Viewpoints

Since The Walt Disney Company released the original version of “The Lion King” in 1994, lion populations in the wild have dropped by a staggering 50 percent. Today, a groundbreaking remake of the popular film hits theaters along with a critical mission: to ignite the spirit of conservation around the world and bring lions back from the brink.

African People & Wildlife (APW) has reached a major milestone in our growth as an organization. As we approach our 15th year of sustainable, community-driven conservation, APW has begun to transition from a successful grassroots innovator to a global influencer.

In November, the National Geographic Society and African People & Wildlife (APW) brought together 16 participants from six countries in Arusha, Tanzania for a workshop on The Future of Community Engagement in Conservation. The gathering was the first of its kind and a critical step toward the creation of a pan-African network of community engagement practitioners.

In the midst of so much negative news about the state of our planet, it can sometimes be difficult to see that there is real, meaningful progress being made by dedicated people across the globe. Thanks to the commitment of our growing community, I’m pleased to share that exciting, positive transformations continue to take place in northern Tanzania.

I remember a time when the roars of lions reverberated throughout Tanzania’s Tarangire ecosystem. When my husband, Charles Trout, and I first began work here in 2000 as part of my Ph.D. research program, we heard the lions roar almost every night—often from several different directions.