the Painting Activist

I love problem solvers; people who approach a stale dilemma from a fresh perspective. Hammerskjoeld Simwinga, a 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, is one such person. He has brought new opportunities to fellow Zambian residents once dependent on poaching elephants as a desperate source of income.

In the 1980’s, elephant numbers were dwindling as poachers relied on their meat and tucks for survival. With the help of the US funded, North Luangwa Conservation Project, Simwinga convinced many poachers that micro-lending, agricultural education, and health care training would provide them with legal and viable options for self-sustaining communities.

I watched a wonderful video this morning that illustrated how Simwinga has carried out his vision. Former poachers used simple machines to extract oil from harvested sunflower seeds used for cooking, as a cash crop, and feed for farm animals. An initial round of seeds were donated and the machines were purchased with micro-loans.

Now communities, once struggling in a black-market, are thriving legally. And lets not forget that the elephant population in the neighboring wildlife park are greatly improving. Simwinga accurately sums the reasoning behind his work by stating “Conservation of wildlife communities is not possible in the long term without simultaneously meeting the basic needs of the local human communities.” Hats off to an innovative thinker willing to grow ideas into reality!