New publication: "Die Verwilderung einer Insel in Zeiten des Aussterbens"

Felix Schürmann
Die Verwilderung einer Insel in Zeiten des Aussterbens Rubondo (Tanzania), 1880–1980
Wallstein publishing house, Göttingen 2026
ISBN 978-3-8353-6094-5
524 pages
48 EUR

An island of supposedly untouched nature in the midst of an ecological disaster zone: Whilst Lake Victoria is widely regarded as a cautionary tale of the destruction of biodiversity caused by the introduction of invasive species, the island of Rubondo is reputed to be one of the last remaining pockets of intact flora and fauna in Africa. Yet the species composition on this Tanzanian island has also been altered by the introduction of previously non-native species. Rhinos and giraffes, chimpanzees and colobus monkeys, elephants and antelopes – during the period of upheaval following decolonisation, from 1963 onwards, conservationists brought around one hundred large mammals to Rubondo in order to transform the island into a modern-day ‘Noah’s Ark’ for the endangered fauna of East Africa. To make way for this planned reintroduction of wild animals, the people living there – the Nyarubondo – were forced to leave the island. For the first time, Felix Schürmann tells the story of Africa’s oldest and largest nature reserve island and situates these events within the current debates on mass species extinction and the possibility of decolonising nature. He shows how, even during German rule, humans intervened in Rubondo’s biodiversity and, under colonial conditions, altered the living conditions for many species.