It's hard to show concern for anything else when so many people are dying and suffering. Places like DR Congo, Somailia and Southern Sudan have lost so much of their natural heritage as a consequence of power hugnry man made disasters and Kenya is facing the same future if nothing is done immediately. At WildlifeDirect.org where I work, we have all been having a really hard time focusing on what we need to. The organisation is fighting to keep the Virunga National Park in DR Congo alive. With the influx of Internally Displaced People to the periphery of the park, the immediate concern from a conservation perspective was that there would be a massive rise in charcoal making. People have to eat and therefore people need something to cook their food. All hands on deck, we managed to raise about $20,000USD to purchase good woods to make charcoal for the displaced.
Now we are facing a similar crises in Kenya. The Masai Mara's ecosystems survival is more or less entirely dependant upon tourism revenue. Need I say more. My colleague Paula is blogging about it on Baraza. The Mara Conservancy Trust has issued an official alert and we are hoping that the world will pay attention. After all, if there is a global consensus that this is a wonder of a world, than there should be a global responsibility in protecting it.
People will criticise us. People will say that this is typical of the west to care more about animals than the people. But, I am not of western stock and neither is the organisation. I believe strongly in the interdependance of all living creatures and since we humans took it upon us to be the alpha creature, well then, it comes with a price. So let's live up to what it should mean to be human.