2020-04-01 Forbes Africa

APRIL 2020 FORBES AFRICA| 85

FORBESAFRICA

FORBES LIFE• CONSERVATION

FORBESAFRICA.COM

Photo by Ramdas Iyer; Photo by Guillaume Duboscq

replantingeffortswithhundredsofvillagesin

Casamance,thecountry’sbreadbasket.Countless

villagershelpedreplantabout35,000acresin

Casamance,andanother2,500acreswerereplanted

elsewhereinSenegal.It hasbeenoneofthelargest

mangrovereplantingeffortsintheworld.I was in

chargeofseedcollectionanddistribution.

Q.I wasintheCasamancelastyearonan

explorationfromSaloumDeltaandtheupper

reachesoftheGambiaRiver.Mangroveforests

seemedtodominatethedelta.Howdidtheseed

collectioneffortbecomeananti-poachingeffort?

A.I alsoworkedbrieflyina smallparkcalledthe

FathelaReserveintheSaloumDeltaofSenegal

where,bychance,I metJean-MarcFromentof

AfricanParksNetwork.Whilehedidnotpromise

mea job,heconnectedmewithJanStevenson,the

managerofthenewly-formedOmoNationalParkin

Ethiopiawhothenhiredmeasanunpaidvolunteer.

Q.It musthavebeenexcitingtogetthisbreak...

A. Absolutely! Romance aside, it is also one of

themostremoteparksonearth.Spanningover

4,500sqkm,it is oneofthehardestplacestoreach

onearthwithnoroadsoranyformofinfrastructure

noranysupportfortravelers.I wastaskedwith

trainingthelocalsasrangers,settingboundariesby

GPS-mappingandmanaginghumanactivitywithin

theparkwheretheancientpastoralistMursitribes

hada man-animalconflict.I wasfinallymadeField

OperationsManagerwithanti-poachingtraining

responsibilities.Between 2005 and2008,wepatroled

8,000kmbyfoot.Whatmadeit specialformeis that

myfather,a formermemberoftheFrenchSpecial

Forces,volunteeredtoteachmilitarytacticsand

shootinginstructionsfortherangers.It wasa special

placeinsidea UNESCOworldheritagesitewhere

thefossilremainsofHomosapiensfromover195,000

yearsagohadbeendiscovered.It feltasthough I was

asmanyyearsawayfromcivilization.

Q.Didyouhaveaccesstocoldbeerorair-

conditioning?WhendidyouleaveOmo?

A.Suchluxurieswereonlyavailableduringanannual

triptoAddisAbaba.I leftOmowhenAfricanParks

stoppedworkinginEthiopiain2008.

Atthattime,theysentmetoa verychallenging

place,theGarambaNationalParkintheDemocratic

RepublicoftheCongoneartheconflict-riddenSouth

Sudanborder,andthetroubledregionsofUganda

where20,000elephantshadbeenslaughteredin

previoustwodecades.Here,thepoacherstypically

includedgunmenfromSouthSudan,theJanjaweed

andmembersoftheLord’sResistanceArmy(LRA),

a militantrebelgroupandrenegadeelementsofthe

Congolesearmy.

Inoneskirmishwithpoachers,parkguardshad

toprotectthemselvesfromhandgrenadesthrown

bysouthernSudanesepoachers,someofwhowere

wearingmilitaryuniforms.TheLRAattackedthe

park’sheadquarters,killing 15 employeesandfamily

membersin2009.Justtwodayspriortotheattack,

I tookoffwitha colleagueina Cessnaaircraftoutof

thepark.I learnedthatyoungboyskidnappedfrom

UgandaandSudanwerepartoftheattackingforce.I

wasdeterminedtohelprebuildtheGarambaforce’s

moraleduringwhenCongoleseandparkforcesand

unitsfromtheU.S.military’sAfricanCommand

helpedinsupportingtheanti-poachingefforts.

Q.Sincethen,haveyoufearedyourlifeis in

danger?

A.Inthisprofession,oneis alwaysmotivatedto

dobetter,especiallygiventhecommitmentofour

managers and field rangers. After shoring up the

Guillaume

Duboscq