The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) was founded at a workshop in Uganda in 2000, when an earnest attempt to find common ground among independent sanctuary managers in Africa turned into something more. Now, PASA sets the international standard for cooperation and mutual respect through its membership, which has grown to include 20 sanctuaries in 12 countries.

The annual PASA Management Workshop brings together the founders, directors, and key staff of each sanctuary for four days of presentations and debate, and has tackled issues ranging from the bushmeat crisis and illegal trade to reintroduction, genetics, and emerging infectious diseases.

Following the inaugural PASA workshop in 2000, subsequent PASA Management Workshops were held in Cameroon (2001 and 2010), Kenya (2002 and 2005), Uganda (2003 and 2006), South Africa (2004), Rwanda (2007), Sierra Leone (2008), and Columbus, Ohio, USA(2009).

The PASA 2011 Management Workshop will be staged May 2-6 in Kent, England — only the second time a management workshop has been held outside Africa — and will include a PASA Public Forum on May 3 at the University of kent that is open to the general public.

The earliest PASA workshops were used to forge important documents, such as the PASA Handbook, or confront issues of mutual concern, such as funding, security, national capacity, and population management. But PASA has used subsequent PASA Management Workshops to reach out to international researchers, conservation organizations, and national governments in an effort to broaden its support.