How U.S.A.I.D. Affects National Parks and Conservation Worldwide

The money has restored coral reefs in the Seychelles, helped create a national park in Vietnam and turned former guerrillas into tour guides in Colombia. It has established tiger conservation programs, and brought back wildlife to areas decimated by bloody civil unrest.

All those are among the surprising programs affected by the Trump administration’s possible shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development, which, in addition to its other work, has established and maintained overseas national parks and conservation areas.

That role now has an uncertain future. On Friday, the U.S.A.I.D. website posted a notice that most of the work force will be placed on leave. Congressional Democrats say any move to eliminate the agency could be illegal.

National parks have proved to be a stabilizing force for countries around the world, creating local businesses and jobs, protecting fragile ecosystems and kick-starting tourism efforts and other economic opportunities. Communities around parks and preserves often benefit from new or improved health services and schools. The financial benefits may diminish the need for local people to migrate, either internally or overseas.

In Colombia, the Destination Nature Activity ecotourism program preserves forest and natural habitats in six regions previously occupied by guerrillas, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers. The five-year, $40 million program, entirely funded by U.S.A.I.D., supports the operations and infrastructure to attract international travelers. One of the habitats being developed encompasses the Ciudad Perdida, older than Machu Picchu in Peru, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range.

Activities for visitors include hiking, rafting and birding, often led by former guerrilla fighters who have become guides. Most of these destinations are off the beaten path in a country where tourism is sizzling — Colombia’s visitor numbers reached record highs in 2023, up nearly 25 percent from 2022. Nearly 1.2 million of those international visitors, or more than 26 percent, came from the United States.

U.S.A.I.D. also helped establish the Song Thanh National Park in central Vietnam, funded the creation of marine protected areas in Papua New Guinea and restored coral reefs in the Seychelles. Agency funding was instrumental in creating Gabon’s national parks system and establishing a tiger conservation program in Bangladesh.

After a 16-year civil war in Mozambique wiped out more than 95 percent of the…