Baraza

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 29 2008 | By: admin

Yesterday was meant to be another day of demonstrations and mass protests across Kenya. But instead there was a ray of sunshine…

Are we finally moving forward?

It’s a giant step for politicians…

let’s just hope it will be a giant step for us Kenyans too!

Tags: 220, 780

5 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 29 2008 | By: admin

Kenyans today are heaving with relief and beer sales are up!

Our President, Mr. Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement yesterday which should end the post-election crisis that has left more than 1,500 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The agreement, brokered by Koffi Annan came at a critical time when we all expected riots to erupt again after an impasse on the talks had been reached. This is basically a power sharing deal … it creates the post of prime minister. Many of us are exhausted and find it hard to feel ‘excited’ about it because what these guys seem to have done is carved up the government as if it is a cake. Indeed they even refer to it as a ‘cake’ - there will be a coalition government, ministerial posts will be negotiated and shared equitably.

It’s all new to us - in fact, multiparty politics is new to us. One only has to look at the history of the individuals to see that Raila and Kibaki do not really represent political ‘parties’ but tribal alliances with self serving interests. Well, if that’s what it takes to bring peace, and to address land issues, poverty and constitutional reform - then so be it.

Personally I’m confused about it but pleased that it means no more warring militias, no more closing office in fear, no more riot police (Our police are so trigger happy that apparently they shot tear gas into a crowd of cheering people after the announcement was made!).

Most of all I’m pleased that we can expect to see restoration of peace, and therefore a revival of tourism. This is what will be critical for many of our conservation areas as no doubt you’ve read about the crisis facing the Mara Triangle and Colobus Trust.

One response so far

Category: Mara Triangle, Podcasts | Date: Feb 28 2008 | By: admin

Friends,

Today I’m going to try a much awaited experiment and upload a podcast -

I recorded this in the Mara Conservancy last week where I spent three days finding out more about the effects of the collapse of tourism on this world renowned conservation area.

I hope you enjoy sound trip which hopefully will give the visually impaired a feel for the Mara which is among my most favourite places in the world.

I’m attaching photographs to help you visualise the patrol. These 5 minutes reflect what happened during the 4 hours anti-poaching patrol in which we were searching for 7 hippo killing poachers. Kimujino has more on the arrest of these poachers on his

This is the sign between the Mara Reserve and Transmara Reserve which together make up the Masai Mara

A hippo slide

On patrol looking for footprints on the soft earth

Hippo in the Mara river

Can you see the new born hippo by his mothers legs?

Tags: 661, 741, 766, 768, 781, 82

7 responses so far

Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 18 2008 | By: admin

I have had an interesting time monitoring all the new blogs and the variety of comments that are coming in. The amount of interest and the suggestions we’re getting on comments are enormously encouraging. I realise that there’s so much more we can do with the power of so many minds. Thank you all for your your contributions it’s so invigorating to hear from you.

Today is a sad but happy day for several reasons.

First, I had the pleasure of meeting Gwili from the Colobus Trust. It was a happy meeting - I discovered he’s Welsh and not from some as yet to be identified African tribe! Such a strange name! He updated me on the situation at the Colobus Trust where the tourism collapse has had a devastating impact on the income of this small charity - which I actually started in 1997! Yes, it was! And it was my brother who designed those crazy arboreal colobus bridges to enable these spectacular black and white monkeys to cross the highway safely. The good news is that the number of monkeys killed by vehicles is now negligible.

The sad news is that more than twenty colobus and fifty other primates are electrocuted every year on high voltage cables serving this touristic area. The Power company has promised to insulate the cables, but are demanding that the Colobus Trust pay for the materials. In my mind, that’s retarded and I think we should write to those guys and demand that they act a bit more responsibly.

The second bit of sad news was from a new blogger, the Maasai Wildlands - While training Douglas I was shown photos of children covered in flies. The flies were in the children’s noses, eyes and mouths. I cant imagine how they breathe without swallowing those dirty creatures! I could see the diseased eyes in at least one of the children. It made me realise just how lucky I am that I have a good clean supply of water at my home. I showed them the playpump system which is so brilliant! I hope that the funds raised through the Maasai Wildlands blog will help to bring clean water to the Maasai children.

