Biodiversity conservation in Zambia: Food security looks like the answer

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) is a novel program that promotes biodiversity conservation by helping to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. The program, which recently completed its pilot phase throughout 20,000 square kilometers of the Luangwa watershed, is the brainchild of conservation zoologist Dale Lewis, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) director for Zambia. On January 1, Cornell became a key partner in the ongoing venture, with a $1.2 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support research for the program. Under leadership from the college, a dozen Cornell scientists will help WCS and community participants in Zambia determine how to optimize the promise of the COMACO model, increasing the chances that both the animals and the humans of southern Africa will thrive.