Woodside family is on a mission to save African wildlife Woodside family is on a mission to save African wildlife (July 06, 2005)

Woodsiders take leadership role with the African Wildlife Foundation

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

David Thomson of Woodside was first bitten by the Africa bug when he went on a rugby tour of South Africa in 1970.

The young New Zealander spent the next three years driving tourists on safaris, and got thoroughly hooked on the fascination of African wildlife.

Thirty-five years later, Mr. Thomson is a trustee of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). He has become a missionary for both preserving its amazing wildlife and building support for the animals among the natives who share the land.

"This has been a wonderful experience," says Mr. Thomson, sitting in a safari tent in his Woodside back yard, as African drums beat for whirling dancers, and party-goers celebrate African wildlife at a recent fundraiser. "This is the pre-eminent conservation organization in Africa. We have a brilliant group of people throughout Africa who run programs."

Mr. Thomson and his wife, Karie, have also passed on their passion for Africa to their son, Paul, who now works for the African Wildlife Foundation in Washington, D.C. "I'm lucky I found the path," says Paul Thomson, taking time out from hosting duties at the party.

Growing up in Woodside, Paul attended Woodside Elementary School and Sacred Heart before getting a degree in natural resources management at the University of Michigan. Maybe it was inevitable that Paul gravitated to Kenya, where he worked as an intern for the African Wildlife Foundation, before joining the staff to help with communications.

Paul Thomson said he hopes the foundation's work is having positive results both for animals and for local people. "We're gaining ground on almost every front," he says, noting that the mountain gorillas in Rwanda are making a comeback.

In fact, Eugene Rutagarama, an AWF staff member who hung in with the mountain gorillas through the genocide in Rwanda, won the prestigious Goldman environmental award in 2001. "He's a real hero," the younger Mr. Thomson says.

AWF focuses on improving habitat for wildlife in eight "heartlands," from Uganda, Kenya, and the Congo, south to Limpopo in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. These are large cohesive landscapes necessary for preservation of species, Paul Thomson says. They are made up of different ownerships and cross national boundaries. "Elephants don't know borders," he says.

Within these heartlands, the AWF does research on the wildlife and their ecology, and develops programs that enlist the local populations in conservation projects where they benefit from protecting the animals and their habitat.

Mr. Thomson mentions a project to train and equip a network of local people to combat poaching in the Kilimanjaro area. "We educate the community," he says. "The scouts are proud to be part of the solution."

AWF has also trained Africans to be leaders in many of their projects. There are lots of black Ph.D.s on the staff. "I really believe that Africans are ideal stewards of wildlife," Mr. Thomson says.

AWF focuses on conservation projects that give local people an economic stake in preserving their wild animals. "We work with local people to make their economy benefit from wildlife," he says. "Then wildlife is no longer a nuisance; it becomes a livelihood."
INFORMATION

** For information on the African Wildlife Foundation, call 202-939-3321; e-mail pthomson@awf.org; or check awf.org. ** For information on Bushtracks Expeditions of Healdsburg, which is leading two safaris to Central and South African heartlands in 2006 in conjunction with the African Wildlife Foundation, call Lyn Lavery at 800-995-8689; e-mail Lyn@bushtracks.com; or check bushtracks.com. ** For information on Leopards Etc. of Occidental, California, which presents educational and corporate programs featuring live wild cats, call 707-874-3176; e-mail leopards@leopardsetc.com; or check leopardsetc.com.

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