Baraza

Category: Africa, Emergency appeals, Ivory, bushmeat, chimpanzee, drought, elephants, poaching, wildlife trade, wildlifedirect | Date: Aug 05 2009 | By: Maina

In the past week or so, our bloggers have been reporting some tough situations in their areas of work. From death of elephants to financial crises and other ravages of drought and the global economic crisis.

CERCOPAN of Nigeria were last week tittering on the edge of a financial cliff as they needed to raise US$ 3,333 in order to keep their premises and continue rescuing primates caught up in the deep rooted west African bushmeat trade. They launched an appeal for funds and WildlifeDirect has been helping them spread the word. As of today, they had raised US$1395 which is quite impressive. They however need some US$1,938 before the end of August to secure the 120 primates’ only place of sanctuary from the bushmeat insanity.

The Amboseli Trust for Elephants (ATE) on Kenya is also facing a crisis with some of the most known African Elephants in the world starting to die because of the severe drought that is bringing Kenya and other east African states to their knees. They have lost valuable matriachs - and old friends - such as Echo, Grace, Isis, Leticia, Lucia, Odile, Ulla and Xenia in the last 1 year.  Echo, Isis, Leticia and Ulla have been matriarchs of their families since the 1970s. But the human hand is also dealing a blow to elephant conservation.

Poaching is taking out the large bulls. In the last 10 days three more big males have been killed. One, Ebenezer, had his tusks cut out with a power saw. That should send a warning alarm to wildlife authorities in Africa - today’s poachers are more advanced in their brutality.

To fight these poachers, ATE has supported two ranger bases in Amboseli area. Now they need a third and need to raise US$ 10,000 to fund building the base and to keep it running. Please help them.

The bushmeat trade in western Africa is really messy and two young victims of this grim trade have arrived at Tacugama in Sierra Leone. This is in addition to the three that arrived recently and all together Tacugama has in their care 96 orphaned chimps. They are, quite literally, bursting at their seems with chimp orphans. That makes it all the more needy for funds to rehabilitate these little ones until they are ready to get back into the forest and fend for themselves. You would help them wouldn’t you?

While all this is going on, we at WildlifeDirect want to keep this channel open so that you and your friends can respond to these emergencies and day to day needs of the wildlife of Africa, Asia and South America.  We also need your direct support so that we can pay Internet bills, electricity, rent and staff who keep these blogs working. We want you to continue enjoying the happy moments with our bloggers. To laugh with them, and to cry with them when times are hard. After all, you don’t want to wake up one morning and find that there is no WildlifeDirect. I believe you would be worried about all the poor defenseless wildlife that have been benefiting from the existence of WildlifeDirect. Please don’t let this happen.

Tags: Africa, bushmeat, chimp, DRC, drought, elephants, Kenya, Nigeria, poaching, wildlife trade, wildlifedirect

3 responses so far

Category: Climate change, Emergency appeals, Mau Forest Complex, elephants, national parks | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: admin

Today Wangari Maathai wrote a thought provoking article warning all of us in Kenya that the water shortages, power black outs and crop failures that we are feeling now are payment for our disrespect towards the Mau Forest  - our most important water tower.

She argues that the destruction of Kenya’s Mau Forest Complex has come about as a result of years of mismanagement (planting of monocultures and abuse of shamba system) as well as corrupt practices that led to encroachment, land grabbing and illegal logging by politicians and their friends. It irks us that these were the very people we entrusted to protect it.

“These destructive practices greatly reduced the forest cover and the “environmental services” it renders us, which we take for granted.” She states. Indeed, Kenya is facing one of the worst droughts in living history. Rivers have dried up, hydro power schemes have shut down, and vegetation cannot survive in the dry earth. Starving animals have reduced the landscape to a dustbowl in many places, now livestock and wildlife are dying in droves.

Professor Maathai reminds us that environmental services including the control of rainfall patterns, conservation of rainwater in underground water reservoirs and wetlands, conserving biodiversity, controlling water flow and therefore soil conservation and serving as a carbon sink and thereby reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide have all been compromised. And this she says, is why we are suffering today.

