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For 15 years, the African Site Casework on Emerging Threats Taskforce (ASCET) has safeguarded 35 major sites from damaging developments across the continent.
The mist slowly rises, thin ribbons of white curling upwards off the glassy waters of Zambezi River near Chirundu town in Southern Zambia. Along riverbanks of the fast-flowing waters, hundreds of Southern Carmine Bee-eaters (Merops nubicoides), dressed in vivid crimson, make rhythmic flight movements as they prepare for their annual nesting ritual, making one of Lower Zambezi’s beautiful nature displays. Further away, a cluster of egrets stand motionless, their white plumage contrasting against the green and brown reeds swaying faintly. In the horizon, silhouettes of fishermen in boats rise and fall in an unhurried rhythm as they cast their nets into the waters. Beyond the treeline, a fish eagle calls out, its loud yelp piercing the morning silence.
Three years ago, all this was nearly lost.
A mining concession had been approved to extract copper in Lower Zambezi National Park, through the proposed Kangaluwi Copper mine. Plans had moved fast, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) hurriedly completed without consultation, permit issued, and clearing of vegetation to make way for the mining bulldozers.
“We knew about the mining, once we saw the heavy machinery roll in. At that point, we thought that all was lost and there was nothing to do but watch”, says Peter Tembo, a local who has lived here all his life.
But all was not lost. BirdWatch Zambia (BWZ), BirdLife’s Partner in Zambia, quickly partnered with other environmental partners, forming a coalition to take a stance against this invasion. Local communities quickly mobilized to voice their opposition to this mining project.
The African Sites Casework on Emerging Threats Taskforce (ASCET), a forum of BirdLife partners in Africa was notified about this emerging issue. Formed in 2010, ASCET provides a platform for information exchange, raising partners’ advocacy capacity and sometimes providing financial support for emergency site action to save Africa’s iconic sites under threat.
Its collaboration with BirdWatch Zambia on the Lower Zambezi case was a turning point. ASCET supported BirdWatch Zambia in drawing up an advocacy plan and crafting letters to the authorities and the project proponents. Awareness raising was conducted through numerous community meetings, press, and on social media to raise the case’s profile. In addition, ASCET provided technical support to BWZ during the lengthy hearing of a court case filed by a coalition of Zambia NGOs.
After sustained pressure from local communities and environmentalists, the Government of Zambia subsequently cancelled the mining licence, marking a monumental win for local communities in the area.
“The Lower Zambezi case showed that when we speak with one voice, even the most significant threats can be challenged and overcome”, says Mary Malasa, Program Manager at BirdWatch Zambia.
“We did not expect to win, when people came and asked what the land meant to us, that was the first time anyone from outside had asked that question. It made a difference that our opinion as locals, counted for something”, adds Tembo.
A Continent of Small Victories
Lower Zambezi is just one of the cases whose advocacy ASCET has supported over the last one and a half decades. From parks and lakes under pressure from mining developments to grasslands threatened by agricultural expansions to protected forests facing encroachment from logging concessions, ASCET has to date stopped or slowed down damaging threats at more than 35 sites in Africa, covering 79,889 km2, approximately the size of Sierra Leone.
In Malawi, Mt Mulanje, is a key biodiversity haven and was gazetted as a Forest Reserve in 1927, and a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve in 2000. Mt Mulanje was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025, making it an important cultural site. In spite of this inscription, a mining company sought to challenge the designation, and advance bauxite mining plans. With ASCET’s support, BirdLife Partner in Malawi, the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) united communities, youth, traditional leaders, youth, civil society and government stakeholders to defend the site’s protected status.
Five senior chiefs publicly rejected mining and endorsed conservation through joint press conferences and video messages, while WESM and stakeholders reinforced the campaign through relevant government officials’ engagement, media outreach and social media. The collective advocacy built strong local consensus, discouraged mining efforts, and inspired other communities to seek similar conservation action.
“The community has taken a strong stand against mining, the district council supports protecting Mount Mulanje. The mining company has now consulted us on our position, and other communities are asking for this kind of advocacy in their areas. This shows that advocacy has succeeded,” says Blessings Chingagwe, Programme Manager at WESM.
