Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
to create distinct areas for wildlife and others that can be used by local people for farming or, at
times, limited hunting and trapping. This approach also allows people to sell their goods to con-
servationists and ecotourists, and to work as trackers and ecoguards. Benefiting from the conser-
vation economy is essential for local communities, given that otherwise “the external and internal
pressures for the exploitation of natural resources will simply overwhelm the good intentions.” By
fostering a conservation-based economy and a new sense of stewardship, conservationists move to-
ward the eventual goal of the local people fully managing the reserve. Critics of this approach point
out the danger of local management in such unstable, impoverished nations, with so many external
pressures, and they generally favor a degree of outside support, not unlike BCI's role in developing
Vie Sauvage and advocating for them internationally.
In the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, the conservation accords that BCI and Vie Sauvage have
created with the people allocate certain areas of forest for protection and other areas for agriculture.
Slash-and-burn farming techniques are usually done a short walk into the secondary forest that sur-
rounds the villages. Trees are cut down and burned, and the land is farmed. People use the patch for
two to three years, until the soil is depleted, and then they leave it fallow for at least ten years. They
rotate their fields within a certain area, and so long as the population density remains low, the cycle
leads to little deforestation. Some hunting is allowed within the reserve as well, of duiker, buffalo,
and small animals, though wire snares are prohibited.
In my conversations with Sally, I had learned how contentious the use of the forest can be. The
people here see it as their birthright, as the source of their livelihood and nourishment, and they are
reluctant to put it under the custodianship of outsiders. Conservation has to work carefully, aware
of the ancient human relationship with the land, spiritual traditions, and tribal boundaries. It must
also recognize how local people have for centuries endured exploitation by foreigners. The conser-
vationists' vision for the forest must coincide with that of the Bongandu if they expect to attain their
objectives. In the name of economic development, the West devastated much of its own forests, and
conservationists must remind themselves of this when the temptation arises to take the moral high
ground. The daily struggle for sustenance overshadows all talk of protecting wildlife. In working
with the Congolese to preserve their forests, conservationists must know exactly what they are ask-
ing in each instance, in each distinct place and community, always being conscious of the economic
stakes for local people, and they must forge common goals with them if conservation is to succeed.
Over the past few years, spending time in countries with catastrophic situations, I'd become
skeptical of NGOs. Whether in Japan or Afghanistan, I'd seen how little aid and development
money made it to the ground, how much of it got lost in bureaucracy and enriched people who least
needed help. It was hard not to ask whether conservation NGOs were making concrete and lasting
change, or simply providing careers for their founders and for staff and scientists. The conserva-
tionist Richard Leakey, in speaking of wildlife management programs, has emphasized the need not
on “theories and experts,” but for “the guys on the ground.”
In the afterword to Dale Peterson's
Eating Apes
, Karl Ammann, a nature photographer and con-
servationist, defines “experts” as “highly paid . . . outside theorists and professional biologists.”
He asserts that conservation efforts need to focus more on supporting the people “who are already
there, on the ground, supporting people who like people and who consider the studying of wildlife
and habitat as a secondary priority.” Being a scientist might be no more important to conservation
than the involvement of those with the ability to understand people and work well within their cul-
ture. By partnering with local leaders and training communities in conservation methods, conser-
