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Conservation Message Who can best steward Africa's last ecosystems and awe-inspiring wildlife for generations to come? That question can only be answered by asking those who share their lands with the roaring lion, the majestic elephant, and the stealthy leopard. It is these creatures and the soils upon which they tread that belong first to the African people, and it is the African people who must collectively decide their future; they have the right to be a more integral part of the conservation process. While African autonomy should not exclude foreigners from assisting - though there have certainly been cases where foreign intervention has done more harm than good - in an effort to help, it would do well to remember that those most severely impacted by human-wildlife conflict should be the ones who lead, making the most pivotal environmental decisions and subsequently benefiting from any plans to preserve or restore Africa's amazing habitats and biodiversity. Be they Bantu or Khoisan, black, white, or otherwise, conservation biologists must pay heed to the voices of the African people - wildlife's best and only true hope for survival. I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me. - Kwame Nkrumah |
Karamojong farmers
Lake Mutanda
Northern Uganda - South Sudan
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