Henri Nsanjama

Africa leads the world in setting land aside for wilderness protection, argues Henri Nsanjama in the following viewpoint. However, Africa’s rapidly growing human population will place growing pressure on its wildlife. Nsanjama contends that African nations must link environmental protection with economic development for Africa’s poor. By developing tourism and related businesses, local communities that border national parks and preservation areas should be able to derive direct economic benefits from conservation efforts. The closing off of national parks entirely from local populations—a practice begun when Africa was under European colonial rule—must be rethought, he concludes. Nsanjama is vice president of the African and Madagascar Program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international conservation organization.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. When...