I am sat in a cold, admittedly dry, office space sending emails and receiving them until my eyes are going square. This is the less glamorous side of the Conservation world. At least it is if one is in a wintry Oxford. The fund-raising ideas are flowing thick and fast, with potential donors identified and itchy fingers ready to send off proposals complete with please(s) and thank you(s). It seems a far cry from Mareja, and yet without all of this, that wonderful place that captures the heart and mind will not remain in its current state with an undulating canopy as far as the eye can see.
An old friend just sent me a picture of a beautiful bull greater kudu staring straight at the camera from bush that looks quite a lot like the sort of place one would find them in Mareja. After admiring and reminiscing about my Ruaha days, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that it will be quite some time before the numbers of kudu in Mareja will climb back to where they should be. Whilst driving around the Mareja tracks, I remember thinking how strange it was that one could not see Hartebeeste, Niassa Wildebeeste, more Sable, Greater kudu and impala. Apparently there was a solitary wildebeeste wandering around Lake Bila Biza.
I suppose that is part of the mantra of those that choose to make their business; ...BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE...HALT THE SLIDE INTO EXTINCTION. I hope that future generations of Mozambicans will be able to say they have seen these large mammals, relatively close by, and be proud of that fact.
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