Maathai is right that we must be pay for the environmental damage we cause. But she is wrong that the destruction of the Mau is the sole cause of this devastating drought. Climatologists are warning that this situation is much greater than the destruction of the Mau Forests. The failure of the rains this year and high temperatures are not due to local causes, these are signs of a global phenomenon the El Nino. They have sent out an alarm that we are facing an El Nino year. This devastating climatic aberration is associated with rising sea temperatures.

The situation is bad and is getting worse. In February the Kenyan Government declared a state of emergency saying that 10 million people may face hunger and starvation after a poor harvest, crop failure, a lack of rain and rising food prices.  According to predictions, the hot dry spell will be followed by windy storms and heavy rains after September and this could go on until February. The punishment will therefore be prolonged, with failing crops, and devastating floods.

As in 1964 we could see the death of 90% of the countries livestock. Wildlife is equally badly affected. We have been receiving heart wrenching reports of elephants, hippos, and wildebeest deaths in Amboseli, Masai Mara, Tsavo and Laikipia.

While the government deals with the humanitarian crisis, we must not forget the wildlife.

Cynthia Moss has just written to ask us to urgently help raise $10,000 towards saving elephants in Amboseli. Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants has also reported the ravages of the drought on elephants in Samburu. William Knocker has been writing about the situation in Nairobi National Park.With so many livestock herders inside the parks now it is essential that we help with law enforcement until the drought breaks.

This appeal is to ask you to help us save wildlife during the drought

Until the rains break we must protect the wildlife as best we can in Amboseli, Masai Mara, Laikipia and Samburu. Please contribute whatever you can to help us keep rangers in the field during this especially difficult time. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated as the situation develops.

Paula

Tags: conservation, El Nino, Kenya, LIvestock, parks, wildlife, wildlifedirect

3 responses so far

Category: Emergency appeals | Date: Apr 06 2009 | By: admin

The flu epidemic affecting bonobos at Lola ya Bonobo is worsening and now Lodja is dead, and Kikongo is sick. We are doing everything we can  to get emergency funds to Claudine and Vanessa.

Tags: Bonobo, bonobohandshake, Claudine Andre, DR Congo, emergency, Lola ya Bonobo, vanessa woods, wildlifedirect

One response so far

Category: Appeals, Emergencies, Emergency appeals, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: Mar 28 2009 | By: baraza

Dear friends there is a crisis facing bonobos at Lola ya Bonobo .

In the last six days 6 bonobos have died of flu. Another ten are sick.

Claudine, Vanessa and all the staff have launched an appeal to raise funds to enable them to respond to this emergency. The center which is facing a financial crisis - there is no time to lose. If we can reach 10,000 people each of whom give just $100, we can avert this crisis and save the bonobos.

You can help by doing any or all of the following things

1. Make a donation now
2. Appeal to your friends, networks and family (facebook, myspace,twitter, local news agency, call your )
3. Hold an emergency fund raisier to raise more funds
4. Send Claudine, Vaness and the staff at Lola a message on their blog right now, tell them that you care, and what you are doing to try and help.

Thank you everyone, we really appreciate your support
Paula

2 responses so far

Category: Appeals, Emergency appeals, Forests, bushmeat | Date: Dec 03 2008 | By: baraza

Looking back on the last year I can’t help but feel extremely grateful for all the support that we have received for WildlifeDirect. The economic crisis came as a big shock for everyone, it has an enormous impact on Africa, prices of fuel have doubled in Kenya, the price of ground maize, the staple for many, has tripled. People are starving in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, northern Kenya and Somalia. Many have resorted to harvesting what they can from the wild - seeds, berries and of course bushmeat.

This photo taken by David Ngala in coastal Kenya reflects how people are depending more and more on bushmeat due to rising food prices. 

Trees are also suffering as the demand for fuel wood and charcoal for cooking has rocketed due to escalating prices of Kerosene and butane gas. We have witnessed rising prices of charcoal as well as increased rates of logging in many areas. This can be stopped if we help our conservation partners to keep up the vigilance. During this economic crisis, you help is needed more urgently than ever.

