Interview

Craig Sholley

Senior Director, African Wildlife Foundation
Manyara Ranch

Craig Sholley is a wildlife biologist and conservationist who is renowned for his work with the Mountain Gorilla Project in Rwanda.

How long have you been involved with the AWF?

30 plus years.

Why did you get involved?

A sincere interest in wildlife conservation issues and a passion for Africa.

Why is NGO work important?

NGO’s have the ability to identify critical local and/or global issues and work to address and resolve problems that consequently improve conditions for the enhancement of lives (human and other) throughout our world.

Did you have an inspirational figure in your life growing up?

Not one, but several…. people like Nelson Mandela, George Schaller, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey provided inspiration and helped shape my career direction.

Are there other selfless leaders out there you admire? If so, who and why?

There are many and most of them have names that a majority of people would not recognize. They work tirelessly on a day to day basis to make our world a better place.

If there is one place or issue out there in the world you could personally explore, what would it be?

The remote and largely unexplored regions of central and West Africa with a focus on endangered primate populations including the last of the great apes.

What is the AWF mission statement?

The African Wildlife Foundation, together with the people of Africa, works to ensure the wildlife and wild lands of Africa will endure forever.

When was it created, by whom, and why?

AWF was founded in 1961 by a group of former US foreign service figures with experience and an avid interest in Africa and African conservation issues. When initially formed AWF was the African Wildlife Leadership Foundation (AWLF) and the main focus was building conservation capacity within a cadre of Africans who would ultimately be leaders in the conservation future of the African continent.

What is your operating budget? What would you do with more funds?

AWF’s present annual operating budget is approximately $28,000,000. With additional funds, we would further apply our successful Heartland approach (large landscape vision) to already identified critically important regions of Africa that are under severe threat of habitat and landscape destruction.

Outside of funding, what are some of the biggest challenges it faces?

Africa is a huge continent consisting of more than 50 countries. One size or one model of conservation approach does not fit all; and therefore, a creative and adaptable approach is required as our organization works to achieve success throughout the continent.

What is your dream for AWF?

To create a future for Africa that includes the conservation of large wild landscapes and diverse species while simultaneously improving the livelihoods of people who are willing to deal with wildlife literally ‘in their backyard.

What would you consider its greatest accomplishment?

Protection of critical wildlife corridors and protected areas for wildlife and doing so in a manner that creates conservation businesses that create economic incentives that improve people’s lives.

What are three things about your NGO what you wish people knew?

• AWF was created almost 50 years ago with a singular focus on conservation issues in Africa – we remain true to our founding mission to this day.
• AWF staff largely consists of Africans – nearly 80% of the people employed by AWF are African conservation professionals who live and work in Africa.
• AWF has a holistic approach to conservation that includes: land protection, wildlife species conservation, conservation enterprise created to improve community livelihood, and capacity building specifically education that embraces the notion of conservation being led by African conservation leaders.

Do you think media accurately portrays the issues your organization represents?

Not at all.

How can people get involved?

Anyone can become an AWF member and can join by visiting our website at awf.org We encourage philanthropic involvement and try hard to report on how individual or organizational investments in our work makes a difference.

What was your biggest surprise when explore came to visit you?

Having traveled with explore several times, I am always pleasantly surprised by the sincerity and passion expressed by the people who work for explore.

Is it a good idea for grantmakers to visit you? Can they?

Yes, it is the best way for a grantmaker to learn about the potential impact a gift can make and just as importantly then view the tangible results of how that money has been used.

Why is it important to be a selfless person?

Selfless people make positive changes to our world every day.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

I would make the world ‘color blind’ and simultaneously universally tolerant of all religious persuasions.

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge facing our planet today?

An uncontrolled growing human population with increased demands for the Earth;s natural resources.

What is the key to living a happy life?

Finding a partner ‘soulmate’ and being occupationally engaged in work which you are passionate about.

What was causing the Kwakuchinja corridor — the migration route connecting Lake Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park — to disappear?

Plans were underway by the Government of Tanzania to sell Manyara Ranch which represented a major part of the Kwacuchinja corridor. If sold, the land would have been sub-divided and utilized for a variety of people-centric purposes that in the long-term would have provided little value (because of the nature of the land) for either wildlife or people.

