A US organisation has launched a fundraising initiative to save Africa’s animals
Fiona Macleod
An ambitious fundraising project in the Kruger National Park is calling on the support of environmentalists opposed to the concept that the future of wild animals depends on their ability to pay their way.
The project is underwritten by the Humane Society of the United States, a staunch opponent of “consumptive utilisation” the principle that if wildlife pays, it stays. The most controversial implementation of this policy is the trophy hunting of animals to raise money for their survival.
Paul Irwin, president and CEO of the giant US organisation, visited South Africa this week to set up the My Acre of Africa trust fund. He aims to raise $200-million for the Kruger and other national parks.
Irwin says his organisation is opposed to trophy hunting in national parks, but this is not a condition of his fundraising initiative.
“There is an operating principle against hunting in South African National Parks [SANParks], so we are in sync. But if hunting was ever introduced in the parks, it would become an issue,” he says.
A $2,5-million donation to SANParks in the mid-1990s by another US organisation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, caused a furore among local conservationists because it stipulates that no elephants may be hunted or culled on land bought with the donation. Critics argue that this condition is contrary to government policy that favours the sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
Irwin insists the involvement of the Humane Society of the United States in the My Acre of Africa project does not mean it will favour the protection of animals over the interests of people. “What’s good for animals is good for people and vice versa,” he says.
Nelson Mandela, who is chief patron of My Acre of Africa, launched the project last November. Irwin and Anton Rupert, former tobacco magnate and long-time conservationist, are his fellow patrons.
The project is the brainchild of local business giant Johnnic, whose chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa is one of the My Acre of Africa trustees. Other trustees include Murphy Morobe, chairperson of the SANParks board, and Mavuso Msimang, SANParks CEO.
My Acre of Africa aims to use bricks to raise funds for conservation. Environmentalists around the world are being asked to buy five million paving bricks that will eventually form a microcosm of the Kruger park.
This educational “living map” will replicate the salient features of the park and will probably be constructed inside Kruger Gate. It will cover about 75ha, but visitors will be able to walk around it in less than a day.
Asked if this 75ha microcosm will be all that’s left of the Kruger one day, Irwin says he does not foresee an “environmental holocaust but conservation has a serious shortage of money and the South African government has to focus its resources on society issues like Aids. We need to form international partnerships to provide resources for the care of the wild lands.”
The Humane Society of the United States has a membership of 7,5-million worldwide. In a plea to this membership, Irwin says: “Southern Africa’s parks and wildlife are an imperilled world treasure. As Mandela has said, ‘If we do not do something to prevent it, Africa’s animals and the places in which they live will be lost to our world and her children forever.'”
ENDS