The historic touchdown of a MAF aircraft at the newly established Lantoto airstrip in South Sudan, marks a game-changing step for the future of wildlife as diverse as lions, warthogs and giraffes.
The isolated nature of Lantoto National Park should be the perfect sanctuary for African wildlife to thrive, but that same isolation also creates opportunities for poachers who are putting those creatures in danger.
The site, co-managed by the Enjojo Foundation alongside South Sudan’s Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, sounds like a ‘Noah’s Ark’ that is home to antelopes, leopards, ostriches, hornbills and turacos.
But this vast wilderness, which shares a 98km border with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Garamba Complex, has proved difficult for park rangers and conservation teams to monitor when travel relied on exhausting, multi-day road travel liable to security threats and disruptions.
The park’s African bush elephants are heavily targeted by poachers for their tusks to feed the illegal ivory trade. Kordofan and Nubian giraffes face extreme pressure as they are targeted for their meat, hides, and tails, which are used traditionally as flywhisks.
Eastern chimpanzees are increasingly endangered due to severe habitat loss and being poached for the illegal bushmeat trade.
Now MAF can fly to the new airstrip at Lantoto, the travel time is reduced from seven hours on the road to a 45-minute flight.
"We have been suffering before MAF landed at Lantoto."
said Jackson Baa Ligigo, who managed the airstrip construction and serves as the foundation’s operations manager. “Our park warden lost his life recently because we could not transport him on time to a health facility.”
MAF flights support new conservation efforts, allowing rapid staff deployment and delivery of essential anti-poaching equipment.
Enjojo Foundation’s Nyiriwa Goluer Alison said: “It’s not only about conservation but also about the people. We want to see communities improved, we want to see education, we want to see people accessing health.”
Local leader Charles Tako, the Payam Director of Landili Payam,said: “The opening of the Lantoto airstrip by the Enjojo Foundation is a direct answer to our prayers. Seeing MAF aircraft touch down here brings immense joy and great relief to our people, it means we are no longer isolated.”
STORY / SUZIE ANYUAT WILLIAMS PHOTOS / SUZIE ANYUAT WILLIAMS, JESSE BARENDREGT, JONO POUND, ENJOJO FOUNDATION
This story was originally published in "Flying for Life - Spring 2026." To view the full issue, click here.