If we want to avoid the disaster scenario, people in developed countries will have to take a global perspective and accept responsibility for the damage export crops such as timber, coffee, cut flowers or even green beans, do to the environment. The challenge is to avoid simply imposing western attitudes on local peoples. Already there are no truly wild places left in the world. Looking at wildlife ha s become the preserve of the middle classes over the last twenty-odd years, and as wild animals become even rarer, so more tourists want to see them. But tourism alone plainly cannot conserve the world's animals; economic development is the priority. For the future, I suspect that if you really want to do something about wild life conservation, you would be better off putting your money into women's education rather than just into the protection of flagship species. Women often bear the direct costs of wildlife conflict; their knowledge of how to deal with conflict and how to control their own reproductive destinies may yet determine the survival of many threatened species.