July 10, 2009

"Achieving a state of harmony between people and nature has become the essence of our conservation philosophy."

When WWF was created almost 50 years ago, our work focused on saving spectacular animals, then grew to include conservation of the habitats these animals call home. We took that work to scale to conserve places big enough to last, and found that more often than not these larger places included people and communities who looked to the natural world for their livelihoods. Logical enough, then, that achieving a state of harmony between people and nature has become the essence of our conservation philosophy.

This philosophy grounds our work in Namibia, where WWF’s LIFE program helps put money in people’s bank accounts and has delivered breathtaking results in species recovery. It enables our programs in Bhutan, where conservation is at the heart of the country’s development paradigm, and where the constitution stipulates that a minimum of 60 percent of all forest cover must remain intact. And it drives our work on the border of Mozambique and Tanzania, in the spectacular Greater Ruvuma Landscape, one of the largest unfragmented wilderness areas in Africa.

In the Ruvuma, human populations on both sides of the border share the distinction of being among the most vulnerable in both countries. Fragile livelihoods remain inextricably linked to the area’s natural resources. And a new government in Mozambique, recovering from decades of civil strife, has defined its economic trajectory by linking natural resources and human development.

So the world’s largest development organization, CARE, and the world’s largest conservation organization, WWF, have joined forces in this region. We’ve assembled a joint team of some of our best and brightest to develop a vision of 21st-century agricultural development, resource management and poverty alleviation. Because partnerships require hard work and persistence, dedicated staff, and discretionary resources, we have determined to put all of that on the table. The boards of both organizations are committed to success, as am I and Helene Gayle, CARE’s CEO. This partnership has already begun to draw the attention and support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, USAID and others. Working together, we hope to bring harmony to the people and land of the Ruvuma, and to inspire many more successes. The world’s most fragile ecosystems and poorest people are depending on us to get this right. And while the stakes could not be higher, the rewards will be incomparable—for conservation, for the Ruvuma, and for the coexistence of humanity and our planet.

Carter S. Roberts