Sari Gartner

2018 in Bwindi National Forest by Sari Gartner

There are so many ways to engage in travel, including exposure to new ideas as you explore and experience bucket-list destinations...

Take Uganda, for example.  Newer projects, like tea farms on the edge of wildlife areas impacting animal movements.  Tea fields have been planted in a targeted way, now being used as a barrier to keep grazing gorillas and jungle elephants from invading gardens which provide necessary food and income to the locals who own and maintain them.  The farms are planted along the edge of Bwindi National Park and other areas, and when the animals graze out of the forest, they encounter the fields, with the bitter-tasting tea leaves driving them back to the forest and the foods which they prefer and away from the gardens.  When animals raid gardens, conflict is sure to ensue, but these new ways of thinking about and implementing barriers can be life-changing for local animals and villages alike!

These projects not only passively control the animal behaviors, but they also provide additional money to the residents who compile the leaves for export; Uganda is now even a primary exporter of tea to India! 

Sustainability goes beyond the animals; great sustainability leaders like Jane Goodall have talked for years about how sustainability must engage the communities in constant competition with the wildlife for resources.  New ideas, and the world community understanding and engaging in those solutions, can really create change!