G. G. WATTERSON
Secretary-General, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
" The survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave concern to all of us in Africa. These Wild creatures amid the wild places they inhabit are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration but are an integral part of our natural resources and of our future livelihood and well-being.
" In accepting the trusteeship of our wildlife We solemnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our children's grandchildren will be able to enjoy this rich and precious inheritance.
" The conservation of wildlife and wild places calls for specialist knowledge, trained manpower and money and eve look to other nations to co-operate in this important task - the success or failure of which not only affects the continent of Africa but the rest of the world as well.
J. K. NYERERE - Prime Minister
A. S. FUNDIKIRA - Minister for Legal Affairs
T. S. TEWA - Minister for Lands and Surveys
THIS Arusha Manifesto expresses in clear terms the attitude of the host Government of Tanganyika toward the conservation and development of its wildlife resources. It epitomizes also the tone of the discussions throughout the Pan-African symposium on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in Modern African States, which constituted the second stage of IUCN's African Special Project.
The meeting, held in early September 1961 at Arusha, Tanganyika, was attended by 139 participants from 21 African and 6 non-African countries, and 5 international organizations, not counting the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara, (CCTA) and IUCN who were jointly responsible for the preparation of the Conference. Among the participants were 15 "fellows" from the Central African Republic, Chad, Dahomey, Kenya, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Tanganyika, Togo and Uganda. Funds for this purpose had been offered by the American Conservation Association, the Deutsche Afrika-Gesellsehaft, the Fauna Preservation Society, the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland, and by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Among the messages of interest and good wishes for success that were sent to Arusha were those from Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Prince. Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
In his opening address, Sir Richard Turnbull, Governor of Tanganyika, who combines first-hand knowledge of the general deterioration of natural resources with considerable experience of the human and social problems of a modem African state, spoke in terms of the disasters which will inevitably descend on the people of a country if its natural renewable resources are not conserved. He stressed the fact that the preservation of wild animals, an undoubtedly great national asset, was dependent upon one overriding consideration, the preservation of the habitat. He acknowledged that man and his domestic animals were multiplying unchecked to bring about their own ultimate destruction by ruining for ever the land they lived on. And after outlining the wildlife policy of the Government of Tanganyika and the various problems which this raised, he summarized the situation under three main considerations: wildlife and wild nature were an undoubted source of revenue needed for social services, and must therefore be rationally "exploited" where. this was the best form of land use; public opinion, whose support was essential, must be convinced of the value of this heritage; and international aid would be needed if the world in general wished to see Africa's unique fauna preserved in Africa for the benefit of the people of Africa.
The joint organization of the meeting, under the co-sponsorship of FAO and UNESCO, boded well for such international support. J. S. Annan, of FAO, drew attention during the inaugural session to the destruction of wildlife, coupled with inadequately planned land-use practices, which constituted a real threat to the natural resources of Africa. He pledged FAO's full co-operation and support in assisting governments to develop a rational approach to integrating the conservation and development of wildlife resources into their programs of economic expansion. A. Gille, of UNESCO, spoke in similar terms, giving special emphasis to the need for general education in the principles of conservation as a basis for intensified rational use of Africa's natural renewable resources if the continent was to take its proper place in international affairs.
The Economic Commission for Africa of the United Nations (ECA) was also represented, and it was pointed out that the organization was already planning to conduct some research into the economics of tourism, based essentially on wildlife, in East Africa.
It was clear also that many nongovernmental organizations such as the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IUOTO), the Conseil international de la chasse (CIC), the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) and the Fauna Preservation Society, were anxious to assist. And there were indications also of bilateral and private aid such as that given by the Frankfurt Zoological Society which was putting up $5,600 for a hostel for visiting children in the Serengeti park.
In the light of such numerous and diverse offers of technical and financial help, the conference stressed the overriding need for ensuring that such necessary assistance be channeled in such a way as to avoid wasteful duplication, and thus encourage outside aid. It therefore warmly commended the implications of Stage III of IUCN's African Special Project as an essential follow-up to the conference and the change of attitude which it has so clearly brought out.
The establishment of a team of two consultants, comprising this Stage III, was considered as the only known effective means whereby situations and needs in Africa could be analyzed and assessed, priority determined, and help from outside adequately and impartially channeled.
The members of the team are Thane Riney,1 senior Fulbright fellow who has long been working in east and central Africa on wildlife management problems, and Peter Hill, previously manager of the experimental station attached to the Department of Agriculture of the University of Ghana. This team will be ready to begin work in Africa at the beginning of 1962, and its activities will be planned in the light of requests for guidance which are already coming in to IUCN's headquarters at Morges.
1See also Unasylva, Volume 15, Number 2. 14 The international importance of African wildlife."
Other recommendations and wishes formulated by the conference were on the subject of international aid for education and training in conservation at all levels; on land-use policies which should, among other objectives, aim at avoiding the occupation by agricultural and pastoral communities of land unsuited for such use in the long term, and on the need for greater attention to the economic aspects of the development of natural resources. Finally, the wish was expressed that countries assist in creating throughout Africa a type collection of natural habitats, and that a qualified scientific authority be consulted on its establishment and on the research to be undertaken within each area.
As Professor Baer, President of IUCN, said during the inaugural session, "Man in the past, out of sheer ignorance or greed, has wastefully destroyed plant and animal life, forgetting that neither he nor his children's children can ever become completely independent of their environment, and overlooking the possible contribution that these now extinct forms might have made to his own welfare."
The conference was a milestone in the history of the development of an awareness of the need for conservation of nature in Africa. In the words of Professor Théodore Monod, President of the Scientific Council for Africa South of the Sahara (CSA) and a member of the Executive Board of IUCN, Tanganyika has every reason to be proud of the part she played in this big common effort, in hastening the day when Africa will be the shining example to the world of a continent which, fully aware of the incomparable, irreplaceable value of its natural wealth, has devised ways of wise husbandry, avoiding unneeded destruction and achieving a sense of interrelationship between man and his environment in the interests of its own peoples and of mankind in general.
COMMENT ON "NATIONAL FORESTRY FUNDS"
(See pages 178-180)
The European Forestry Commission debated this subject and, after information had been given by delegates both on the forms of financing adopted in general in their countries, including forestry funds, and the respective merits of the different methods used, it become apparent that, either by the establishment of forestry funds or by other procedures and means, European countries had on the whole the necessary procedural machinery for ensuring both the improvement and development of the existing forests and their extension for physical, economic or social reasons.
Emphasis was laid on the need to include in the budget of funds the expenses relating to research, which is essential for the implementation of plans and programs of forest extension and rehabilitation. Provision should also be made for conducting active publicity campaigns in favor of wood and for educating public opinion in regard to forestry. It was suggested that the financial resources mobilized by national funds should be so used as to enable them to have a cumulative effect. This could be achieved either by combining money from other sources, or by encouraging further related investments.
