24 BEST FRIENDS MAGAZINE July/August 2001

The idea is simple, and it’s worked for the animals and the land in other parts of the world. Howard Latin believes it will work for the lions of Africa.

So he’s bringing in the tourists to give the local people an incentive to maintain their ecological resources.  "Environmental law, environmental

 education is failing," explains the Rutgers University law professor. "It’s not giving people in developing countries what they want and need.

 We’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on education and programs, but when there’s a conflict between environmental law and

economic growth, economic pressures are going to win."

What Latin thinks can win is giving people a reason to protect their natural resources. Give them an economic incentive, he argues, and wildlife protection

and conservation will flourish. The economic pressures that drive people to destroy the land and its creatures are formidable. An extensive traveler, he

 recalls venturing to orangutan preserves in Sumatra. "I was walking up the mountainside to the feeding station where orangutans were being reintroduced

 to the forest and every step of the way you could hear chainsaws going off in the distance.  It was so bizarre.  Here you have the orangutans and nature

 and at the same time the whole reserve was under encroaching pressure from deforestation as the locals tried to get wood to sell in local markets. There

 was no way that area was going to be protected unless the locals were being paid to leave the forest alone.  But they weren’t.  There were laws

protecting the area but they didn’t mean diddly."

With his nonprofit group, EcoVitality, Latin is taking a more realistic approach to conservation. While a Fulbright scholar in South Africa, he went on safari

in Namibia and met Hobby Kreiner, a tour guide and ecological advocate. Latin wanted to put his ideas to the test and Kreiner provided him with the perfect

opportunity.  Working with Kreiner and his wife, Steffi, AfriCats was born.

"In Namibia, the desert lions are being killed off by herders and white land owners who are raising livestock," explains Latin. "So as soon as they wander

out of national park boundaries, they’re killed." There are three stages to saving the lions. First, they outfit the lions with telemetry collars to see where

 they’re going.  Second, they teach the local herdsmen how to track the lions with radios.  Of course, giving the people the ability to track the lions is

 giving them the power to exterminate the lions. "And they have centuries-old hostility to the lions," emphasizes Latin.

So third, AfriCats turns the old mentality completely on its head by bringing in the tourists.  "We then bring people to this unique and beautiful desert

 area where the locals can earn money by tracking the lions for the tourists to view.  This gives them a real economic interest in protecting the whole

 enterprise. We’re trying to turn the lions into an asset for them."

AfriCat is kicking off its first ecotours this summer. Small groups of eight will spend two weeks each from July through September, the

peak wildlife-viewing period of Namibia’s winter season.  The groups will be led by the Kreiners and will see wildlife from lions and elephants

to antelopes, eagles, flamingos, and other animals.  "There is a great deal of wildlife," says Latin. "There’s beautiful scenery, the roads

are good, and it’s extremely clean.  It was once a German colony, so there is a heavy influence there with lots of good German food.

"It’s the size of New Jersey, yet only about 500 tourists went there last year.  We’re hoping that the wildlife sanctuary and resort will grow

in popularity and we’ll be able to fund conservation through it."

Latin is already looking to take his model out of Africa. "In the long run, that’s what we’re going to have to do with wildlife everywhere.

We have to provide better ways for native populations to make a living than poaching and destroying the land.

"It’s an exciting venture and if it’s a success, which I think it will be, it can become a model for conservation projects all over the world."

For more information on Namibian Wildlife Safaris and the Desert Lion
Project, visit EcoVitality at http://ecovitality.org  or call (212) 966-8803. The
AfriCat Foundation web site is www.africat.org