Ambitious plans unveiled for community

THE Wildlands Trust - an independent fund-raising and project management organisation concerned with conservation-based community development in KwaZulu Natal - has moved into a new phase of operation with the appointment of a project manager to work in the field and to liaise closely with the Trust's community 'clients'. Sue McClintock was appointed by the Wildlands Trust to launch and facilitate several pro-active projects for community conservation development. The New York-based Ford Foundation will fund McClintock's appointment and activities. The Foundation has agreed to bankroll this appointment as a pilot programme for their involvement in funding South African projects. Based near Lake St Lucia - which is the focus area for many of the Trust's activities - McClintock will drive several projects aimed at fast-tracking community conservation development.. To allow communities to access funding for conservation development. McClintock will be assisting them in formulating business plans and preparing funding projections for Conservation-Based Community Development (CBCD). These communities will be networked to form Conservation Development Corridors (CDCs) – where communities will co-ordinate their development plans to create large, and therefore viable, areas of community conservation. It is planned to convene an annual conference for community role-players. Development projects currently driven by the Trust include corridors at Ndumo/Tembe on the far northern Zululand border between the Ndumo and Tembe game reserves; the Mkhuze/Pongola corridor; and the Royal Zulu Biosphere north of Empangeni. It is envisaged that these three corridors will eventually become super-parks of linked conservation areas. McClintock was previously with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) where she had many years of experience in project management, conservation planning and eco-development. (Adéle Mackenzie)