U.S. government agencies responsible for handing out conservation grants overseas still aren’t doing enough to protect human rights, according to an internal review. The review was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in the wake of an outcry over a 2019 Buzzfeed News report on conservation-related human rights abuses in the Congo Basin. The story led to hearings on U.S. taxpayer support for wildlife rangers who had committed abuses. It’s the second on the subject by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan agency tasked with auditing government operations upon congressional request. In 2020, the GAO published a review of initial steps taken to address the scandal by USAID, the State Department, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) — the three agencies that give out conservation-related aid grants overseas. Investigators working for the GAO reviewed 19 of those grants that were active between 2020 and 2022. Along with a document review, they visited project sites in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among the organizations whose grants were assessed was the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Jane Goodall Institute, African Parks Network, the Virunga Foundation, and the Frankfort Zoological Society. In July, the GAO published its findings. The report said that since 2020 USAID, the State Department and USFWS had “taken steps to enhance human rights protection mechanisms,” but it described gaps in monitoring requirements that could lead to abuses going unaddressed by the three agencies. “Without ensuring partners provide monitoring updates and notify agencies of abuse allegations…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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South Africa Today – Environment
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