Talking about where the wild things are
Laurie Marker and Chewbaaka
Photo by: Suzi Eszterhas
The goal of community-based wildlife management is to integrate wildlife conservation and rural development and improve outcomes in both. Arizona State University will host lecturers on Oct. 1 - 2 whose working life experiences testify to the challenges inherent in such wildlife conservation in Africa.
Laurie Marker, founder and director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, will speak on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 at 4 p.m. in the Pima Auditorium in the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University. She will talk about “Sustainable initiatives: working towards ensuring the Cheetah's future in the wild.” Her visit is sponsored by the Global Institute of Sustainability and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ecoSERVICES group.
On Oct. 2, Peter Balint, associate professor of environmental policy in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, will discuss “The learning curve for Southern African community-based wildlife management in Zimbabwe and Namibia.” His talk is part of the School of Life Sciences Seminar Series and will be held in Life Sciences E-wing 104 at 2 p.m. on ASU’s Tempe campus.
Marker, named by Time Magazine as a “Hero for the Planet,” and most recently recognized as ABC World News’ “Person of the Week” and coined the “Ultimate Cat Lady,” will talk about the challenges and successes in sustainable conservation programs working to ensure Africa’s most endangered cats’ survival, including the fund’s Bushblok project, a recent recipient of Intel’s Environmental Tech Award. The fund has also launched the “Cheetah Country Beef” program, which promotes acceptance of cheetah on farmland, use of dogs as non-lethal protection for livestock, and eco-tourism and nets farmers premium prices for their beef. “Sustainable utilization of our natural resources combined with viable economic initiatives is key to conservation,” says Marker.
Balint will examine a range of community-based wildlife projects taking place in developing countries, specifically the CAMPFIRE project in Zimbabwe and Namibia’s Conservancy program. He will discuss how the analysis of programs’ variations in design, external conditions and performance, and host country’s national programs and local projects, can offer insight as natural experiments that can provide lessons to strengthen the next generation of programs.
These lectures offer a rare first–hand glimpse into communities “where the wild things are” and programs’ who work to bridge diverse needs and challenges to keep it so. Both events are free and open to the public. Space is limited.
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