Africa Geographic November 2005 [antikvár]

li' '.IM 11 M . ij t'i' I .^i I 11 '( ''M t.,'' I,::«'' Ii V, I '1:1 S'^iiV editorial \U Through well-managed nature-based tourism, our natural] assets can give Africa an economic edge like no other ^ ^ T > ourism will be our salvation,' says Brendan Sainsbury's Angolan companion as he journeys in a rusty old converted cattle truck along the run-down remains of the Benguela railway line (see page 60). His confidence in the future for his country is heartwarming, for Angola has come from a past of horrors and civil war that no country or people should have to endure. Moreover, his belief in tourism is well placed and in the end will lead to a far more sustainable future for Angola than just the exploitation of its oil and diamonds. Tourism is a powerful force, a fact that is brought home to me in some shape or form every day. Early this morning 1 witnessed the lives of two young Swiss children being altered for ever - yesterday they were in autumnal Zurich and today they are in Africa having breakfast with giraffes. Quite literally, for they and 1 are at Giraffe Manor on the outskirts of Nairobi, where endangered Rothschild giraffes are bred as part of a privately funded conservation programme to help ensure their survival. The children fed the giraffes, which engagingly stooped to poke their big gentle faces through the open dining room windows and to take the offered pellets vrith their impossibly long tongues. The look on the children's faces said it all. I know that for the rest of their lives they will be coming back to Africa, hopefully one day with their own children in tow. All importantly though, it is not the hearts and minds of only foreign children that the giraffe breeding centre wins. Every year some 50 000 local children are bussed in to have what, for many of them, will be their first contact with the wildlife of their own country. 1 have little doubt that this single experience will inspire some of them into careers in conservation and tourism. We are so inclined to count the things we don't have in Africa and this can, and so often does, lead to a sense of inferiority, a sense that we just don't measure up to the developed world. In many ways, of course, we don't - general affluence, education, infrastructure, economic power, employment opportunities, consistently good governance, health care and so on. Granted, there are pockets of excellence and privilege where these things are achieved, but in the context of the continent as a whole that is all they are - pockets. Sustained progress in all these aspects and across the broadest front of African society is vitally important if the continent is ever to achieve anything like its true potential. What we do have, and in spades, are natural assets that much of the rest of the world can only look upon with envy. And through well-managed nature-based tourism, these assets can give Africa an economic edge like no other. Quite simply, we have sole copyright on the greatest show on earth, and as the rich nations of the world become increasingly manufactured environments and remote from the wild, so the queues will get longer to see our wildlife spectacles. About our magazine Aha Cffl^riipfec li editonally and financially independent. It enjoys the support and endorsement of several non-government organisât ons, but it is not affiliated in any way to ttiese bodies or to any otfier publistiing, environmental or political Interest group. Una, Ceogroptoc strives to foster an awareness of wildlife, conservation, eco-travel. Indigenous cultures and tfie general f u ¦¦ «'"""tes the wisest use of natural resources In a manner that Involves and is of rial benefit to the people of Africa. Mm, Geographic Is published lltlmes a year.