Many years ago, in my discovery of deep Africa, I can begin by describing my first experience visiting the OL-Ary-Nyiro ranch in the Samburu region of Laikipia, Kenya, owned by the famous naturalist and later good friend Kuki Gallmann, who has dedicated her more than interesting life.
I dreamed of Africa to the protection of the rhinoceros in its vast reserve.
When I was greeted by its director of maintenance tasks in such a vast territory, Murray, a young, blond, second-generation Kenyan, son of a white hunter and grandson of a settler killed by the Maasai.
Murray began hunting by drinking from the fountain of joy for killing specimens of any species, for no reason at all, or perhaps simply out of pride in the power of the rifle, the bullet, and gunpowder, until his mother told that emboldened and haughty boy:
If you are so drawn to the animal world and so eager to learn about it through your love of the wild, draw it instead of eliminating it, immortalize it instead of erasing it from the territory, study it instead of destroying it, and enjoy what you see by capturing it on paper. That will be your trophy. That will reinforce your power and your satisfaction.
That will give you both the vitality for freedom and the reason for existence. And so he did, collecting his sketchbooks of free and wild animals, which I was able to view with great satisfaction.
Perhaps it's just one example of a particular experience for the true protection of the environment and animal diversity, reducing the indiscriminate elimination of species to zero and dampening the firepower of hunters and poachers.
It's true that a balance must be sought between humankind, who must survive and develop, and overpopulations of species that invade and destroy human survival strategies, such as elephants in some areas and other examples. But that's what human intelligence and power are for: to regulate and protect natural coexistence.
Since my previous discovery, I have traveled and gotten to know Africa. I have enjoyed its people and their hospitality, including the Maasai family of Samwuel Turoto, a member of our E-club. I have been able to help educate some girls, now Maasai teenagers. And, of course, I have been able to capture photographs and scenes of the wonderful world of wild animals in the wild.
We have been given a natural heritage, and we have an absolute obligation to preserve it and bequeath it to those who come after us in the best possible conditions. I am neither a dreamer nor a deluded person, so I fully understand human evolution and everything that is destroyed in the pursuit of development. Nor can we renounce growth and technology, which would lead us back to a past that has passed and to which we will never return except through a planetary catastrophe that will leave nothing behind. However, we must continue the fight to make everything compatible, because with sensitivity, will, and human effort, it is possible.
Human beings deserve to live, but so do animals, and since we have been fortunate enough to be who we are with our intelligence, we have an obligation to protect their vulnerability, knowing that without them, nothing would be the same.
Nor would we.
Mariano Gomá.
Rotary E-Club Satelite Castelldefels - Medioambiente .