And another piece of sad news, William Deed, our in house blogger who helped create the Gorilla Protection Blog, trained Atamato, Diddy and Innocent, has now left us. We will forever be indebted to Will for his amazing insight, expert online networking skills and his dry humour. Below is Will and Diddy checking out photos for the gorilla blog in December last year.

The good news is that he hasn’t gone far - he will be working from the Mara Triangle to help with the emergency fund raising campaign. As you all may know, we are trying to raise 150,000 dollars for the Mara Triangle to help them through this extraordinarily difficult period. Brian Heath, the CEO of the Mara Conservancy came in to pick up Will and to update Richard Leakey on the situation on the ground. They ended up recalling stories about an earlier discussion on the future of the Mara and about Brians Serval cat kitten!

It feels like a long day but we’re only just getting started. I am energized because more than 20 bloggers received donations last week (thank you everyone) and that means that things are looking up which is a great change for us living in Kenya where things have been so depressing lately. But for those who follow Kenyan politics the Koffi Annan mediated talks are progressing and despite some hiccups, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. “Harambee” as Kenyans say, “Lets pull together”.

Tags: 19, 220, 23, 33, 46, 460, 768

3 responses so far

Category: Emergencies | Date: Feb 13 2008 | By: admin

Recent posts on WildlifeDirect are very disturbing for conservationists. I also want to draw attention to several burning issues that we really need to work on if we are to make a difference in conservation in Africa.

The bushmeat trade may be an important source of protein and cash for communities living in and around protected areas. It is threatening many species such as the bonobo as revealed in the Lola ya bonobo blog today and in Ashley Vospers blog on Lomami. Some of our bloggers have said ‘it’s not a good day’ …hopefully by bringing you the facts from the ground, you will be better informed and able to make a decision about how to make a personal difference.

The importance of wildlife and natural resources to humans often causes conflicts. The charcoal trade in many parts of Africa, supply much needed domestic energy for cooking and heating. Through the ending charcoal blog we hope to find and test solutions to the use of charcoal in Congo, that can be applied anywhere in Africa. We are especially excited that this blog is a collaboration between two people in different continents who are working together! That is the spirit of community building that we are proud to promote.

We keep hearing stories about poison as a means of killing wildlife ‘pests’ and predators. We’ve heard about it in Kenya where it affects vultures, lions, elephants and primates, as well as in Uganda, Congo and southern Africa. In fact, the more we look the more we see. We have decided to do something about it so look out for a new blog on wildlife poisoning by bringing news from different sources to one place as a forum for discussion, for planning and tackling this cruel and deadly. And it’s not all bad news. In India, scientists and conservationists working with political and legal people were able to ban some of the most lethal drugs that were causing die-offs of vultures. We believe we can achieve it in Africa too.

Several of our bloggers have also revealed to us the scale of illegal wildlife trade that is going on in Africa. Trade in wildlife is sometimes for consumption, but is often for supplying the pet and ornamental trade like parrots, frogs, snakes, orchids, monkeys and insects in the west and Near and Far Eastern countries, as well as for commercial products and ornaments, (eg. Timber, ivory, rhino horn, insects and hippo teeth), medicine and pharmaceuticals, and we have heard that many primates are illegally traded for the biomedical research.

How does this happen when there are wildlife authorities in these countries both Africa and Europe and USA? Well, the business is worth billions, so “corruption” is a key word here. In addition, some countries are not members of important treaties like CITES the convention on trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora. Some countries don’t have trained customs officers, and identifying some part of an animal, or a small frog is often impossible with out the right tool or training.

Sometimes illegal trade is going on right under the authorities noses – the official forms are filled correctly but with garbage information that nobody checks. For example, in 2005 Uganda allegedly legally exported over 1 ton of hippo teeth from wild sources – I doubt that Uganda doesn’t have enough hippos to provide this – it probably came from Congo where hippo populations have collapsed due to illegal trade.

Someone has to do something.

We can help those interested in ‘revealing’ what’s happening in order to raise attention in source and market countries. We will receive information through our normal emails and info@wildlifedirect.org, and post it to keep you informed. We’d appreciate your interest and action whenever there’s need.

