3. Are we getting conservation right in developing countries? (Mao Amis)

October 2020

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Ongoing biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation is most severe in the developing world, but the funding for conservation comes mostly from the developed world. In the past, conservation notoriously ignored the needs of local people. Times have changed, but how well are conservation initiatives working for people, and for nature, in the developing world now? My guest provided perspectives on this issue based on his work across East and Southern Africa.

Mao Amis has had a fascinating career course, inspired by his childhood in rural South Sudan and Uganda, and experiences at university in Kenya. He is now based in South Africa, where he earned his PhD in natural resources management and planning, and founded the African Centre for a Green Economy - a capacity building organization supporting the transition to a green economy in east and southern Africa.

Links to resources:

• African Centre for a Green Economy - Mao's organization

• Green Insights - The AfriCGE podcast, which delves into key environmental issues driving the transition to an inclusive green economy

• Francis Hallé's "canopy raft" - An article that reviews this innovative approach to studying the forest canopy, from back in the 1980s.