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 17 sanctuaries in 12 countries.

The 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), Kenya (2002), Uganda (2003), South Africa (2004), Kenya (2005), Uganda (2006) and Rwanda (2007). The PASA 2008 Management Workshop will be held April 2-5 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

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.