Tags: 19, 220, 234, 238, 343, 46, 603, 630, 698, 699, 719, 79, 82

12 responses so far

Category: Emergencies | Date: Feb 13 2008 | By: admin

Dear everyone, I have just this minute received this announcement which I think is especially worrying in USA because we are trying to get this deadly poison out of Africa! Maina reported the effects of Furadan on vultures and predators in thewaterhole blog, while Anthony and Seamus reported it may have killed two of their lions in the Lionguardians blog. I heard from the Kenya Wildlife Service that even elephants are being poisoned by this chemical. It is not produced in Africa but is imported, which is why the lifting of the ban in USA could be disastrous for wildlife in USA and other parts of the world.

Below is the unedited information that we have received which I hope explains the situation and gives you some ideas about actions that can be taken.

For the first time in 20 years a pesticide manufacturer is fighting the cancellation of a chemical that EPA has recommend be removed from the US market. EPA is also facing pressure from Members of Congress to allow its continued use and the agency needs our support. Here is a joint press release we sent out with Defenders of Wildlife today. Many Bird Conservation Alliance members have supported the effort to remove carbofuran from the market. Please consider forwarding this release and calling your local newspapers and radio stations today to ask them to report on this very important story. Thanks for all your efforts.

EPA Under Pressure to Keep Banned Pesticide on Market

Science Panel Agrees with Pesticide Ban which Followed Millions of Bird Deaths

(Washington, D.C. – February 11, 2008) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under pressure from a pesticide manufacturer and members of Congress to reverse an August 30, 2006 decision to cancel the registration of all uses of the highly toxic pesticide carbofuran, which is sold under the name “Furadan” by FMC Corporation. A Scientific Advisory Panel reviewed the decision last week and agreed with EPA that the pesticide poses an unreasonable risk to the environment, particularly birds, and that there was no evidence to recommend reversing EPA’s decision to cancel carbofuran.

“Those who support keeping carbofuran on the market are stating their clear indifference to conserving wildlife and to exposing workers to toxins,” said Dr. George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy. “Carbofuran is harmful to human health, and one of the most deadly pesticides to birds left on the market. It is responsible for the deaths of millions of wild birds since its introduction in 1967, including Bald and Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and migratory songbirds. EPA has already said a firm no to the continued use of this substance, and lawmakers need to listen to the experts on this.”

In its 2005 ecological risk assessment on carbofuran, EPA stated that all legal uses of the pesticide were likely to kill wild birds. If a flock of mallards were to feed in a carbofuran treated alfalfa field, EPA predicted that 92% of the birds in the flock would quickly die. EPA analysis has also confirmed that carbofuran is a threat to human health through contaminated food, drinking water, and occupational exposure.

“This is the first time in twenty years that a pesticide manufacturer has fought cancellation of a registered pesticide,” said Dr. Michael Fry, Director of ABC’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign. “The EPA’s decision to ban carbofuran was a huge victory for science and the environment, but despite the overwhelming scientific evidence of carbofuran’s extreme toxicity and the availability of safer alternatives, the manufacturer continues to fight all efforts on the part of the EPA and conservationists to have the ban enacted. FMC Corporation needs to take the responsible course and immediately withdraw carbofuran from the market.”

“The evidence is clear; carbofuran is toxic to wildlife and people. EPA should not fold to political pressures and allow this dangerous pesticide back on the market,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife. “In 2006, more than 20,000 of our members and activists asked EPA to take carbofuran off the market. EPA made the right decision in 2006 and they should stick by that decision now.”

BACKGROUND

In 2007, the deliberate misapplication of carbofuran by a Colorado farmer killed over 2,200 migratory birds, including Mourning Doves, Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks, Red-Winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles. The farmer pleaded guilty in federal court for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Other incidents of bird poisonings by carbofuran are documented in the Avian Incident Monitoring System (www.abcbirds.org/aims) operated by American Bird Conservancy in cooperation with the EPA and state and federal wildlife agencies. The Birds in Agricultural Areas (www.abcbirds.org/biaa) database also documents significant bird use in the major crops where carbofuran is sprayed. Continued use of carbofuran will only lead to more incidents such as the recent bird kill in Colorado.

