An Eco-Bargain: Save Animals, Reduce Poverty

To protect wildlife in developing countries, most conservation groups have put animals in a well-run reserve, then safeguarded it as if it were a prison. This method would seem to keep animals away from illegal hunters and other threats from humans. But, so far, this kind of conservation hasn't led to much progress. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's annual report, nearly 40% of surveyed species are currently threatened, and their numbers are growing.

Dale Lewis has a different theory: Instead of helping the animals that are being hunted, help the people who are doing the hunting. In the West African country of Zambia, where he has lived and worked for nearly 30 years, Lewis has helped launch a new program that seeks to save wildlife by improving the livelihoods of local people. When nearby communities are economically stable, there is less reason for the people to hunt or harm endangered animals. The program is called Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), and it may help change the way wildlife is protected.

"I realized I could have told you all the vital statistics of an elephant, but not the vital statistics of the people who lived with an elephant," says Lewis, whose work is sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society. "Once you really begin to know what they're up against, you can really begin to understand (their behavior)." And once you understand that behavior, Lewis continues, you can change it.

In Zambia's Luangwa Valley, where Lewis is based, a farmer on his own might make $75 in a year. An illegal hunter, called a poacher, might pull in more than $300, thanks to the growing demand for ivory in Asia. "If I were in their position, I might set out a snare too," says Lewis.

COMACO encourages a safer, more consistent alternative: organic farming. Villagers who sign up for COMACO receive training in sustainable agriculture—such as organic bee-keeping techniques—and band together to form farming co-ops. COMACO agrees to buy their produce at a higher-than-normal price, and the organization sells the products to Zambian stores, under the brand name "It's Wild!" If villagers agree to join COMACO, they aren't allowed to poach, and they pledge to protect the land. COMACO checks up on its members. Villages that see elevated poaching rates, or evidence of erosion, earn visits from Lewis's staff. "We work together, and see if we're all better off," says Lewis.

The results are heartening. Some 40,000 villagers have joined COMACO since it was launched in 2001, and poaching rates have declined, although animal numbers have not yet rebounded. Some 800 guns and more than 40,000 wire snares have been turned in to COMACO, and many former poachers are now being retrained as wildlife guides. (Lewis notes that it costs a little more than $200 to retrain a poacher, but as much as $800 to catch, arrest and jail him.) Those traps are even being recycled, with a local jeweler refashioning the wire as necklaces and bracelets called Snarewear. (The jewelry isn't available in the U.S. yet, but you can make advance orders on COMACO's website.) "These are better ways of making an income (than hunting)," says Lewis. "If we can make sure that fathers don't teach their sons how to kill, poaching won't go on."

As population density and economic growth increase throughout the developing world, the ideal of the isolated, pristine nature preserve may become a thing of the past. Humans and wildlife will intersect, so only by taking care of people can we take care of animals.

--By Bryan Walsh
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