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Day 2 - Interaction between Wilderness and Human Communities
Highlights of the day by Diana Roberts and Ross Whinnett

The second and final day of the World Wilderness Summit at the 7th World Wilderness Congress primarily focused upon two main themes -the...

Speech  by Bruce Hamilton, National Conservation Director, Sierra Club

Most Western scholars will say that the idea of permanently protecting wild country as national parks and wilderness areas was born in the United States. After all, that's where...

GREEN LEAF AWARD FOR ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT

Angolan conservation efforts were honored at the 7th World Wilderness Congress by the presentation of the Green Leaf Award to the Angolan government. The award has only been presented by...

View the days schedule

DAY 2 - Interaction between Wilderness and Human Communities, and Part 1 of the Mega Wilderness Concept

Dr Vandana Shiva (India)

The second and final day of the World Wilderness Summit at the 7th World Wilderness Congress primarily focused upon two main themes - the interaction between wilderness, conservation and human individuals and communities, and the concept of wilderness defragmentation - the mega wilderness concept.

During the first session, chaired by Mr John Seed of the Rainforest Information Centre of Australia, inspiring speakers Dr Martin von Hilderbrand (from Colombia, Founder of Fundacion Gaia Amazonas) and Dr Vandana Shiva (from India, Director of the Research Centre of Science, Technology and Ecology) spoke about the vital need to integrate local indigenous human communities into the future sustainable management and conservation of wilderness. That there is no way to really defend wilderness if those who are reliant on it, have close ecological and spiritual affinities with it and therefore an integral need to defend it, are now excluded and their contribution ignored. Dr von Hilderbrand outlined the relationship between the 60,000 indigenous inhabitants of the Colombian Amazon with their rainforest environment, stressing that beyond science there are other ways to view the world. Dr Vandana Shiva inspired us with her vision of the wild, as not the opposite of cultivated, meaning working with nature to sustain ourselves, but the opposite of captive and controlled, i.e., the domination of nature, which has become the human way. She called for the overriding need to stop the patenting of seed crops, was highly critical of organisations that genetically modify crops and also called for a ban on herbicide-use across the world. Prof. Wangari Maathai from Kenya and Founder of the Green Belt Movement was also due to speak in this session, but unfortunately was unable to attend on the day. Hopefully we will hear from her later in the congress.

Dr Martin von Hildebrand (Columbia)

Strategies for wilderness and human communities were discussed by five speakers in the second session, chaired by Ms Nomkhita Mona, CEO of the Eastern Cape Tourism Board. Mr Khulani Mkhize, CEO of KwaZuluNatal Wildlife discussed the complex legacy left from colonial times and apartheid, which now entails the sensitive integration of the needs of all parties in relation to the threat now placed upon previously Protected Areas through valid land claims. Mr Alec Marr of the Wilderness Society, Australia discussed the challenge of restoring past damage and returning land to indigenous people in Australia. He stressed the struggle this entails and promoted direct action as necessary to achieve protection of wilderness under threat from economic imperatives, such as mining and timber felling. In relation to Madagascar, Mr Serge Rajaobelina, Director of FANAMBY, presented a bleak picture of current wilderness protection and conservation in this area of extraordinary endemism. Abject poverty and unsustainable land-use, leading to a forest destruction rate of 200,000 hectares per year, in an area where 80 per cent has been lost and only 10 per cent of remaining forest is protected, combines to present the complex problem of accommodating development needs versus conservation of the unique flora and fauna of Madagascar. Mr Rajaobelina ended with a plea to delegates and the world to assist in meeting this challenge for all of our benefits. Mr Bruce Hamilton, Conservation Director of the Sierra Club, USA, described the origins of the concept of wilderness in the US, stating that the idea of protecting nature from development through government action evolved in the US due to the vast culture clash between indigenous and non-indigenous cultures. Finally, Mr Bittu Saghal, Editor of Sanctuary Magazine from India, gave us an inspiring talk of his work convincing others of the need to conserve wilderness, with the fundamental question 'why should the world's finest product (wilderness and nature) need a salesman?' He ended with the dire warning that if India loses the tiger, the whole wilderness in India will be lost for 'what good is a kingdom without a king?

Dr Michael Soule (USA)

The first session of the afternoon, chaired by Dr John Hanks of Conservation International, Cape Town, covered the concept of mega wilderness - the need to protect large areas of land and link fragmented areas. Dr Hanks further discussed the establishment of Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in Africa, outlining their three major objectives: the conservation of biodiversity, opportunities for socioeconomic upliftment through ecotourism and, crucially, the overall promotion of a culture of peace and international cooperation. He described three TFCAs already underway in southern Africa: the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park covering 37,900 square kilometres between Botswana and South Africa; the Three-Nations Namib Desert between South Africa, Namibia and Angola, which will make one of the largest wilderness areas in the world; and the Okavango/Upper Zambezi TFCA between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which is aimed to go far in mitigating human/elephant conflict and localised elephant overpopulation. One of the world's leading conservation biologists, Dr Michael Soulè, Science Director of The Wildlands Project, re-emphasised the importance of devoting large areas to conservation, such as the TFCAs being established in Africa. His argument being that this is the only way to secure biodiversity and halt loss through fragmentation, stressing that small, isolated pockets of reserve are the 'walking dead'. He also talked about the need to provide space for large carnivores as keystone species and their role as indicators of ecosystem health. Mr David Johns, Director of The Wildlands Project, closed the session with a discussion on the necessity of changing what is possible in implementing large-scale wilderness protection with an emphasis on the need to protect those ecosystem processes that make a place wild. He concluded that a partnership between scientists, politicians, economists, people in local communities and the game scouts and rangers on the ground was the only way to get this right.