In addition to killing birds when used legally, carbofuran is often illegally used in poison baits intended to kill wildlife in agricultural areas and grazing lands. This abuse has resulted in the deaths of raptors including Bald and Golden Eagles.

American Bird Conservancy and other conservation and worker protection organizations campaigned for many years to have carbofuran removed from the market. They heralded EPA’s decision as a clear victory for the environment, and one that was long overdue. Groups supporting the cancellation include: American Bird Conservancy, Alaska Bird Observatory, Archbold Biological Station, Beyond Pesticides, Bird Conservation Network, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered Habitats League, Friends of Dyke Marsh, Hampshire Bird Club, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Pesticide Action Network North America, Riveredge Bird Club, Seattle Audubon Society, Taku Conservation Society, Tennessee Ornithological Society, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, The Institute for Bird Populations, Virginia Society of Ornithology, Washington Toxics Coalition, Wildlife Center of Virginia, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, World Wildlife Fund, Xerces Society, Maryland Ornithological Society.

Carbofuran first came under fire in the 1980s after an EPA Special Review estimated that over a million birds were killed each year by the granular formulation. According to scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service there are “no known conditions under which carbofuran can be used without killing migratory birds. Many of these die-off incidents followed applications of carbofuran that were made with extraordinary care.” The granular formation was cancelled in 1994, but the liquid form remains on the market.

Carbofuran is one of the most heavily used insecticides in the world, but its extreme toxicity to farm workers and wildlife has made it very dangerous to use. EPA’s cancellation will likely have a domino effect internationally, as other countries frequently follow EPA’s lead.

In 1974 Congress passed the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), to require stricter controls on pesticides, and to encourage the development of less toxic alternatives to older chemicals. More than 1,000 alternative pesticides have since been registered, but a few “dinosaur chemicals”, such as carbofuran, have remained on the market because they were grandfathered into the regulations when FIFRA was passed.

Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act in 1996, which set higher standards for pesticide registration and residues in food, and gave EPA a deadline of ten years to re-evaluate the most dangerous pesticides. EPA’s announcement to cancel the registration of carbofuran happened on the precise day of the ten year deadline.

Once implemented, the cancellation will be effective for all uses of carbofuran: alfalfa, corn, cotton, cotton, potatoes, and rice. The cancellation will be phased out over four years for other minor uses including artichokes, chili peppers in the southwest, cucumbers, spinach for seed, sunflowers, and pine seedlings. Unfortunately, the cancellation will not apply to use on some major imported agricultural products. The EPA is still allowing the importation of rice, coffee, bananas, and sugarcane with carbofuran residues in the commodities, posing risks to US consumers and putting US growers at a competitive disadvantage. American Bird Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council have recently petitioned EPA to cancel these import tolerances for pesticide residues on food.

Assorted letters to EPA concerning carbofuran cancellation (including letters from Members of Congress), http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162. Document number EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162-0487 dated February 5, 2008.

Comment letter from FMC Corporation, http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=09000064803a0c8e.

Comment letter from Dr. Michael Fry, American Bird Conservancy, http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0162.

Comment letter from Dr. Jennifer Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council, http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=09000064803a5bc2.

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American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is the only organization that works solely to conserve native wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC is a not-for-profit membership organization that is consistently awarded a top, four-star rating by the independent group Charity Navigator. ABC’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign aims to reduce the exposure of wild birds to hazardous pesticides. For more information see http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/pesticides/index.html.

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org.

6 responses so far

Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 08 2008 | By: admin

January was a great month. We raised a total of 29,433 dollars in 422 individual donations. That means we were getting almost a thousand dollars a day! Pretty impressive we think but what’s REALLY exciting for me is that we raised money for 29 blogs. We now have 61 blogs – that means that half of our bloggers are being successful in fund raising in January which is a far sight better than we were doing last year. Our average donation size was 70 dollars. We owe you all a big thank you. Remember that all your donations are recieved in the field net only of bank transfer fees.

This blog post is to thank Samantha Newport who leaves us today. Sadly her flight connection did not permit us in Nairobi to say ASANTE SANA - THANK YOU SAM and KWAHERI. In Kiswahili we say Kwaheri Kuonana meaning goodbye and see you again. As you all know Sam has been instrumental in WildlifeDirect going far beyond the call of duty and bringing enormous value to this young organization. We hope that even if you find fulfilling work out there in blizzardy England, you will stay close to us all here at WildlifeDirect in Kenya, Congo, and Italy.

