^ 



40 



The rural population of Africa is more dependent on the natural resource base and its biodiversity 

 than any other region of the world. Subsistence and commercial agriculture, livestock production, 

 nature tourism, logging and fisheries account for the majority of employment, economic output 

 and export earnings. Natural resource conservation to a rural subsistence farmer does not mean 

 large mammals and parks, but utilization and human survival Recognizing this reality, recent 

 change in approaches to conservation are underway in Africa. There is much that must be 

 protected on the continent, and if we are able to develop working strategies that link rural 

 communities with conservation, the African Wildlife Foundation believes much can be conserved 

 without sacrificing the need, indeed the imperative, for improving the quality of life of the people 

 of Africa. 



U.S. A.I.D. AND NGO PARTNERSHIPS 



African Wildlife Foundation was created with the goal of building the capacity of African 

 institutions and individuals to manage their natural resource base—hence we are firmly rooted in 

 rural areas. A number of our projects, particularly those focused on linking natural resource 

 protection with poverty alleviation, have been supported by the U.S. Agency for International 

 Development (U.S. AID.). I would like to focus my testimony, in part on the role of U.S. 

 foreign assistance and U.S. AID. as an important force in supporting programs that deal with the 

 link between Africa's environment and human needs. 



In Africa, environmental efforts supported by U.S. foreign assistance focused on a range of 

 protected area activities, and in many cases have relied on the NGO (non-governmental 

 organizations) to implement these programs. Examples include Wildlife Conservation Society's 

 (WCS) work to preserve the biologically rich Korup National Park in Cameroon, to World 

 Wildlife Fund's (WWF) "Life" project working with communities in Namibia, to support of local 

 indigenous NGO's and the government of Zimbabwe on the pioneering "Campfire" program. 



U.S. aid's strategy of working closely with NGOs in implementing its Afiican environmental 

 programs has been effective. For one thing, U.S. A.I.D.'s limited environmental field personnel in 

 Afiica— indeed limited personnel overall—makes cooperation with private agencies imperative if 

 the agency is to comply with Congressional direaives. We also believe involvement of the U.S. 

 private sector, as conservation NGOs are, builds healthy partnerships and sets an important 

 example for the strengthening of Africa's own NGO sector. 



BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY 



National parks and other protected areas of all varieties form the backbone of conservation. In 

 Afiica the number of protected areas has increased substantially since the end of the colonial era. 

 African governments now devoted an enormous amount of their land territory to conservation. 

 Close to ten percent of many countries are designed as national parks, and many have another ten 

 percent in game management or multiple-use areas. An exception is South Afiica, which has a 



