World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007 - (Page 19)

Dr. Richard Carroll As managing director of WWF’s Congo Basin program, Richard Carroll’s expertise spans lowland gorilla behavior, African elephants, and the Congo Basin forest. Richard first went to Central Africa in 1976 as a Peace Corps volunteer and has been with WWF for 29 years. He lived in the bush until 1992, and now spends half his time there, overseeing efforts to conserve habitats, species, and the cultures of local populations. He has worked closely with the BaAka people, indigenous hunter-gatherers, helping them protect their forest resources. One of his proudest achievements is the formation in 1999 of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. protected by the local Bateke peoples, who regard them as ancestors. With funding from USAID, a WWF research team has habituated several groups of bonobos, and we are developing a community-based bonobo tourism program so that both the bonobos and the Bateke can benefit from their coexistence. In Coastal East Africa protecting nature means protecting food supplies. It’s another balancing act – between short-term demand and long-term security. For a family in Mozambique, the short-term is today, the demand is for food sufficient to make it to tomorrow. Along the eastern coast of Africa, WWF works with subsistence fishing communities and farming communities inland to help them build a future for themselves and for future generations using sustainable methods of harvesting natural resources. At the macro level, we influence national and international policies, forge partnerships with governments and business, and put the power of the marketplace to work to build new paths to sustainability. Our protection of coastal and marine ecosystems makes it possible for local communities to manage and benefit from their own natural resources rather than have to compete with overpowering commercial and industrial fleets that have been crossing the line of sustainability. Mozambique’s Quirimbas National Park is a good example of our efforts. We facilitated the creation of Quirimbas in 2002, and as word of its success spread the people of another community, Primeiras and Segundas, asked us to help them set up a similar reserve. The most inspiring result at Quirimbas: the protection of no-fishing zones has allowed depleted fish stocks to rebound, making more fish available in the waters zoned for artisanal fishing. The end products are more food, more income, and the basis for a sustainable fishery. Deforestation. Degradation. Desertification. It’s an African drumbeat of the greatest urgency. These phenomenon are evidence of the stress humans place on our natural environment. Both legal and illegal logging tear down the forests. So does slash and burn agriculture. Often, people must pack up and move in search of survival itself. As populations are worldwildlife.org 19 http://worldwildlife.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007

WWF - Annual Report 2007 Contents The Landscapes of People's Lives The President’s Report Africa, Land of the Soul Building Prosperity from Africa’s Natural Wealth A Namibian Odyssey Natural Capital: Putting a Price on Nature Investing in Fish and Fishermen Wildlife in the Balance Africans on the Move WWF Results Across the Globe A Different Kind of Fieldwork A River Dammed Pooling Efforts in the World’s Aquarium More Than Just the Daily Catch All Along the Equator A Partnership for Freshwater Funding and Financial Overview Statement of Activities Ways to Give Staff National Council Board of Directors

World Wildlife Fund - Annual Report 2007

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