About the Author

The authors story is told in the third person like in court where one addresses the Judge, and relates to oneself as the Defendant or Plaintiff as if a third person entity. Let’s state up front that the author is not an author by profession. Rather someone that has a first hand story or experience to relate—in this case the discovery and birthing of the 1996 version of the Elephant Coast development project. That is in ten months of an exhilarating rags to riches saga and evolution from pursuing New Orleans Jim’s original target (he had published as being 10,000 acres vs. its actual 40,000 acres) to the 585,000 acre (914 Sq Mi) concession version awarded Jim by GOM in 1996. It was only discovered well into the feasibility study that the target area was a UN protected Center of Plant Diversity (CPD) and safeguarding it required the warding off of the looming threat of Humanity and the UN’s CPD being plowed under by a several years prior GOM land concession for a eucalyptus plantation—for wood pulp—to South African Pulp and Paper (SAPPI). The author’s background included graduating from Cal Berkeley in engineering, flying in the US Navy, then joining San Francisco based International Bechtel engineer-constructors for some 30 years of heavy construction (then ongoing semi-retired consulting). That is a career that took him to live and work on every continent but Antarctica, 17 years in Africa. In Africa he was into African wildlife, and indigenous tribes—writing and publishing BUSH FOR THE BUSHMAN (92) a bleeding heart quixotic effort to save their traditional land for the Kalahari Bushman facing death-by-dispossession from their thirst-and-thorn last Kalahari Desert refuge. So this makes a pragmatic-hard-nosed construction-stiff-bleeding heart of our author, an unusual oxymoron. He knows African wildlife from hunting dangerous game as a resident in East Africa—killing a man-eating lion in Kenya in a thicket feasting on a Wakambi tribe adult male in 1965, but more in wildlife photography spending considerable time visiting the major game reserves in East Africa while learning enough Swahili to make it in the bush without needing guides, just Swahili speaking companions.

The author’s career assignments were almost all on remote-locations-no-infrastructure-beach-head developments—just what the challenges of any Elephant Coast development are to develop the beautiful, pristine region, but with near zero existing access or infrastructure. Your author fortuitously met New Orleans-maverick-entrepreneur-paraplegic Jim on a North Pole trip in 1988, where they hit it off as both being African aficionados, and Jim came to know the author’s background as a project manager ramrod of multi million to billion plus projects worldwide (Alyeska pipeline 1970-$ eight billion). Then in 1995 Jim had an opportunity to develop land on Mozambique’s Indian Ocean coast laid upon him by none other than Mozambique President Chissano, but Jim had to do a feasibility study. Not being into engineering and construction or feasibility studies he called on his North Pole acquaintance, your author, who went to have a look, found the land exceptional.  The author lined up a first class International feasibility team to perform the GOM required study. But the London team, though impressed by the raw land, the lakes, the exhilarating Indian Ocean coast, found the Peninsula-only target not economically feasible as there was no tourist draw per se vs. the remote no-infrastructure-high-costs to develop, making any development not economically alluring. But next door to the Peninsula’s south was the shot out Maputo Elephant Reserve. Your author inquired when it was going to be up and running, as wildlife is the number one tourist draw in Africa, beach-sea-sand is number two. The socialist leaning Minister said “why don’t you Capitalist with all your money fix up the Elephant Reserve”.

To make a long story short, this resulted in a serendipitous outcome, Jim's team submitting a study for not only the 40,000 acres but rather some 585,000 acres (914 Sq Mi) which was the then Elephant Coast project (1996 GOM awarded version). But Jim had serious self inflicted health problems, divorce, substance abuse.  Jim's lawyer who was to be trustee of his estate feared Jim was going to blow his fortune in Africa, so when Jim went off radar, the lawyer got rid of the professional team, including your author, and the project fell in a crack, three years on Jim died, GOM cancelled Jim’s development concession. But your author and the pros had discovered this diamond-in-the rough jewel in the process, and feel it must be resurrected to save what could be a challenge to the Serengeti as the world’s premier wildlife watching destination that must be safeguarded for future generations of humanity. That is having birthed the project and knowing its details and virtues, which were lost to GOM in the saga of them being jilted by the New Orleans entrepreneur, in a bait-then-switch. So this book is about a CAUSE and OPPORTUNITY, to save one of Mother Nature’s few most precious remaining native-and-unspoiled areas that way for future generations—essentially creating a 4000 Sq Mi National Park. This whole tale is told in detailed fashion in this book SMEC’s Part II.

So what does your author propose to do. Find a real billionaire to replace deceased New Orleans Jim as GOM’s development partner, expand the development to 4000 Sq Mi, and act as the marriage broker between the new Developer-suitor and GOM's bride (Mother Nature's UN CPD) so this world class altruistic-charitable-benevolent while cash cow protective-land-development project is carried out to safeguard its Mother Nature’s attributes for posterity, all with a ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ pro-active can do attitude and approach. But not to forget, the author is an experienced project manager, capable of being the ramrod to get the project completed based on 40 years of relevant experience worldwide and 10 months intimate experience in birthing this project, the detailed `how to’ plan, estimate, organization, etc.

In this case adherents to a world class ecological-charitable-altruistic-benevolent (to environment, wildlife, local resident Africans) CAUSE and OPPORTUNITY as defined by the book titled Save Mozambique's Elephant Coast with the subtitle Recreating Mother Nature’s Wildlife Wonderland Africa, which book is the property of the IRS 501-c-3 (applied for) entity of the same name, 'Save Mozambique’s Elephant Coast'. It is a low to no overhead entity or organization trying to save for future generations an inimitable Mother Nature’s gift to Mozambique and the world that should be safeguarded by dedicating it to–developing it as a wildlife refuge—but with ecotourism facilities to harvest the cash cow wildlife watching industry funding benefits that are established and available in the southern African locale fueled by affluent international tourists worldwide.