13 responses so far

Category: elephants | Date: Feb 05 2008 | By: admin

The largest living animals in the world, it’s not surprising that elephants inspire all sorts of large things….Jumbo jets, jumbo meals, jumbo size….. I suspect that Jumbo is a corruption of the world Jambo which actually means Hello in Kiswahili.

Google ‘elephant’ and you’ll find out about the election race in the United States, the trampling of Guinea in the gripping Africa cup of Nations (soccer) in which the Nigerian team, Elephants, have made it into the semi finals, and about the sad story of three elephants that were hit by a train in India yesterday. We all know and love Dumbo – the story was inspired by a real African elephant called Jumbo. When I was studying elephants I spent often talked with my counterparts in other parts of Africa and Asia. My main concern was the devastating effect of the ivory trade on elephants I worked hard to have the ban on ivory trade maintained.

We saved elephants from being killed for their teeth but it always amazed me that one of the most serious threats to elephants in India was the train. You’ll learn from Joyce Poole and Petter Granli on elephantvoices blog that elephants have incredible perceptions of sounds – not only do they communicate with vocalizations through their trunks but they also communicate through the ground and hear through their feet. One of the most exciting findings I thought was that elephants will stand on three legs to triangulate and determine which directions vibrations come from – and so determine where the rain is falling …. And where to move next. Or where their friends or enemies are … to avoid them. So what I don’t understand is why they can’t hear the train. One can’t help but love elephants –we know so much about them, they are intelligent, feeling, emotional, family oriented, caring and loving…. Most of the time.

But imagine this scenario – you live in a traditional African village. After a hard day of work in the fields, ploughing and weeding, you have your evening meal and retire after the sun has set. The first sound of rumblings would probably melt into your dreams but then you are suddenly awakened into a real life nightmare when you hear the sound of your granary being smashed – looking out side you might just see the dark shapes of elephants lumbering around, you scream, shout, throw things and the elephants trumpet, stampede, smash things. They leave ….your venture out cautiously with your only light, a paraffin lamp that casts a dull glow over the demolition of your destroyed granary, your crop in the field is gone, smashed as the herd fled through it. Some irate villagers chase after the fleeing herd sending smouldering lumps of elephant dung and lighted branches in their direction. This sometimes only angers them more and results in often fatal attacks. This is the conflict that we call ‘human-elephant conflict’ in Africa and Asia. It may not happen as often a cockroaches, weevils or even baboons get into our crops, and elephant losses may not cause as great in total compared to other commone pests, but when elephants do strike – well, one is absolutely helpless against these massive creatures. It’s a big problem – and one that’s hard to get used to or to tolerate. Some people say that elephants and humans can’t live together. I think we can – if we’re clever about it. Three things we can do

1. Fence ourselves in to keep elephants out - an electric fence in Africa is expensive, works well if its maintained, but if not monitored, can be converted into deadly snares ….
2. Use chilli peppers to make your crops distasteful to them! Another cool, I mean hot solution to keeping ele’s away – they hate the smell and taste of chillis –smouldering piles of chilli infused elephant dung piles produces a smoke that debilitates elephants super sniffing power.. read about it here and here. You can even buy chilli sauce to promote this .

3. Use bees – Ian Douglas-Hamilton and Fritz Volrath have shown how the sound of bees can keep elephants at bay – African bee stings on a sensitive elephant trunk – ouch! Elephants avoid swarming bees so bee hives can be used to keep elephants away from farms - everyone is raving about this innovation… having experienced the wrath of African bees, I wouldn’t have African bees near my house in case they went for me instead of the elephants, instead I’d use a simulated bee sound. I wonder if someone could invent a wind chime or musical instrument that produces the buzz of bees so that it’s cheap and completely sustainable?

The post election crisis in Kenya has directly affected efforts to protect elephants – there just isn’t any money being generated by tourism for the payment of antipoaching and enforcement activities, as well as community support for managing human elephant conflict. I’m scared that we will soon see reports that elephants are being killed, snared, hunted with guns, poison arrows and other barbaric killing tools. If communities are facing greater threats from elephants due to the absence of wildlife conflict activities, they will have no incentive to protect these animals.

