Mike Arnold, Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia and author of the trend-setting new book, Bringing Back the Lions: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique, recently attended the 20th meeting annual African Wildlife Consultative Forum in Maputo, Mozambique. Held in different African locations each year, the forum organized by the Safari Club International Foundation brings together stakeholders involved in sustainable use models (ie trophy hunting) across the continent. Most of the countries represented by government officials, community leaders and academics were from the southern African regions, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. However, attendees also hailed from Central, West and East Africa, as well as Uganda, Tanzania and Cameroon.
“It was a great honor to be invited to attend and contribute to this important meeting on the future of wildlife in Africa and the role that hunters and hunting play in not only helping species survive, but also thrive,” said Arnold, who is well known and highly respected both for his research and writing on conservation biology. “As Fernando de Sousa of the Mozambican Ministry of Lands and Environment so wisely stated when the conference opened, Africa must make use of its wildlife resources for community development, and without an ‘economic benefit’, extinction of wildlife in Africa will be the result. .”
Arnold’s acclaimed book, Bringing Back the Lions, details how a small group of professional hunters spearheaded a nearly 30-year effort to return a once-incredible wildlife paradise from a decimated, near-barren landscape to one of the world’s leading wilderness of the world that the area of Mozambique known as Coutada 11 is today. While attending the recent forum, he had the honor of presenting a copy of this groundbreaking work to the Honorable Carlos dos Santos, Ambassador of Mozambique to the United States.
More information on the African Wildlife Consultative Forum can be found at https://www.awcfinfo.org/. You can order your own copy of Bringing Back the Lions: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique at www.Amazon.com, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/, and other excellent bookstores.