles in international development and environmental conservation.

  Ghislain has been with Peace Parks Foundation in southern Africa since October 2022. He oversees regional biodiversity initiatives and plays a key role in programmes related to Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Prior to joining Peace Parks, Ghislain spent 17 years at Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as a Senior Investment Officer, managing diverse portfolios across regions like southern Africa, South East Asia and South America.

  During his tenure, he led significant projects in South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia overseeing conservation, agriculture, clean energy and urban water initiatives. His extensive career also includes advising international funding strategies for the French Ministry of Ecology and working as a Coastal Protection expert, promoting integrated coastal management policies both nationally and internationally.

• READ MORE

  Dr Bartolomeu Soto

  Regional Liaison Manager

  Dr Soto has a Masters in Environment and Development (University of Kwazulu Natal), BSc in Wildlife Diseases (University of Pretoria) and Degree in Veterinary Medicine (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane). He has 28 years of experience in the management and development of conservation areas, national parks, wildlife, natural resources and environmental management, of which the last 26 years have been spent in technical leadership and project management.

  He was Head of Department of Fauna Bravia (1993) in the National Directorate of Forests and Wildlife and later Coordinator of the Transboundary Conservation Areas Project in the Ministry of Agriculture until the year 2000.

  From then on he worked in the Ministry of Tourism and held the position of Coordinator of the Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) Project and National Director of Conservation Areas (this one for accumulation between 2006 – 2008).

  As of 2009, Dr Soto held the position of TFCA Project Coordinator until his departure for SADC in June 2013. In SADC, based in Gaborone, from 2013 to 2014, he was the Technical Advisor for the Transfrontier Conservation Areas of the region.

  In August 2014 he returned to Mozambique to hold the position of General Director of the National Administration of Conservation Areas in the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development.

  Dr Soto joined the Peace Parks Foundation in 2018 where he now serves as technical adviser with regards to matters pertaining to transfrontier conservation in Mozambique.

Co-management Leadership: Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)

• Kule Chitepo

  Director, Greater Mana Pools Ecosystem
• George Nxumayo

  Chief Executive Officer, Nyika Vwaza Co-Management Trust

Management

• Loraine Bewsher

  Geospatial, Planning and Science Manager

• Wayne Brider

  Information and Communication Technology Manager

• Hayley Elwen

  Risk and Compliance Manager

• Jason Gilbertson

  Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager

• Siewert Groenewald

  Commercial and Financial Portfolio Manager

• Nadia Heystek

  People Effectiveness Manager

• Tiaan Kleynhans

  Protected Area Integrity Manager

• Bernard van Lente

  Head of Operations and Development: Zinave National Park

• Chizamsoka Manda

  Country Representative: Malawi

• Dr Jamie McCallum

  Director: UK and EU

• Kate Ohlhoff

  Resource Development Manager

• Pravin Pillay

  Operations Manager

• Gillian Rhodes

  Combatting Wildlife Crime Manager

• Lee-Anne Robertson

  Senior Project Co-ordinator

• Lésa van Rooyen

  Marketing, Communications and Branding Manager

• Gavin Shaw

  Head of Operations and Development: Maputo National Park

• Walubita Sifuniso

  Country Manager: Zambia

• Donald Sutton

  Head of Operations and Development: Banhine National Park

• Cobus Theron

  Stewardship and Donor Relations Manager

• JP Theart

  Financial Manager, Company Secretary

• Anne-Katherine du Toit-Scharling

  Resource Development Manager: Public Funding

• Stephen Wright

  Head of Operations and Development: Limpopo National Park

• Grant Staples Zunckel

  Herding For Health: Project Manager

Advisory Committee

This committee brings together representatives from the wildlife authorities of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to assist, in an ex officio capacity, with technical advice in the transfrontier conservation process and provide a forum for discussion of cross-border challenges.

• Mr Stanley Damane

  Director, Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, Lesotho

• Mr Brighton Kumchedwa

  Director, National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi

• Mr Rui Lisboa

  Chairman of the Board, National Agency of the Okavango Region, Angola

• Ms Skumsa Mancotywa

  Chief Director, Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa

• Dr Fulton Mangwanya

  Director General, Parks & Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe

• Dr Themba Mhlongo

  Deputy Executive Secretary, Regional Integration, SADC Secretariat

• Mr Evans Muhanga

  Permanent Secretary: Ministry of Tourism and Arts, Zambia

• Mr Teofilus Nghitila

  Executive Director, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia

• Ms Hapiloe Sello

  CEO: SANParks, South Africa

• Mr Hlobsile Sikhosana

  Acting CEO, Eswatini National Trust Commission, Eswatini

• Mr Colgar Sikopo

  Director, Directorate of Regional Services and Parks Management, Namibia

• Chauncy Simwaka

  Secretary: Tourism, Culture and Wildlife, Malawi