As the current war against poaching in Africa wages on, conservationists are fighting a losing battle. Despite increased resources being directed towards protected areas, corruption and mis-management continue to thwart real achievement. Unfortunately, this situation is not new, however we have reached a critical point where we no longer have time to continue making the same mistakes. What must change to shift the paradigm? Luis discusses his experience in Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic, and Garamba National Park in DRC, and proposes a new strategy for combating these ongoing problems.
Speaker Bio
Luis Arranz was born in Tenerife, Spain in 1956. He studied biology in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and in 1980 he began work in Equatorial Guinea, first doing tree census and then for the Project Men and Nature funded by the Spanish cooperation to create a network of protected areas in the country.
Between 1986 and 1990 worked in South America, redacting the management plan for Huanchaca National Park (now Noel Kempf Mercado NP) in Bolivia and looking for places to create protected areas in Bolivia Brazil and Venezuela.
In 1991, Luis returned to Africa working in Quissama NP, Angola for one year and then 9 years as Director of Monte Alén NP in Equatorial Guinea, 7 years as Director in Zakouma NP in Chad, 7 years as Director in Garamba NP in DRC, and 3 months as Interim Director in Odzala Kokoua NP in Congo Republic.
Since January 2017, he works for WWF in Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas in the Central African Republic.