“The Man Who Walked Across Africa”
to Visit May 10 to Describe His Adventures

May 5. 2004 :: No. 241

J. Michael Fay, who has been called “the world’s most adventurous explorer” and “the ultimate survivor,” will discuss his 15-month, 2,000-mile walk through Central Africa in a special presentation Monday, May 10, at Cal State Fullerton.

His free public lecture is slated for noon in Room 238 of McCarthy Hall.

Congressman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), chairman of the House Committee on International Relations’ Africa Subcommittee, coauthor of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act and CSUF alumnus, has been instrumental in bringing Fay to CSUF and will introduce him. Fay will talk about his journey and discuss international conservation efforts, including the recently launched Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) program.

Eight years ago, Fay flew a small plane low over the forest of the countries of Congo and Gabon, where he observed a vast, intact forest corridor that spanned the area from the Outbangui River to the Atlantic Ocean. That flight eventually resulted in his 1999 expedition.

The explorer’s journey — completed in 2001 — led Fay through some of the world’s most pristine and remote forests, bringing the conservationist and his team into areas uninhabited by man.

Using state-of-the-art Global Positioning System technology and digital recording to map his course, Fay documented human presence and its effects on the forest ecosystem. His trip was backed by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Geographic Society.

He was accompanied by a group of 10 Africans who transported supplies that were replenished by airdrop once a month.

In 2002, Fay escorted Secretary of State Colin Powell around parts of the Congo Basin, during which Powell launched the CBFP. Royce‘s legislation backing the partnership was signed into law earlier this year to support a network of national parks and protected areas in 11 key landscapes in six African countries. The partnership is aimed at saving the precious African rain forests from illegal logging and protecting endangered animals, like the white rhino and the eastern lowland gorilla, from poaching.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1978 from the University of Arizona, Fay spent six years in the Peace Corps as a botanist in national parks in Tunisia and the savannas of the Central African Republic. He went on to earn a doctorate for his research on lowland gorillas. Fay has lived for the past 15 years in the central African forest.

Royce is serving his sixth term in Congress representing California’s 40th district. In the House, he is a senior member of the International Relations Committee, serving as a member on the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee, as well as chairman of the Africa Subcommittee. He is also a senior member of the Financial Services Committee.

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