Having met many hundreds of elephants during my work, I took my son Josh to meet Shimba, one of they newest orphans at the sanctuary. Shimba comes from the Shimba Hills in south east Kenya – where I did my Phd research on this population of forest living (though sometimes crop raiding!) elephants – she’s available for adoption at the orphanage run by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

We are concerned that the Illegal trade in ivory is still a problem and hunters are always on the ready to attack herds whenever antipoaching efforts are compromised. Our focus is on the Mara Triangle right now - any donations you give them will support elephant protection - both anti-poaching and community support for protection.

Tags: 6, 698, 723, 732, 750, 755, 768

4 responses so far

Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 05 2008 | By: admin

Besides the politicians and hoodlums, I can’t help but think there are actually a lot of good and caring people in the world. Perhaps not enough, or maybe because we are all so scattered across the globe that, it is sometimes not easy to feel a common bond of humanity. However, when I started working with WildlifeDirect and began to really understand the power of online communities, I realised that we are now sitting on the most powerful and positive tool of all times.

Then, when my wife, Elodie and I created an emergency appeal blog, Sukuma Kenya (which literally means “push” Kenya but is also the name given to the staple vegetable eaten by all Kenyans as it literally helps to push you through the week), I trully felt that no matter how few people out there really do care, we can actually make a difference. All it took was one mass email to all our friends, and through the simple science of 7 degrees of seperation, Sukuma spread and within one month we had raised over $10,000/-! I can’t even begin to tell you how many people have been helped with this funding.

What was just as inspiring is that I realised just how many Kenyans and friends of Kenya there are out there. The blogs dealing with the crises just kept springing up and everyone has been linking to eachother to increase our networks and increase the outreach. People from all sectors are dealing with the crises at hand ranging from poets like Shailja Patel to Kenyan Harvard student Joseph Karoki to and of course the whole literary movement came together under a common banner of Concerned Writers and within weeks, literally a couple of books worth of material was public for everyone to read. A lot of this amazing writing can be found on the Kwani blog

Kenyans do care and we are in shock about what is going on. What I realise is now more than ever we see our country in it’s whole - the people, the environment, the wildlife, the economy. So much is at stake. As a conservation organisation we recognise that everything is intedependant and sometimes certain issues must take precedence over others for the sake of long term sustainability just as the Gorilla Protection blog has done with raising funds to buy fuelwood for all the displaced people in DR Congo.

And now in Kenya, WildlifeDirect must focus its energy of saving one of the greatest ecosystems in the world - the Trans Mara- which is coming under serious threat due to a lack of financial resources to continue security as there are no tourists paying entrance fees which the Mara Conservancy is entirely dependant upon.

My good friend Stephen Partington and a muse to many of us writers in Kenya lives a humble life teaching at a school in Machakos, recently wrote the following poem which says it all for me:

WONDER OF THE WORLD: A STUDY OF EXODUS
Kenya, February 2008

(NOTE: in 2007, Kenya’s wildebeest migration was declared The Seventh
Natural Wonder of the World)

Forget the wildebeest.
Forget the birds that flock abroad.
Forget safari ants,
those harsh, acidic hordes
that strip each leaf from the acacia tree.

Forget the spawning salmon
or the moulting northern caribou,
the nightly rise and bloom
of tiny plankton from the deep.
Forget the flock and mindless plodding-on
of fold-returning sheep.

Let’s venture lower, to inanimates:
forget the iron filings,
how they journey to the pole.
Forget specks of dust that quiver
with a Brownian lack of control.
Forget how photons in their millions
pulse rhythmically from lamps.
Forget the molecules of water
forced to tumble-stream from taps.
Forget the swarming of the sand from dunes,
the orbits of our planets’ moons…

Yet smaller, less substantial
than a mote, the lowest low:
evicted children
on the margins of the roadway,
who have nowhere left to go.

(Stephen Derwent Partington)

Technorati : Kenya, Masai Mara, Sukuma, WildlifeDirect fundraising crises, blogs, post-election crises

Tags: 23, 33, 698, 710, 711, 768

4 responses so far