Philanthropist Bets $40M on Eco-Tourism

Philanthropist Greg Carr wants to turn an African ecosystem around—and he’s willing to pay to do it. The tech-bubble whiz kid will spend $40 million over the next 30 years to restore Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, destroyed during the country's 16-year civil war. Stephanie Hanes follows Carr as he visits the one-time "jewel of Mozambique."

Carr wants to lure eco-tourists back to the 1960's adventure destination by reforesting the park and reintroducing the wildebeests, zebras, and elephants who fled en masse during the civil war. He hopes that will bring sustainable development to the region. But first he'll have to convince skeptical locals, who prefer to burn tracts of forest to farm. (More sustainable development stories.)