In South Africa, BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), has strengthened protection for the Berg River, Verlonrenvlei and Olifants River estuaries by tackling escalating development pressures. These estuaries along the West Coast of South Africa host and support many endemic and migratory bird species. Mining, infrastructure, and housing threats intensified – including 48 new mining applications between January and April 2026. BLSA with ASCET support pursued strategic legal appeals, engaged developers and environmental authorities, influenced key planning and conservation processes, and built strong partnerships with conservation organizations, including the Biodiversity Law Centre. These interventions helped improve oversight of estuarine development, challenge harmful proposals such as nearshore seabed mining, and lay the groundwork for stronger, long-term protection of these globally important ecosystems.
“Development pressure has surged in response to global demand for heavy minerals, rare earth metals, oil and gas. More than 75 mining and oil and gas applications have been submitted for coastal and marine areas along the West Coast, leaving approximately 88% of the 450 km coastline between Elands Bay and the Orange River covered by active mining or prospecting rights”, says Kirsten Day, Policy & Advocacy Manager, at BirdLife South Africa. “More support isrequired, including support towards a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the West Coast,” she adds.
None of this is to say that pressures are easing, but while each individual case won on its own looks modest, collectively, they portend something bigger; the defense of Africa’s vital sites that underpin food and water security, climate resilience and livelihoods for millions of people across the continent.
Fifteen Years of Learning
Beyond the sites saved, something else has grown out of ASCET’s work: a network of local guardians at the forefront of sites, highlighting the importance of advocacy led by local communities. Further, ASCET has helped build the capacity of the frontline site defenders through training, ensuring that they respond effectively to threats.
A cornerstone of this work has been the Emergency Site Casework Fund, which provided rapid financial support to Partners undertaking advocacy at high-risk sites Between 2024 and 2026, ASCET , with support from the Ecological Restoration Fund (ERF) disbursed GBP 80,000 (USD 107,488) to seven BirdLife Partners to tackle threats ranging from uncontrolled mining, agricultural expansion, and commercial logging among others.
The role of science or data has been integral to ASCET’s efforts. Advocacy efforts have been backed by evidence-based data from the field, thus building strong cases against developments with potentially damaging impacts. Vigilance has also been key. In some instances, ASCET has dealt with some cases, more than once during the last 15 years, with mining proposals resurfacing, even after rejection by stakeholders. This has called for continued preparedness to ensure effective engagement in such cases.
“Fifteen years of site casework advocacy through ASCET has built a Pan-African movement of site guardians. Rarely has a case been lost, but damage has been stopped or slowed down. The future looks bright as BirdLife partners have the confidence to engage to safeguard their sites, with support from partners in 27 African countries”, notes Ken Mwathe, Policy, Climate and Communications Coordinator for Africa at BirdLife International.
“Our advocacy for sites has demonstrated that effective coordination can go a long way in pooling efforts. Partners speaking with one voice is BirdLife International’s greatest strength and this is illustrated in how we fight to secure Africa’s sites. Looking ahead, the role of emerging tools and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence will be instrumental in enhancing site surveillance “, says Dr Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, Regional Director for Africa, BirdLife International.
As ASCET marks fifteen years of site case work advocacy, the measure of success is not a monumental headline. It is simply this: the bulldozers never arrived, the birds came back, and the waters still provide catch for the fishermen.
“People ask me sometimes how it feels to have won this case. I tell them we didn’t win anything. We kept what was already ours”, concludes Tembo.
“The future looks bright as BirdLife partners have the confidence to engage to safeguard their sites, with support from partners in 27 African countries.”
Ken Mwathe, Policy, Climate and Communications Coordinator for Africa, BirdLife International
”The community has taken a strong stand against mining, the district council supports protecting Mount Mulanje. The mining company has now consulted us on our position, and other communities are asking for this kind of advocacy in their areas. This shows that advocacy has succeeded.”
Blessings Chingagwe, Programme Manager, Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi
