From JOHN NEWBY
Fred Pearce, in his article ‘The green missionaries of Africa’ (Forum,
21 April), has missed the point about the role of protected areas in the
developing world, preferring no doubt to emphasise the negative aspects
of his one-sided argument.
While it is clear that organisations such as WWF and IUCN must assess
in depth the effects and consequences of their activities on rural folk,
their approach to conservation of natural resources through protected areas
is based on sound principles.
Given the widespread deterioration of all natural resources in the Sahel,
and the overwhelming dependence of the Sahelian peoples on these same resources
for their survival, sound management practices are urgently required. Correctly
designed, protected areas provide an ideal framework to deal with resource
management in a sensitive, realistic and site-specific way. They allow limited
financial resources to be applied directly to conservation problems as diverse
as soil erosion, overgrazing and habitat rehabilitation, in a way that general
measures such as legislation or public awareness cannot hope to tackle in
the short and medium terms.
What is at stake is not the principle of protected areas but the way
in which they are managed. While there will, in my opinion, always be a
need, nay an obligation, to preserve major elements of our planet’s natural
heritage in traditional parks and reserves, the design and management of
protected areas is rapidly changing to accommodate human needs and desires
for a sounder future.
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John Newby WWF representative Niger
