By Jared Rollins
Mike Fay, biologist and explorer, with sponsorship from National Geographic, created the Africa Megaflyover, a series of photographs,videos, and dispatches all taken from an aerial survey done by Fay. National Geographic promotes people to take a look at and care about the conservation of the planet, as is evident by their tag-line “Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888.” Fay’s goal was to promote conservation of areas in Africa where the natural state of the land has been preserved. This preservation has come from humans being able to live sustainably on the land with the animals around them. As put by Fay himself, “Many Africans have figured out what they need to do to save their environment and themselves.”
Fishing traps made of mangroves in South Africa from the view in Fay's plane
Fay’s inspiration came from a 2,000 mile trek he did through the Congo in 1999 with the Wildlife Conservation Society, of which he is a member. The Wildlife Conservation Society works to save wildlife and wild places through education, conservation projects, and management of wildlife parks. This project was called the MegaTransect and a slideshow tour of the trip was published by National Geographic in 2001. Fay made his flight over Africa from June through December of 2004. His images and comments were made into a Google Earth layer in 2007. The layer features small red planes over the continent, which are links to pictures and comments from Fay.
Airplane icons in Africa Megaflyover on Google Earth
It also includes a link to Fay’s dispatch, the he report sent back to National Geographic, from the portion of the trip when the photograph was taken and a link to the Africa Megaflyover main website. The layer also states that Fay’s comments are unedited and have not been researched for accuracy.
Hippos in the Great St. Lucia Wetlands in South Africa
Fay’s layer shows the beauty of natural Africa. With more support, which the Africa Megaflyover hopes to bring about, many of the areas shown may be able to be conserved.
