Gosiame Neo-Mahupeleng, a native of northern Botswana, joined AWF in December of 2002 and has recently launched a project studying large carnivores in AWF's Kazungula Heartland. His research will focus in Chobe National Park in northeastern Botswana and in the eastern Caprivi area of Namibia. This project was created with the support of the Behrman family who donated funds in memory of Darryl Behrman.
The snows of Kilimanjaro are melting. Recognized throughout the world as a symbol of Africa's wild beauty and majesty, Kilimanjaro is the continent's highest mountain, located in northeastern Tanzania near the border with Kenya. Its two volcanic peaks stand about seven miles apart, connected by a broad "saddle." The crater of Kibo, the higher peak, is covered with an ice cap. But now the legendary glaciers are melting so rapidly that scientists predict they will all be gone in 15 years.
WILD SPECIES ARE FEELING THE HEAT
By Patrick J. Bergin, Ph.D.
Seven environmental activists were honored today in San Francisco with the 14th annual Goldman Environmental Prize.
The Goldman Environmental Prize is given annually to grassroots environmental heroes from six geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. (Two winners share the Island Nations award this year.) The Prize includes a no-strings-attached award of $125,000.
As the largest award of its kind, the Goldman Environmental Prize has been called the "Nobel Prize for the Environment."
If natural habitats are to be conserved, the people who depend on them must also survive. AWF believes that through conservation enterprise, conservation areas can be developed into commercially viable land, which can leverage space for wildlife while improving the livelihoods of local people. By assisting rural communities to establish conservation enterprises, the presence of wild animals becomes a potentially profitable opportunity rather than a costly nuisance.