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STATEMENT BY ELIZABETH RIHOY 



WASHINGTON DIRECTOR, AFRICA RESOURCES TRUST 



SUB\DTTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA 



COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 



US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



'AFRICA'S ECOLOGICAL FUTURE* 



IN SUPPORT OF TESTIMONIAL BY SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL 



JUNE, 1995 



AFRICA RESOURCES TRUST 



Constituted as a wel&re organization in Zimbabwe and a private voluntary organization in the 

 US, the Africa Resources Trust (ART) is a non-govenimental organization working in Africa in 

 the field of development and environment ART is dedicated to the promotion of human welfare 

 (especially the alleviation of poverty in remote rural areas) through the sustainable use of natural 

 resources, with a special focus on wildlife. 



OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUES AFFECTING AFRICA'S ECOLOGICAL FUTURE 

 Africa is frequently portrayed by both the media and many in the international community as a 

 'basket case', where populations are expanding beyond the capacity of the resource base to 

 sustain them; resources, both finite and renewable, are becoming exhausted; environmental 

 degradation is an irreversible force, and species loss a conunon occurrence. What we hear less 

 often from Africa are the success stories which address both human development and resource 

 conservation needs. This paper shall draw upon one of these, the CAMPFIRE programme in 

 Zimbabwe, to indicate possible options for a sustainable ecological fiiture for Africa. 



Not withstanding these success stories, the ecological challenge to many African nations is a 

 serious one. Worid Bank projections indicate that by the year 2025 Africa's population will have 

 doubled, reaching 1 billion. This will dramatically increase the pressure on the natural resource 

 baFe and, unless viable solutions are found, will lead to further environmental degradation. To 

 respond to these developmems Africa is confromed with 2 key challenges if it is to provide a 

 sustunable future for its growing population. Firstly, it must develop its modem economy, 

 involving both industrialization and urbanization, to absorb and employ its growing populations. 

 Secondly, h must maintain and expand a viable rural economy with appropriate and productive 

 forms of land use to both maintain its rural population and supply the urban areas. This paper will 

 focus upon some of the responses to the second issue, seeking to demonstrate that the ecological 

 future of Africa is intimately linked with the future development of its rural economy. 



The rural economy has been subjected to pressures which have led to ecological and 

 environmental degradation. Key amongst these is the increasingly intense competition for land, 

 resulting in inappropriate, unsustainable forms of land use in some areas. This has led to a loss of 

 productive land and a related loss of biodiversity Much of Africa is unsuitable for intensive 

 agricultural production - only 5% of Southern Africa is considered suitable - but the pressure for 

 &rming land has forced people into marginal lands. The resuU is severe land degradation which 

 leaves people and the environment impoverished. Africa is unlikely to produce its own 'green 



