A WORLD CLASS GREEN CAUSE & OPPORTUNITY NEEDS RESURRECTING

This International green Cause and Opportunity’s story is published in the book SAVE MOZAMBIQUE’S ELEPHANT COAST, Recreating Mother Nature’s Wildlife Wonderland Africa (2007), an it-really- happened saga of creating a huge world class unique keep-it-native-and-unspoiled-green highly self sustainable endangered African wildlife ecotourism—with beach connection—National Park development.  London Bechtel-WATG-Horwath’s feasibility plan was approved by Government of Mozambique (GoM) in 1996.  But it all fell in a crack as the New Orleans entrepreneur-developer turned out not a white-knight-savior at all; rather a bait-then-switch-non-performer who threw crapes, died in 1999 at age 54, never breaking ground. 

This author was there, the New Orleans character’s make-it-happen guy organizing the feasibility study which gained the GoM-99-year-land-development-lease concession for the (then) 914 Sq Mi Elephant Coast wildlife eco-tourism development.  We two met on a 1988 North Pole saga when he came to know of my engineering-construction resume of  living-working on every continent but Antarctica, then already 16 years in Africa.  We were both African wildlife-tribal-people aficionados, he a wheel-chair-bound paraplegic. 

This engineer hired on to do the GoM required prerequisite plan-and-feasibility study originally targeting only a 40,000 acre Indian Ocean peninsular concession personally offered by Mozambique’s then President Chissano.  After near death episodes, the development was upgraded to make it feasible—via economy of scale, critical mass, with a proven African-wildlife-watching international tourism draw—to 585,000 acres (914 Sq Mi) which the enthusiastic South African press dubbed Mother Nature’s Wildlife Disneyland Africa.  This included revitalizing the 173,000 acre Maputo Elephant Reserve (c-1932), shot out from Cuban military helicopters in Cold War days—600 elephants reduced to 100 gun shy survivors, the last rhino shot in 1981—leaving only a few hippo, Nile crocodile, and pink flamingo at some of the 40 lakes, in an otherwise bleached skull and bones graveyard silence.  The sleeper-diamond-in-the-rough 1996 site is framed on the east by 50 miles of starkly beautiful pristine forested high dune Indian Ocean coastline, South Africa’s border to the south, the Maputo River to the west, Maputo Bay on the north. 

The book‘s plan is to attract a for real white knight Funding-partner-developer-operator to join land owner GoM in resurrecting this African-wildlife-watching ecotourism international destination National Park development now to a 4000 Sq Mi version, to safeguard it all for future generations.  Why bother?  In the study process in 1995 it was discovered that the whole area—even the now proposed total 4000 Sq Mi version—is all within the Maputaland Center of Plant Diversity (CPD).  So what is a CPD? 

A major initiative of the UN’s Rio 1992 Earth Summit, signed by the world’s attending heads of state was the International Biodiversity Accord.  It created the CPD concept; the botanical equivalent—sister act—to the Endangered Species Act which safeguards endangered mammals, birds, fish and reptiles.  CPD’s were created to safeguard the most precious and unique still surviving botanical treasure regions world wide.  The Head of State signatories agreed with the UN mandate that if a CPD was designated within their nation’s boundaries, they would be obliged to safeguard their so designated CPD native-and-unspoiled as natural treasures for future unborn generations.  When published in 1994 the three volumes CPD bible gazetted 250 locations worldwide, 84 in Africa to be so safeguarded as CPD as the Maputaland CPD in southern Mozambique which extends south into KwaZula Natal (South Africa) and west into Swaziland. 

In 10 months our international team got GoM to eject a competing concession to South African Pulp and Paper Inc (SAPPI) which would have despoiled the heart of the UN’s CPD with a huge water-table-sucking eucalyptus plantation—for wood pulp—on the way to GoM approving our better UN acceptable while overall best alternate-land-use as the 914 Sq Mi Elephant Coast wildlife-watching ecotourism National Park development to attract international visitors and save thousands of head of endangered African wildlife otherwise lacking range.  This was an altruistic-green triple header 1) safeguarding both the African wildlife like saving 5000 Kruger elephants, and 2) the underlying exquisite botanical UN designated CPD ecosystem, while 3) bringing in the bush residents as preferred-income-shareholders (stakeholders) as a world class green social engineering exercise.  That is they who would also get previously non-existent schools, medical facilities—to combat malaria-AIDS and high infant mortality—infrastructure, employment, real lives vs. their near previous near starvation bush existence. 

