When Namibia gained independence in 1990, teenager Pascolena Florry was herding goats in the country’s dry, desolate northern savannah. Her job, unpaid and dangerous, was to protect her parents’ livestock from preying jackals and leopards. She saw wildlife as the enemy, and many of the other indigenous inhabitants of Namibia’s rural communal lands shared her view. Wildlife poaching was commonplace. Fifteen years later, 31-year-old Pascolena’s life and outlook are very different. She has built a previously undreamed-of career in tourism and is the first black Namibian to be appointed manager of a guest lodge. Her village, and hundreds of others, have directly benefited from government efforts to devolve wildlife management and tourism development on communal lands to conservancies run by indigenous peoples. “Now we see the wildlife as our way of creating jobs and opportunities as the tourism industry grows,” she also says. “The future is better with wildlife around, not only for jobs, but also for the environment” (Florry 2004).
1.1.1
Sample Answer
Band 8
Government action on transferring authority
of wildlife and tourism management to create awareness among the local
indigenous population has not only transformed the people's outlook on wildlife
but also the country's economy and environment.
Band 7
The establishment of conservancies, run by
local communities and assisted by the government and NGOs, has been proved
successful to help developing countries to decentralize natural resources,
create jobs and improve the economy.
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