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WRITTEN STATEMENT BY ELIZABETH KJDHOY 



DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON AFFAIRS, AFRICA RESOURCES TRUST 



SUBNQTTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON 



AFRICA - JULY 17, 1996 



AFRICA RESO URCES TRUST 



Constituted as a welfare organization in Zimbabwe and a private voluntary organization in 

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

 Africa in the field of development and environment. ART is dedicated to the promotion of 

 human welfare (esptecially the alleviation of poverty in remote rural areas) through the 

 sustainable use of natural resources, with a special focus on wildlife. ART recognizes that 

 rural communities can use wild animals and plants on a sustainable basis to meet their 

 economic and social needs without contributing to the species depletion. It seeks to assist 

 rural people to use natural products for their development, whilst also contributing to 

 environmental conservation. 



ART'S activities include; information outreach programs for communities focusing on the 

 link between conservation and development; working with governments and NGOs in 

 southern Africa on environmental policy research and analysis; developing environmental 

 education materials and training rural teachers on environmental education techniques. 



OVER VIEW OF THE ISSUES AFFECTING AFRICA'S ECOLOGICAL FUTURE 



Africa is frequendy 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 common occurrence. The ecological 

 challenge facing many African nations is a serious one. World 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 base, which, unless viable 

 solutions are found, will lead to further environmental degradation. 



What is heard less often from Africa however, are the success stories which address both 

 human development and resource conservation needs. This paper shall draw upon one of 

 these, the CAMPFIRE program in Zimbabwe, to indicate possible options for a sustainable 

 ecological future for Africa. The ecological future of Africa is intimately linked with the 

 development of its rural economy and the CAMPFIRE program is a response to this. 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 fanning land has forced people into marginal lands. The result is severe 



