u
AWF will provide a special
advisor to guide South Sudan
on how best to develop its
wildlife management policies.
ADvisinG
A neW nAtion
S
outh Sudan may still be in its infancy in terms of
statehood, but its biodiversity has matured over
millennia and rivals the flora and fauna of some of the
continent's most established nations.
Home to several endemic wildlife species--from the
Nile lechwe, an endangered species of antelope, to the
Hoogstral's striped grass mouse--South Sudan also boasts
more than 1,000 endemic plant species. Its national parks
provide the backdrop to some of the largest migrations
in the world: Each year, about 600,000 white-eared kob
migrate between South Sudan's Boma National Park and
Ethiopia's Gambella National Park, making it Africa's
second-largest mammal migration.
Being a new nation, though, means South Sudan is still
developing its wildlife and land-use policies and is in the
early stages of establishing the infrastructure required
to both protect and benefit from its wildlife resources.
The government has therefore reached out to AWF for our
expertise in natural resource management and protection
and our knowledge of best practices in conservation.
In the coming months, a special AWF advisor will begin
liaising with the South Sudanese government and help project
a positive path forward for South Sudan's wildlife and people.
The advisor will provide the government with expertise,
contacts within the conservation community, and wisdom
of experience from AWF's decades of work on the ground,
ensuring that the new country's conservation agenda
ripens alongside its political and socio-economic agendas.
i
n the Kolo hills Forests of Kondoa, tanzania--
which provide the source waters for the tarangire
river--continued deforestation and degradation
from slash-and-burn agriculture prompted AWF to
implement a reducing emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation (reDD+) pilot project with
the royal norwegian embassy. hawa ibrahim chora
was among those who received an improved variety
of maize seeds and training in sustainable farming
techniques through the program. After planting
¾ acre of the improved seeds in 2011, she harvested
12 sacks of maize--which provided enough food for
an entire year, plus additional output that chora sold,
allowing her to purchase 26 metal roofing sheets
for her home. Best of all, she continued applying her
newly learned farming techniques in 2012--without
requiring any AWF involvement. Under the project,
farmers such as chora increased their maize yields
nearly eightfold.
REDD+
Success
35