A few of the many delegates from the provincial conservation authorities and parliament

The last session of the day was very much to do with the interface between wilderness and the human spirit. The emphasis was the individual's spiritual relationship with wilderness and nature, and to this end highly subjective. The writer, poet and psychiatrist, Dr Ian McCallum, who also chaired the session, emphasised that a sense of self is linked to the sense of landscape. Linking with earlier talks, Prof. David Rothenberg, writer, philosopher, musician and member of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, reiterated the need to include local indigenous peoples in the conservation process. A video presentation, 'The Power of Story and the Capacity for Change', of The Reverend Thomas Berry, Director of the Riverside Centre, was shown. One of its key messages being that the lack of legal status for the non-human world constitutes one of the biggest obstacles to conservation. Finally, we had the Sanusi, Credo Mutwa, talk to us about the cooperation between humans and animals and how this has been lost over the generations and the implications of this loss for us now. To emphasise this point he described a certain seed that has healing qualities associated with HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, this seed can only germinate having first passed through the gut of a particular bird, which is now extinct. He ended with a heart-felt plea to care and weep for Africa, the continent that mothered us all.

The day closed with a presentation by Mr Vance Martin, President of the WILD Foundation and International Director of the 7th World Wilderness Congress, of the Green Leaf Award, presented only twice before, to the government of Angola for vision and perseverance in wilderness and wildlife preservation in Angola. In the evening a gala dinner was held in honour of Dr Ian Player, founder of the World Wilderness Congress, as well as the Wilderness Leadership School, South Africa and the Wilderness Trust, UK.

By
Diana Roberts
(MSc Wildlife Management: Conservation and Control, University of Reading, UK)

Ross Whinnett
(Rural Resource Management (BSc Hons) Student, Writtle College, Chelmsford, Essex, UK)

SATURDAY, 3 NOVEMBER

07:30 Registration Open, Feather Market Hall, Town Centre

08:30 - 09:00 Organ Music 

09:00 - 10:15 Wilderness and Human Communities
Chair - Mr John Seed (Rainforest Information Center, Australia)

Columbia - Dr Martin von Hildebrand (Founder, Fundacion Gaia Amazonas)
India - Dr Vandana Shiva (Director, Research Centre for Science, Technology and Ecology)
Kenya - Prof. Wangari Maathai (Founder, Green Belt Movement)
Wilderness and Community

10:15 - 10:45 Refreshments

10:45 - 12:45 Strategies for Wilderness and Human Communities
Chair - Ms Nomkhita Mona (CEO, Eastern Cape Tourism Board) 

Africa - Mr Khulani Mkhize, (CEO KwaZuluNatal Wildlife)
Wilderness and Human Communities in KwaZulu Natal
Australia - Mr Alec Marr - (The Wilderness Society) 
Australian Wilderness - The Status, the Challenges, the Future.
Madagascar - Mr Serge Rajaobelina (Director, FANAMBY) Wilderness - A Future in Madagascar
USA - Mr Bruce Hamilton (Conservation Director, Sierra Club, USA) 
A Century of Wilderness Activism
India - Mr Bittu Sahgal (Editor, Sanctuary Magazine) The Wilderness Trail: Wildlands and Tribal Communities in India

12:45 - 1:45 Lunch

1:45 - 3:00 Mega Wilderness: Part I
Chair - Dr John Hanks - (Conservation International, Capetown) 
Transfrontier Conservation Areas in Africa - Their Role in Conserving Wilderness Areas 

Dr Michael Soulé (Science Director, The Wildlands Project)
The Role of Top Carnivores in the Regulation of Ecosystem Structure and Diversity
Mr David Johns (Director, The Wildlands Project)
The Necessity of Changing What's Possible - Implementing Large-Scale Wildlands Protection.

3:00 - 3:30 Refreshments

3:30 - 5:15 Wilderness - The Spirit of People and Place
Chair - Dr Ian McCallum (Psychologist)
Wilderness and a Sense of Self

Prof. David Rothenberg - (writer, philosopher, musician; New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA)
The World and the Wild: Can People and Wilderness Meet?
The Reverend Thomas Berry (Director, The Riverside Center) 
Video Presentation 
The Power of Story and The Capacity for Change
Credo Mutwa (Zulu sanusi) (shown right)
Africa is Our Story

5:15 - 5:30 Closing of Wilderness Summit
Mr Vance Martin (President, The WILD Foundation; Co-Director, 7th WWC) Wilderness: Now, More Than Ever 
Mr Murphy Morobe (Chairman) - Closing, World Wilderness Summit 

7:30 "Celebrating Wilderness" - An African evening of food, music and message - EC Steel Band, New Generation Dancers