There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Below, a very common story for the local inhabitants of Africa, but little known and even less divulged to westernized peoples. Taking notice is a step ... even at a time, towards a perspective of regulated hunting within its real possibility of conserving the land, wildlife and its people.
"The recovery of a people and their wildlife. A history in progress, a seed for the future."
Quote:Three years ago, a filmmaker set out to document the attempt to restore a neglected Zambian game reserve and its people. Then he was drawn personally into this holistic approach to conservation, a combination of agriculture and aquaculture, micro-capitalism, female empowerment, primary education, wildlife biology, policing and sustainable hunting, all fueled by creativity, perseverance, generosity, teamwork and one family’s investment.
“When we first arrived here in the Luano, in November 2015, it was like Africa a hundred or two hundred years ago. The people had nothing. They needed our help.”
When the cameras started rolling, back in May 2017, those were the first words spoken by third-generation Zambian professional hunter Alister Norton, now 42. Over the next three years, we documented the Norton family’s efforts to help a diminished people, the Soli, to rise again and to restore their wildlife in a war against poaching. But good, honest efforts often aren’t easy, or even necessarily successful.
Meet the Nortons
At a wildlife conference in Atlanta, in 2016, Roland Norton, Alister’s dad, told me about his family’s attempts to turn around a depleted GMA, Game Management Area, in Zambia. GMA is the Zambian government’s term for a safari hunting area—the Africa with no fences, few roads, fewer people and large populations of game. Roland, at 64 years of age, was about to retire from managing an import/export business tied to Zambian copper mining. He wanted to live his passion for safari, something he had enjoyed for more than 30 years, by becoming a professional hunter and safari operator.
Wildlife and conservation run in the Norton family. Roland’s father, after serving in the Royal Navy on HMS Hood, emigrated to what was then Northern Rhodesia and joined the game department. He helped mark out the country’s first national parks and taught his son the ethics of sustainable hunting. Roland in turn developed a desire to show visiting hunters the now re-christened country of Zambia’s wildlife-rich GMAs, including the Luano, where in the 1980s he had shared a camp and clients with professional hunter A.B. Du Plooy.
Working with the Soli people to revitalize the Lower Luano GMA is a family campaign. Roland’s wife, Anne, and Alister’s wife, Kendal, are in it up to their eyebrows as well. Anne is the de facto CFO, juggling the needs of the day with the reality of the bank balance. Almost always at loggerheads with her men, she keeps everyone grounded. “We always don’t have enough money to pay for all the projects up front, but we have enough coming in to keep things moving forward,” she told me. “Al and I always want to do more, faster,” Roland adds. “As a family, we sit down and discuss the projects, both old and new, to determine our work schedule. Whether it be bore-holes, schools, clinics or scout camps, the final word comes from Anne. It all depends on funds.”
