An old African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The same can be said about the biodiversity and megafauna that make African safaris a $12 billion industry.
Our African adventure began in Tanzania, where the rain falls on Africa’s largest mountains and flows into the Rufiji River. Along Its journey, it collects minerals as it passes through Nyere, the largest national park in Africa. Those minerals feed the plankton, which, in turn, feed massive whale sharks and tiny coral polyps.
All life connects, and biodiversity bonds it together.
An Ethical Excursion
Our safari guide, Cathbert, stopped the jeep by the side of a muddy rut and said, “Look, rhino tracks.” Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania is one of the few places in Africa where wild rhinos roam. Every passing animal left footprints in the mud, but the rhinos’ were bigger and deeper than the rest.
Cathbert illustrated biodiversity as we drove by Maasai villages around Ngorongoro. “The Maasai have cows to eat the green grass when the rains come, but they need goats and sheep to eat the brown grass during the dry times.”
On the Serengeti, Cathbert told us about the great migration of the wildebeest. It’s the largest mammal migration on Earth, where the herd travels 800 kilometers across the park in search of green grass. Only a park this large could sustain these wildebeest herds. These herds, in turn, feed the lions and leopards.
We were careful when booking tour companies. Altezza, our African safari operator, practices social responsibility, actively supporting projects that protect the Serengeti from poachers. Altezza also provides industry-leading contracts to their guides. Cathbert said he switched to Altezza during COVID because their guaranteed contract allowed him to support his family.
We were equally cautious about whale shark encounters, selecting Kitu Kiblu on Mafia Island, situated at the mouth of the Rufiji River off Tanzania’s east coast. When the trade winds shift, they blow the nutrient-rich waters of the Rufiji to the Mafia coast, which attracts a seasonal population of whale sharks.
We dined with Kitu Kiblu’s founder, Jean de Villiers, Ph.D., after a breathtaking day of swimming with whale sharks. He is the “conservation half” of the Chole Mjini Conservation and Development Company, which owns Kitu Kiblu. His wife Anne is the “development half.” He explained the Chole Mjini projects go beyond sustainable travel and into regenerative travel that aims to improve the habitat of these magnificent creatures.
Chole Mjini’s active projects are far-reaching. Interns participate in the global whale shark spot-pattern photo identification project, bat conservation, and coral and mangrove propagation. In addition, they run local projects such as building a kindergarten, primary school, medical center, women’s center, and a scholarship program.
Of all his accomplishments, Dr. de Villiers is most proud of being a coral farmer. He explained how Chole Minji is a corporate sponsor of Ropes of Hope‘s Nongovernmental Organization, which works to restore the coral around Mafia Island and protect oceans worldwide.
‘The Monetization of Biodiversity’
The Mafia Island Marine Park protects 822 square kilometers of ocean, roughly half the size of the Serengeti National Park. Here, whale sharks feed at the surface from October to March. Whale sharks can cover more than 20,000 kilometers — two and a half times longer than the wildebeest migration — through international waters with no legislative protection.
De Villiers estimated nearly 40% of the Earth’s surface needs to be protected if nature as we know it is to persist. Then he asked the million-dollar question, “Who is going to pay to conserve 40% of the surface of the Earth as wilderness?”
De Villiers answered his rhetorical question: “The only thing I can think of that can pay for that is the monetization of biodiversity.” He believes environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material left by organisms in the environment, is the most promising way to objectively and cost-effectively measure biodiversity. This strategy will, in turn, give policymakers the necessary information to pass legislation mandating the offset of biodiversity destruction.
Coral reefs, like the ones inside the Mafia Island Marine Park, are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. De Villiers explained that automated DNA sequencing machines can analyze 100,000 base pairs/residues of DNA per minute by amplifying and sequencing specific genetic markers. AI processes the back-end data, making it possible to see which species move in or out of the reef.
The difficulty comes in establishing ground truth for the data, which is where Ropes of Hope comes in. The project places mobile coral nurseries from the eDNA collection points at precise intervals. Introducing a new species allows de Villiers and his coworker Nici Schroeter to calibrate eDNA models using stereographic imagery, baited remote underwater video, and linear sampling in a rigorously controlled environment.
“In the end, I would like the small island communities to benefit from the monetization of biodiversity so that they actually get paid to continue to live in their islands the way they do,” mused de Villiers. “Instead of fishing them to death, just fish for their own means and conserve the rest.”
The Mafia Island Marine Park was established almost 30 years ago to protect some of the most intact and diverse coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. Softened environmental protections during COVID only compounded the recent El Nino-driven mass coral bleaching event and Cyclone Hidaya. However, Ropes of Hope trains local fishers to dive and grow corals, raising awareness of the reefs’ economic importance to Mafia Island.
They recently established the Coral Conservation Club at a secondary school on the small island of Jibondo. “Most of these young people would be fishing on the fishing boats you see out there. Just having them trained and participating, they are really changing the way people see coral.”
De Villiers continued, ”Because many older people on these islands still think of coral as rock, and now they are realizing that it grows and, if you don’t look after it, it dies in the nursery. You gotta look after it like any other animal. If you feed it and look after it, you can get something from it.”
We came to Tanzania to see the big game animals in the National Parks and to swim with whale sharks in the Mafia Island Marine Park. The megafauna brought us in, but we quickly learned that those animals couldn’t exist without rich biodiversity and expansive protected areas.
Expert guides use footprints to track game across the parks, just like modern technology can track the genetic footprints of biodiversity on coral reefs. That knowledge is essential for the continued health of the animals of Africa and worldwide.
