Oct 6, 2026 |
The map of the world's largest land migration, made by African Parks with GPS collar data from South Sudan, has won two international awards.
The work, entitled Lines of Life, received the Map Gallery Artistic Award and the ICA-IMIA Recognition of Excellence in Cartography at the Esri User Conference this year, having been chosen from more than 800 entries, according to African Parks.. The author is Inge van den Meiracker, who has been the organisation's geographic information systems manager in South Sudan since 2025, after almost five years at Esri Netherlands.
The migration depicted crosses Boma and Badingilo national parks and extends into Gambella National Park, in Ethiopia. An aerial survey released in June 2024 counted around 5.9 million antelope over an area of 122,774 square kilometres, as African Parks announced at the time, having carried out the count with South Sudan's Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism.
According to African Parks, the map brings together the movements of white-eared kob, tiang, bohor reedbuck and Mongalla gazelle tracked by collar between 2023 and 2026. Each line corresponds to the route of a single animal. Seen together, the lines show the routes, the seasonal rhythms and the corridors linking the various habitats of the landscape.
The data also has a practical use for conservation. By cross-referencing recent and older records with roads and other infrastructure, villages and human activity, the teams were able to locate stretches where migratory routes are under increasing pressure. The organisation reports that, in certain areas along the Nile, only a narrow corridor remains open, which sets priorities for work with communities and for land-use planning.
In Mozambique, African Parks has managed Bazaruto Archipelago National Park since 2017, under a 25-year agreement with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC). There too, telemetry serves conservation. A satellite tagging project is tracking the behaviour and movements of what is considered the last viable dugong population in East Africa.
Photo: African Parks
