Exchange to Change June 2018 E2C-may18-web | Page 7

INTERVIEW
they may be different in amplitude
and intensity, their effects have similar
outputs and cannot be underestimated.
Local and global economic pressures
are increasingly posing threats to
environmental sustainability given
that economic development requires
the exploitation of natural resources.
The rapid increase in local and global
technology also directly increases
natural resource usage, which has
a negative impact on environment
health and subsequently on public
health. This is why international
policies are increasingly emphasizing
and strengthening the links between
environmental protection and economic
development.
SS: I think protecting wildlife and
promoting economic development are
not mutually exclusive. The two goals
are interlinked, and you cannot achieve
one without affecting the other. You
cannot secure protection for wildlife, for
example, if people living in and around
wildlife areas are unable to feed their
families especially with the current
high population growth rates. Nor can
you achieve livelihood improvement
without utilizing biodiversity resources-
particularly in Africa where a majority of
people depend on biodiversity resources
for their livelihood. Beyond local
livelihoods, Africa is also transitioning
to a period of rapid modernization and
increased investments: in agriculture,
mining and gas. Superimposed on
the same blueprint is also a myriad
of other blueprints — blueprints for
infrastructure projects that include
roads, railways and dams; blueprints for
logging concessions; and blueprints for
human settlement.
There is a false assumption that Africa’s
wildlife and wild lands must or should
be sacrificed in order for the continent
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to modernize and maintain the steady
pace of its economic growth, and most
governments are unfortunately making
these sacrifices. I argue that these
sacrifices are unnecessary.
E2C: Which strategies can be applied
to ensure that environmental
conservation and economic and
human development are compatible
goals?
SS: Land sparing: increasing agricultural
yields while limiting the area needed for
farming, will ensure retention of larger
areas under natural habitats and limit
the immense impact of agriculture on
the rest of biodiversity. This will require
identifying yield-enhancing systems
with low environmental costs e.g.
integrated pest management, genetic
modification, etc. The key questions
that remain are whether this approach
is applicable across different biota and
E xchange to change J une 2018