VISIONARY OR MADMAN? John Wamsley has set up a profit-making company to protect Aus tralia's native wildlife. Is this the road to salvation, or damnation?

International Wildlife, Jan-Feb, 2001 by Tim Thwaites

But others, such as Thomas Lovejoy of the Smithsonian Institution, say enterprises such as ESL can complement traditional conservation efforts. "I see no reason to object to his approach," says Lovejoy, who invented the concept of forgiving part of a country's foreign debt in exchange for that country agreeing to protect land-a concept that has helped save habitat in Latin America and elsewhere. "Certainly in some places, national parks are revenue earners. As long as people are willing to pay for it, it should work."

So far, people do seem willing to support Wamsley's efforts. Although the A$30 million the company has raised from investors thus far may seem a tiny amount against the billions needed to realize Wamsley's dream, it's seed money. He plans to use the funds to establish sanctuaries along the east coast of Australia, close to the large cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. The idea is that the cash flow from ecotourism at these sanctuaries will support the grander, more isolated efforts inland, such as Scotia or the nearly 40,000 square miles of Great Victoria Desert, straddling the Western Australia-South Australia border, on which Wamsley says he has his eye.

But Wamsley recognizes the risks of throwing in his lot with private enterprise. Now that he is fully in the marketplace, and subject to the laws of supply and demand, hard work alone is not enough to ensure success. "This enterprise," he says, "will work or fail simply on our share price now."

Tim Thwaites is a zoologist turned science writer who lives in Melbourne. Photographer David Higgs was born in Adelaide, Australia, and now lives in Britain, where he heads The Environmental Press Agency.