52 



AFRICA AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 

 BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 



Principles and Practices 



Testimony for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

 Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Trade and the Environment 



and 

 Subcommittee on Africa 



prepared by 



Amy V'edder and William Weber 



NYZS/The Wildlife Conservation Society 



New York 



11/9/1993 



The continent of Africa is tremendously diverse — with respect to 

 ecological habitats, social systems, economics and politics -- and 

 therefore does not lend itself to simple description or summary. 

 However, it is clearly a region facing great development 

 challenges: high levels of poverty, large proportions of people 

 living on subsistence levels, inadequate health and educational 

 sen ices, the highest population growth rates in the world, and 

 insecure political structures. At the same time, Africa harbors 

 spectacular biological diversity, unparalleled populations of large 

 terrestrial mammals, the most extensive wetlands in the world, and 

 large tracts of wilderness -- including rainforest second only in 

 si.-.e to the Amazon. The juxtaposition of these factors creates an 

 icute challenge: to promote conservation of globally-significant 

 biological diversity in the context of tremendous human need. 



Before considering the practice of biological conservation in 

 Africa, and the roles which can be most effectively played by US 

 igencies and L'S-based NGOs , it is therefore worthwhile to summarize 

 principles which provide a foundation for such strategies. 



