African wildlife is newly endangered

12 May 2007

Breakfast is almost over. Fry-up, fruit and several pots of tea are all gone. Oddly enough, despite the roundly critical tone of a lot of what he has said, Leakey conveys a strong, if qualified, sense of optimism too. ‘I don’t think we should single out wildlife as a special case,’ he says. ‘It’s unlikely that people will have a good view of any badly-run institution, whether it’s health, education or tourism. What people want more than seeing a zebra is the opportunity for their kids to get a bursary. And with private-sector management you can generate far more revenue for people in areas where revenue collection is poor or there’s no revenue collection at all.

‘The KWS has done nothing about creating an environment where investors will want to put a lot of resources. We’ve got vast areas that are currently protected. There’s the area north of Lamu; the Bogoria reserve; several reserves north of Nakuru belonging to the Pokot and the Turkana, where nothing’s been done; Sibiloi’s never been touched; Marsabit’s never been touched. There must be 20 or so potential areas to invest in, where you can experiment. But if you can’t get there by road and there are no airstrips, why do it? That’s where the government’s role comes in.’

Leakey helps himself to a handful of the multicoloured prescription pills that are meant to keep his newest kidney happy. He is on good form — robust, engaged, passionate, interested in solutions as well as problems. ‘I’m trying to use my experience to guide and to advise and to influence,’ he says. ‘But I know from my own earlier days that advisers don’t always say the sort of things that you want to hear when you ask for advice. That’s par for the course, and I guess it’s one of the prices you pay for getting slightly older. You are ignored more and more.’ Or, as may be closer to the truth in his case, you are not.