It was 2003 and the US armed forces took Baghdad in what was termed 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. Sitting on his game farm in Zululand, a man was watching the events of that terrible scene unfold. While the world was caught up in the intricacies of battles lost and won, this man was concerned about another valuable resource, the inhabitants of the Middle East's largest and most exotic zoo. It was against this backdrop that Lawrence Anthony set out for Baghdad, to save the animals no-one cared about.
Six years later I received an email from my editor with a note asking me to investigate an article further. The article bore the title "South African conservationist named as one of six 'Most Impressive and Influential People'". It was in this piece that the explorer and journalist Tom Clynes named Lawrence Anthony as one of the most amazing people he had met in a lifetime of reporting. I had never heard of Lawrence Anthony, so after some research I ended up trawling the bookstores of Johannesburg looking for his first paperback, Babylon's Ark, the story of the wartime rescue of the Baghdad Zoo. I stayed up late into the night, travelling with Anthony through Baghdad as he fought to keep the animals alive. As I wept and laughed, I constantly had to remind myself that this was a true story, a true story about one of our own.
Anthony is already an overseas sensation. He has been interviewed by almost every major news publication in the western world, and has appeared in a plethora of TV interviews. His books have been excellently received, with his new publication, The Elephant Whisperer, already reaching best-seller status in the UK. But back home Anthony is a humble man, of whom we know little about.
Thula Thula
Anthony's relationship with conservation starts with the Thula Thula nature reserve in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal. Thula Thula may seem another luxury park in a mass of resorts that speckle the South African bush, but what makes the reserve unique is the structure of ownership that Anthony has initiated in the park and the adjacent reserves. In a combined project with local tribes, Anthony has steadily purchased much of the adjoining land to Thula Thula, and turned it over to the people who inhabit the area; through training them to run a world-class resort he has not only empowered them, but also given them access to one of South Africa's most lucrative luxury industries.
"We had colonialism, reinforced by apartheid, and during this indigenous people were excluded from game reserves and game parks, so you have these people living around these tiny, precious, little islands who don't respect them. So I felt it was really important to start an initiative to reintroduce these people to their heritage and their birthright," says Anthony.
Thula Thula is not the only reserve that has allowed local populations to access to the economic and environmental benefits associated with owning a game farm. However the Thula Thula model is growing fast, and has led to another four such projects in the Zululand region, all grassroots initiatives aimed at allowing people access to a reserve that ultimately should belong to those who have lived on the land for centuries.
The bigger picture
"In Eugene Marais' book, The Soul of the White Ant, he tells how he took a pair of otters out of the water and away from the stream and bred them for seven generations. He released them back into the river and they knew how to swim automatically, they knew where to look for food, they knew how to eat a crab, in other words they knew how to survive. This is instinct, and applies to all animals with the exception of the primates. This is what Marais was saying, human beings have to be taught everything, if they are not taught it they don't know it. We were totally surrounded by nature just a few generations ago, and that has been dissipated. So it is lost, culturally and traditionally we have lost our ties to the natural world."
In response to this need, Anthony founded The Earth Organisation in 2003, which he says is the biggest conservation group to have come out of Africa. Anthony quickly identified the fact that in order for the conservation model to become sustainable there needed to be a grassroots impetus and the opportunity for employment. The Earth Organisation uses the franchise model, allowing chapters to grow all over the world virally.
Through garnering donations, people working in the chapters are able to employ themselves in the conservation sector. In the developing world especially, this model kills two birds with one stone by creating employment and ensuring that environmental deficits are addressed.
The chapters are well regulated, they are required to give regular feedback, with a comprehensive report on projects and audits of monies received and spent. The chapters are also required to pick projects that "reverse the dwindling spiral".
In a bid to make the model even more effective The Earth Organisation twins chapters from wealthier countries with those in the developing world, meaning that a donation of US$200 a month will allow another chapter to perform their function without having to worry about their livelihood.
Education holds the key
"We are so far off the ball-game here, internationally, even developed countries. At the moment the only education for school kids comes from your National Geographic and Discovery channels, so you have to have something like DSTV to start with. So it's not in the schools, very little on TV and it's not in the culture and we wonder why we have problems."
Besides the growing number of conservation chapters, The Earth Organisation is focussed on tapping into the school system and filling the knowledge vacuum. Already lesson plans for 9 - 13 year old children are being implemented in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, focussing on what kids can do to make a difference. The Earth Organisation has also developed a curriculum in the United States, put together by some of the top educators in the country, and is being applied in schools in California and Nevada.
The legacy of Baghdad
Anthony is uncomfortable with the titles I try to use to describe him and his actions in Baghdad. "I'm not a hero. I think I was very naive, there are real wars going on. It was crazy, but I think it was important. It's not important that you go and save some lions and some tigers in the greater scheme of biodiversity, but what it showed is that these animals need to be treated properly and I hope it set some sort of example."
The series of events that have followed this amazing story have resulted in a proposed resolution that has been presented to the United Nations. The Wildlife in War Zones Resolution dictates that an invading army becomes responsible for any enclosed wildlife; all zoos, nature reserves and veterinary facilities must be accorded the same status as hospitals and schools during war. Under the resolution, the wilful destruction of natural habitats and the non-abidance of these tenements can be considered war crimes.
An uncertain future
"We have developed an us-and-them mentality with the plant and animal kingdom, and in that we have lost the fact that we are part of it all. If we don't renew these ties it's not that life will end on this planet, it's that the next endangered species will be mankind. I don't have a negative viewpoint on this. I know we have a serious problem, but human beings are extremely resourceful and extremely capable; we just have to get this knowledge back into the system."
What Anthony has started is nothing short of incredible. He is one of those rare people who do not recognise their own magnanimity and influence. He has begun so much and led the world in a new direction, undaunted by the challenges he faces. We have one of the world's greatest conservation ambassadors residing in our borders, and we should be getting to know him better, because men like him are hard to find, especially when the future of the world is at stake.
By Matthew Choate
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The Elephant Whisperer, a book by Lawrence Anthony
Besides the amazing story of the Baghdad Zoo, Anthony is also famous for the herd of 'rogue' elephants he took into his reserve at Thula Thula. When Anthony accepted the herd onto his farm he had little sense of exactly how massive a task he was undertaking, but he did know that if he didn't take them they would be shot. Before the herd could be transported to Thula Thula the animals tore out of their reserve again and the matriarch and her baby were shot. The remaining elephants arrived traumatised and very angry. They soon broke out of Thula Thula, and after seeing the danger these animals were in Anthony fought to create a bond with the elephants and save them from execution.
The story is captured in The Elephant Whisperer. For more information, including where the book can be purchased, click here.
For more on Lawrence Anthony, visit www.lawrenceanthony.co.za
Steuart has done some 500 talks on South Africa's progress since 1994 and SA's prospects for the future' 
