Protecting biodiversity and world heritage sites

While some tech entrepreneurs have been making rather worrying headlines lately, there are also those who are generating positive buzz. One example is American Greg Carr, founder of a telecommunications company that was among the pioneers of modern voicemail systems. Since 2008, the mailbox multimillionaire has invested more than $ 100 million in restoring biodiversity in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, which was the scene of a civil war from 1977 to 1992. The population of wild animals, which at that time served as food or commodities, had declined sharply during this period.

Today, numerous elephants, lions, hyenas, jackals and other animals live there again. Carr also invested in the construction of schools and hospitals and the promotion of agriculture and tourism. Projects that rely on individuals are rarely above criticism. The role that philanthropic projects can play in local development is an aspect we have explored in our monthly issue 11/2025, which focuses on people with significant amounts of money (and what they do with it).

Saving cultural heritage

The ruins of the early Christian pilgrimage site Abu Mena in Egypt, the old town of Ghadames in Libya and the rainforests of Atsinanana in Madagascar have something in common: since July, they are no longer classified as endangered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Successful protective measures by the responsible parties are the reason why they can be removed from the list of endangered World Heritage Sites, which now stands at 53 entries. In addition to natural disasters, wars, construction projects and mass tourism, the effects of global warming are also increasingly among the risk factors.

We regularly update you on more positive developments in our Good News section.

The D+C editorial team
euz.editor@dandc.eu