O Presidente

The President.

As I don’t share an office space with colleagues directly as the moment, when I’m let loose with others I can tend to act in a very over-exuberant fashion, grateful for face to face contact. As it was today when I was unleashed at the office of the main government partner we work with. I had some excitable conversations and then my meeting with the Director General was cancelled, as everyone in the building was scrambling to respond to an instruction from the President. He has announced that tomorrow he wants to make a visit to Maputo Special Reserve, which thanks to its location next to the capital is in some ways the country’s flagship protected area. I’ll return to the building at the end of the week when the panic has subsided...

Experience shows high profile public figures stating their support for conservation is one of the most successful strategies to get the public’s attention. The reality is people will notice a soundbite from a celebrity more quickly than a ‘renowned expert’ saying the same thing. Here is Joaquim Chissano, a widely respected former President of Mozambique saying that ‘poaching steals from all of us.’

True dat, Joaquim.