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A Giant's Comeback

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A Giant's Comeback W INT E R 2 0 1 0 n o s d o D y l l i B Home to elephants, rhinos and more, African Heartlands are conservation landscapes large enough to sustain a diversity of species for centuries to come. In these landscapes— places like Kilimanjaro and Samburu—AWF and its partners are pioneering lasting conservation strate- gies that benefit wildlife and people alike. Inside TH I S ISSUE n e s r u a L a n a h S page 4 These giraffes are members of the only viable population of West African giraffe remaining in the wild. A few herds live in a small AWF Goes to West Africa area in Niger outside Regional Parc W. AWF launches the Regional Parc W Heartland. A Giant’s Comeback t looks like a giraffe, walks like a giraffe, eats totaling a scant 190-200 individuals. All live in like a giraffe and is indeed a giraffe. But a small area—dubbed “the Giraffe Zone”— IGiraffa camelopardalis peralta (the scientific outside the W National Parc in Niger, one of name for the West African giraffe) is a distinct the three national parks that lie in AWF’s new page 6 subspecies of mother nature’s tallest mammal, transboundary Heartland in West Africa (see A Quality Brew having split from a common ancestral popula- pp. 4-5). Conserving the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro tion some 35,000 years ago. This genetic Entering the Zone with good coffee. distinction is apparent in its large orange- Located southeast of Niamey, Niger’s brown skin pattern, which is more lightly- capital, the Giraffe Zone spans just a few hun- colored than that of other giraffes. dred square miles. Considered part of the Parc The West African giraffe also tends to form W/Niger ecosystem, the zone is not formally looser herds (with members changing frequently) protected, and the giraffes share the area with and travel farther distances than other giraffe many villages. The animals move seasonally in subspecies, behavioral differences scientists search of food and water, between the zone’s page 7 attribute to the fairly dry climate in which plateau in the rainy season (Fakara) and the The Tiffany & Co. Foundation they live. fossil valley (Dallol Bosso) during dry periods. A jewelry giant gives back. Inevitably, giraffes turn to farmer’s fields in In the early 1900s some 3,000 West search of food and water. African giraffe roamed from Senegal to Chad. Today, only a few herds are left in the wild, Over the past few decades, human continued on page 3 www.awf.org 2 African Wildlife News www.awf.org Machache ~ A FEW WORDS BOARD OF TRUSTEES AWF, of course, has been assessing Dennis J. Keller Big News chair landscapes and wildlife in West Africa for Sir Ketumile Masire It’s not possible for me to attend every a long time. Given our mission to conserve vice chair Heartland event, but I’m pleased to tell you landscapes across the continent, there was Robin Berkeley I was among the 300+ coffee farmers, never really any question of whether we treasurer Myma Belo-Osagie conservationists, students, and other people would work to save wildlife in this part of secretary who helped inaugurate the Coffee-Quality Africa. The questions were more ‘when’ Greg Behrman Laboratory AWF opened in partnership with and ‘where.’ Paul Campbell Starbucks Coffee Company just outside About a year ago, when I was scoping Payson Coleman Nyeri (see p. 6). Donald Dixon projects in West Africa with AWF’s Board Lynn Dolnick The lab marks the latest milestone in Chair Dennis Keller, we ran into a conserva- Lisa Firestone the Kenya Coffee Heartland Project, tion official AWF had supported years ago. Paul Fletcher launched with Starbucks to help farmers I was gratified to see he had stuck with con- James Foght Donald C. Graham produce better coffee while bolstering servation and was obviously advancing in his Heather Haaga wildlife habitat. I even learned a thing or field. After thanking us for our support, he Mona Hamilton two about ‘cupping’—a practice that allows somewhat beseechingly asked when AWF Christine Hemrick tasters to evaluate the qualities of a particu- would begin to work in West Africa. I knew William E. (Wilber) James lar brew. then and there the time was right. Adrian M. Jay William S. Kalema This may sound like a small thing— AWF staff, meanwhile, had long been Walter H. Kansteiner III tasting coffee—but that’s only because many working on the ‘where.’ One landscape Dorothy Kim Robert E. King people don’t realize many farmers in Africa stood out in terms of its fit with our Shana Laursen lack access to tasting and roasting facilities, Heartland model—the Regional Parc W, a Victoria Leslie important tools for refining coffee growing vast transboundary landscape that reaches Ann K. Luskey techniques. The lab has changed that for into Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger and is James F. Makawa hundreds of farmers. home to the largest tract of protected Jimnah Mbaru savanna in West Africa. Benjamin W. Mkapa I wanted to highlight the Coffee- Razan K. Al Mubarak Quality Laboratory because it is such an I’m extremely proud to announce the Kristina Persson Elizabeth Robertshaw innovative example of how AWF works to launch of the Regional Parc W Heartland. Tia N. Roddy benefit people as well as wildlife. This important programmatic advance Stuart Scott affirms that AWF is on the right path with And here’s even bigger news: AWF has Aggie Skirball the right community of supporters. John R. Walter officially launched its first large-landscape Richard W. Weening program in West Africa, positioning itself as Thank you for making this possible. trustees emeriti a truly pan-African organization. Arthur W. Arundel E.U. Curtis Bohlen This is an important step forward for Joan Donner AWF—a huge programmatic advance made Patrick J. Bergin, Ph.D. Leila S. Green possible with your support. Chief Executive Officer John H. Heminway African Wildlife Foundation George C. Hixon n Henry P. McIntosh IV e s r u Sally Pingree a L a n Stuart T. Saunders, Jr. a h Russell E. Train S African Wildlife News is published four times a year. Publications and Marketing Manager Elizabeth Miranda ©2010 African Wildlife Foundation 1400 16th Street, N.W., Suite 120 Washington, D.C. 20036 202-939-3333 202-939-3332 (fax) 1-888-494-5354 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.awf.org CFC# 11219 Printed with soy-based ink Building upon the rich cultural heritage of West Africa, such as the Dogon villages of Mali, AWF believes that a combined Recycled Paper wildlife/tourism package can enhance support for conservation efforts throughout West Africa. www.awf.org African Wildlife News 3 e d r o o V e d News in Brief n a V s a n o J AWF Announces Charlotte Fellows AWF has named its 2009-10 Charlotte Conservation Fellows, six emerging scholars who all come from West Africa and several of whom work in and around the Regional Parc W, home of AWF’s newest Heartland. Etotepe A. Sogbohossou, a native of Benin, has conducted lion research in Benin, South Africa, Cameroon, and Kenya and is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Issa Nassourou is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geography at the Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger. His research focuses on management and rehabilitation of tourism sites Though still critically and the development of ecotourism, a highly endangered, the West undeveloped sector in Niger. African giraffe has bounced back from the Boubacar Boureima, a native of Niger, is brink of extinction. earning a Master’s in Natural Resource Management at the Abdou Moumouni populations have encroached increas- —an encouraging if far from robust size. University in Niamey, Niger. He is studying ingly upon areas where the giraffe lives, With your generous support, AWF is manatees of the Niger River and hopes to use destroying natural vegetation as land is joining conservation efforts and raising his study results to guide conservation strategies cleared for crop cultivation. This global awareness about this important of these large aquatic mammals. shrinking habitat, along with poaching remnant population. and land desertification, has triggered a Mohamadou Habibou Gabou is earning a rapid decline in the giraffe population. With its launch of the Regional Master’s in Natural Resource Management at Parc W Heartland, AWF is pleased to the Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Conservationists, fortunately, have support the latest annual census of the Niger. He will identify ways in which worked closely with villagers to manage West African giraffe. This year the communities around Parc W can be more the giraffe populations, secure giraffe Association for the Safeguard of the involved in the park’s management and what movement areas, and minimize Giraffes of Niger—the local NGO impact the traditional use of natural resources human-giraffe conflict. Those efforts heading up the census—hopes to count has on the environment. have paid off. While still critically more than 200 animals. In the initial endangered, the West African giraffe phase, now under way, researchers have Isidore Ogoudje Amahowe is researching the population has increased nearly four- already identified 85 giraffes, including impact of elephants on vegetation in the Djona fold since 1996. 10 calves. I Counting Critters Hunting Area of Benin for a Master’s degree in Analysis of Wildlife Populations at the Rural At its lowest point, the West African giraffe To learn more about how you can help AWF conserve the West African giraffe, visit Development Institute, Bobo-Dioulasso population plummeted to 50 individuals.
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