Who owned the land before AWF acquired it in 2001? What were they doing with it?

The Ranch (45,000 acres) was operated by NARCO (the National Ranching Association of TZ. NARCO was raising cattle on the ranch in an economically unsustainable manner – losing $ year after year for several decades.

What were the conditions at the school?

The boarding school catered to the region’s Maasai community and was designed to accommodate 400 students. However, it was woefully overcrowded and served 800 youngsters being taught by a mere 15 teachers in crammed classrooms. The school was in the same dilapidated condition as other parts of the ranch. It had seen no physical maintenance or repair in over 20 years. Its buildings were shabby and lacked electricity. The rudimentary water distribution system consisted of a single borehole that provided saline water for laundry and bathing, and did not meet health standards for consumption due to elevated sulfur levels.

Why did it still rank so high in terms of educational quality?

A result of a very dedicated teaching staff and the school’s remote location – the students had few distractions and therefore studied all of the time.

What kinds of animals did the kids share their schoolyard with? Did any of them pose a danger?

A host of wildlife species ranging from antelopes, zebra, wild dogs, lions and elephants. The lions and elephants obviously represented a dangerous situation for the children.

What were the steps you had to take to relocate the school?

Negotiations with the local Maasai community took place to seek permission to relocate the school. Working with the community, a new campus was designed and a new location was identified. With funding from the Annenberg Foundation, construction could begin. This took about one and a half years and finally the students and teachers moved to their new facility.

How much did it cost, in total?

In total, the boarding school which accommodates about 800 children and includes housing for about 15 teachers cost about $1,000,000.

Where there any cultural difficulties (i.e. communication barriers, conflicting goals) that you encountered during the process? What were the biggest challenges?

Fortunately, a majority of AWF staff working in Africa are Africans; they therefore are members of local communities speaking the local languages and adept at working within the local culture. The biggest challenge was raising money for the school. It is fortunate that the Annenberg Foundation understood the link between conservation, education, and local livelihood improvement and stepped forward to provide funding.

What about the surrounding lands? How does the ranch operate?

The ranch and surrounding environment is African savannah land – home to a diverse set of important wildlife species. Manyara Ranch is actually located between two of Tanzania;s most important national parks – Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. The ranch is a critical migration corridor between the two parks.

What happened to the old school facilities?

Most of the old school was torn down; however, one dilapidated mud classroom was left standing to contrast it with the conditions in the new school.

When Explore visited, the school was very crowded, at double its desired capacity, and there was a shortage of teachers. Has this changed? How?

Classroom size has decreased and additional teachers have joined staff. Now each student has his own desk and each boarder has his/her own bed.

What kinds of resources do they have, and what do they need more of? How can the school be improved further?

The school does receive funding from the government for operations. Obviously, additional resources are always needed. One of the most desired additions to the School is a computer lab with a VSAT connection for the internet.

I noticed that you are trying to raise more money for school supplies. Can you give us an example of

what, say, $25 would buy for the children? Text books, notepads, writing utensils and medicines for the school infirmary.

What do the students learn? Can you tell us, for example, what a typical 5th grader's day is like?

The school curriculum is very similar to those subjects taught at the 5th grade level in the US – English, math, social studies, geography, etc. Many of the lower classes are taught in Kiswahili.

Where do they go after Manyara?

There are several secondary schools in the region.

Has the AWF acquired other properties through the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust (TLCT) since the the

Manyara Ranch? Can you tell us about it? Another property similar to Manyara Ranch that is presently being operated by AWF is the West Kilimanjaro Ranch near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. It is a 75,000 acre ranch that is located in the middle of an important elephant movement corridor linking Kenyan and Tanzanian national parks.

Would you undertake a project like this one again?

We are presently seeking funds for another school located in Zambia. The rationale underlying this school is to work with the local community in establishing an important elephant corridor linking Chobe National Park in Botswana (where Africa’s largest elephant population resides) with ‘greener pastures’ to the north of this particular community land.

What has been the impact of the new school's location on the local wildlife?

Wildlife is presently thriving on Manyara Ranch and critically endangered species like the African wild dog have even raised pups on the ranch. During certain seasons, it has been noted that there is more wildlife on the ranch than within national park boundaries.