Meanwhile, since the early 2000’s nearby to the north the largest wildlife sanctuary in the world has evolved.  Spearheaded by the South African Peace Park Foundation, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe’s game ranges have been connected then extended east by creating the adjacent-mirror-image Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.  That is an amalgamated three nation no-internal-fence total of 38,500 Sq Mi of wildlife sanctuary, the world’s largest by a factor of nearly two; the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP)—see on Google search.  For the GLTP’s comparative size, Indiana is 36,185 Sq Mi, Kentucky is 40,411 Sq Mi.  It is huge, to make the Creator and Mother Nature smile that their other members of Noah’s Arc besides just humans are finally getting some needed space. 

The resurrected-and-enlarged 4000 Sq Mi version of the Elephant Coast would land-bridge-corridor connect to the GLTP from the south giving elephants and other African wildlife an unimpeded north south range of over 400 miles.  There is nothing like it in this world!  It would strongly compete with East Africa’s Serengeti and its annual wildebeest-zebra migrations as our globe’s international number one endangered-African-wildlife-viewing tourist destination—safeguarded green for future generations. 

There is currently a much debated and controversial plan to cull (mercy kill) 5000 Kruger National Park elephants to correct for overstocking thus the National Park’s ecosystem despoliation.  The 4000 Sq Mi Elephant Coast development could save these currently death-sentenced elephants and other African wildlife.  Google `Kruger elephants’.  It is one inimitable story; an  altruistic-green cause and opportunity. 

The book’s plan is to attract a replacement white knight to partner with the GoM landowner to take the development forward.  The book also serves as a biography of the how-and-why this marvelous altruistic, benevolent, charitable while perpetually self sustaining cash cow National Park development—to be funded by the green African-wildlife-watching tourism craze—fell in a crack.  Yes, in neighboring South Africa the historic number one GDP producer was always gold mining (bullion sales).  That is until 2005, when gold was surpassed by tourism (predominately wildlife watching).  The story within this non fiction —while stranger than fiction—saga is the human frailties, connivances, betrayals, booze, chicanery that led to the failure to perform on the 914 Sq Mi development’s version (1996-1999).  Yes, now all water-under-the-bridge-history, but it needs to be known if only so the inimitable world class project does not get tarred with its New Orleans `pseudo developer’s’ reputation and human failures.  The place and development plan are five star plus, but were simply in the hands of the wrong people. 

This saga was not published to create book sales; rather it is a Mother Nature blessed labor-of-love effort to alert mankind to safeguarding the unique and irreplaceable CPD ecosystem for posterity.  The book had been donated to—belongs to—the 501-c-3  represented by the internet site—which also serves as a thumbnail of the book’s urgent message—at www.savemec.org.  With maps, have a look.  The site includes a 27 minute embedded video giving insights—with major aerial flyover—into Mother Nature’s exquisite gift in inimitable CPD quality landscape, prime-five-star African wildlife viewing habitat between the Indian Ocean coast and the Maputo River with some 40 lakes sprinkled in between for the 914 Sq Mi version, now expanded to 4000 Sq Mi.   

The development is a huge high profile international altruistic-green cause and opportunity that merits being made known to the world so mankind can join in and insure it is safeguarded (developed) native-and-unspoiled and thus preserved for future generations as UN mandated.  For if not so protected now, it will soon be despoiled and lost forever, to non-green development as most of the Creator and Mother Nature’s treasures as gifts left to mankind’s stewardship have sadly been. 

The author’s contact is:  savesan@sbcglobal.net, or phone (210) 487-1524 in Texas.  

Books and e-books are available from the publisher, www.iUniverse.com, or from www.amazon.com. or www.bn.com (Barnes and Noble) and others, just Google the book title.