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In 2002, the Sierra Club Foundation
distributed $150,000 to The
WILD Foundation for
• specialized training of a group of
African park wardens and rangers;
• citizen advocacy and nongovernmental
organization (NGO)
training;
• work with the Kissama Foundation
in Angola for the reintroduction of
elephants, training local game
guards, and capacity building;
• work with the Cheetah Conservation
Fund in Namibia for cheetah
conservation, particularly integrated
with scientific research,
conservation biology, and rural
education; and
• a small grants fund to foster NGO
capacity and responsiveness.
While one of the core purposes of
the Beyond The Borders Southern African
program with the WILD Foundation
centers on the protection of
endangered wildlife (e.g., work in
Angola with translocating elephants;
cheetah conservation in Namibia), the
Sierra Club clearly understands that
this goal is most effectively achieved
by a broad-based program that focuses
on the needs of human communities
in relationship to the endangered wildlife.
For example, a significant part of
the program in South Africa has been
conducted through WILD’s sister organization,
the Wilderness Foundation
(South Africa), and deals
specifically with developing a network
of citizen advocacy and involvement
with each of the major wilderness areas
in the country. While this effort is already
working in each of the 10 wilderness
areas, the particular focus is
on the Bavianskloof (Baboon’s Ridge)
wilderness area in the Eastern Cape.
The Cape province contains five of
the world’s seven floristic kingdoms,
and the Bavianskloof area in particu-
African and international training group at the 7th World Wilderness Congress wilderness managers
training course in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Photo by Vance Martin.
lar supplies 90% of the water for the
entire Eastern Cape region. The area
is a matrix of interests, including government
land, private farms, and indigenous
communities that are often
at odds with each other. Sierra Club’s
efforts there with WILD and the Wilderness
Foundation are helping to facilitate
a long-term resolution between
these conflicting interests, and the
eventual full and final designation of
the Bavianskloof as the newest and
largest wilderness area in South Africa.
Another project in South Africa was
visited by the Sierra Club’s Michelle
Perault (vice president, International)
and Stephen Mills (director, International
Programs) to better understand
how WILD is working with other organizations
in very rural Kwazulu
Natal on the concept of a “community
conservation area.” Such a protected
area may eventually be proclaimed on
tribal land, amongst adjacent tribal
districts, creating ecotourism and
other local benefits. A great deal of effort
is needed at these early stages of a
project, such as facilitating communi-
cation between conflicting tribal interests,
clarifying local perceptions, providing
education and training, and
long-term planning. The entire process
takes a lot of time.
Finally, the hard work of conservation
NGOs, who are at the forefront
of local and regional wildlife and wildland
issues, are greatly enhanced by
grants that address small but critical
equipment needs, additional skilled
people, and minimal travel funds to
meet with other groups. The Sierra
Club and WILD are addressing these
needs in a wide variety of ways, including
supplying digital cameras, a
sail–powered patrol boat for a coastal
national park in Mozambique, and
administrative assistance for the
Bateleurs, a group of private pilots who
loan their skills on behalf of conservation
causes and issues.
The Mexico Project
It was February of 2001 when the Sierra
Club’s board of directors met in
Brownsville, Texas—located on the U.S.
border with Mexico—and Matamoros,
International Journal of Wilderness DECEMBER 2002 • VOLUME 8, NUMBER 3 5