WATKINSVILLE, GA (Oct. 31, 2022) – Mike Arnold, a Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia and author of the trendsetting new book, Bringing Back the Lions: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique, recently attended the 20th annual meeting of the African Wildlife Consultative Forum in Maputo, Mozambique. Held in different African locations each year, the Safari Club International Foundation-hosted forum brings together stakeholders participating in sustainable use (i.e., trophy hunting) models across the continent. In the main, the countries represented by governmental officials, community leaders and academics, were from the southern regions of Africa — including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. However, attendees also came from central, western, and eastern Africa, as well with Uganda, Tanzania, and Cameroon.
“It was a great honor to be invited to attend and contribute to this important meeting regarding the future of wildlife in Africa, and the role that hunters and hunting play in not only helping species survive, but thrive,” said Arnold, who is well known and highly regarded for both his research and writing on conservation biology. “As Fernando de Sousa of the Mozambique Ministry of Land and Environment so sagely stated as the conference opened, Africa must make use of its wildlife resources for community development, and without an ‘economic benefit’, extinction of wildlife across Africa will be the result.”
Arnold’s highly acclaimed Bringing Back the Lions book details how a small group of professional hunters spearheaded a near-30-year effort to return a once-incredible wildlife paradise from a decimated and near-barren landscape to one of the world’s premier wildlands that the area of Mozambique known as Coutada 11 is today. While attending the recent forum, he was honored to present a copy of this groundbreaking work to the Honorable Carlos dos Santos, Mozambique Ambassador to the United States.
More information on African Wildlife Consultative Forum can be found at https://www.awcfinfo.org/. You can order your own copy of Bringing Back the Lions: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique from www.Amazon.com, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/, and other fine booksellers or by Clicking Here.
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