Page 33 - Local Voices, Local Choices Excerpt

The cycles of old and new 31
Hamisi Matama and Japhet Mwanang’ombe.
Roots & Shoots program in Tanzania, is a walking example of the positive feedback cycle. Born along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the south- ern part of Kigoma, Japhet is a self-described man from the Rift Valley.
“As a grade seven student of Bubango primary school, I joined Roots & Shoots in 1991, after Dr. Jane, Kikwale, and Anton visited my school to speak to the pupils and teachers about environmental issues,” says Japhet, brimming with youthful enthusiasm. Clearly energized by the subject of wildlife and environmental conservation, he became a Roots & Shoots volunteer in secondary school, and by 1998, had earned the position of coordinator for the program in Kigoma. “I grew up in the landscape and was part of the people who had impacted the local biodiversity in a nega- tive way. Now, as a professional, I feel like I must pay the price. One of my goals is to help recover what we’ve lost in the landscape, after now under- standing the impact of our actions.”
Going on from secondary school to achieve an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Conservation and a postgraduate degree in Natural Resources Assessment & Management, Japhet represents how powerful the positive