Perhaps the best thing you can do this Christmas and holiday season to help, is to make a donation towards a project of your choice, or perhaps buy a Christmas gift certificate for one of your friends.

We look foward to hearing from you

Tags: conservation, credit crunch, donations, wildlifedirect

No responses yet

Category: Emergency appeals, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 03 2008 | By: baraza

The tension in the air can be felt in Goma from far away Nairobi. We are in touch with our colleagues on the ground I’ve just heard that the convoy trying to reach Rutshuru (50 miles north of Goma through the CNDP front line) has come across scenes of intense fighting in the recent days with the road strewen with empty shells and casing.

They describe seeing the bodies of Congolese military still lie in road side ditches.  An ugly scene but at least food is moving towards those most in need which will be a huge relief. I’m dreading what they will find when they get there though. All the news agencies are talking about is the humanitarian crisis and are filled with harrowing stories.

The missing rangers are still at large which is very worrying. Where could they be? We hope that they are safe.  At least NGO’s are feeling safer and many have been able to return to Goma.

A tiny piece of potentially good news if true, was reported in the Uganda Monitor “The rebels for now have been persuaded by Rwandan officials, according to several sources, to abandon their plan to occupy Goma which had been abandoned by government troops”.

Our thought are  with all our friends wherever they are in Eastern Congo. We’ll keep you posted as news comes in from the convoy - which is not easy - cell phone networks are on and off.

If you have any messages for the team on the ground please leave them here in comments and we will post the best of the messages here  for them.

Tags: CNDP, crisis in the congo, DR Congo, Gorillas, Rwanda, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: Climate change, Emergency appeals | Date: Aug 19 2008 | By: baraza

Thanks to Sheryl  and Ethics and Animals I have sent my letter and below I am copying information here for you to take action and stop the dilution fo the Endangered Species Act.  Anyone from anywhere can write to Secretary Kempthorne, and it’s been made so easy … so friends you have no excuse click the link to send a letter and do it now. Deadline is September 15th.

The Center for Biological Diversity provides a letter that you can edit and send to Secretary Kempthorne, protesting the changes. The changes to the ESA include: -

• Exempt thousands of federal activities from review under the Endangered Species Act
• Eliminate checks and balances of independent oversight
• Limit which effects can be considered harmful
• Prevent consideration of a project’s contribution to global warming
• Set an inadequate 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project in the instances when they are invited to participate — or else the project gets an automatic green light
• Enable large-scale projects to go unreviewed by dividing them into hundreds of small projects.

In addition, last week Kempthorne and Bush tried to slip another proposed rule change under the radar that would limit protection of a species only to where it is currently found. Under the current rule a species has protection in its entire historical range. However many endangered species have lost substantial portions of that range. For example; under the proposed changes, prior to being reintroduced, the California condor would only have been listed in zoos.

Defenders of Wildlife also has a letter you can edit and send to your Congressional representatives. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is no longer accepting public comments by e-mail or fax. Every other agency in the government does accept comments electronically, but not USFW. So, we have to mail our comments about Monday’s proposed rule to gut the ESA. I learned this by reading SFGate’s Thin Green Line blog and perusing the end of the proposed rule itself. You can access it on the link to the blog. So, we need to start writing IMMEDIATELY. We don’t have a lot of time left because the Bush Administration cut the usual 60-day comment period in half. They don’t want us to know what they’re up to, so let’s make sure they get lots and lots of written public comments delivered by snail-mail at USFW. You can write your comments and mail them to the following address or you can keep an eye on the National Resource Defence Council’s Switchboard blog for information on how to submit them electronically to NRDC. They will then print out your comments and deliver them to USFW. The link will be live on Monday at NRDC Action Fund. Here’s the USFW mailing address for comments (they will also post any personal information you provide in the Federal Register): Public Comment Processing Attention: 1018-AT50 Divisioin of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222 Arlington, VA 22203

Thanks for all this info Sheryl, Paula

Tags: conservation policies, Endangered Species Act, ESA, Polar Bears, USA

4 responses so far

Category: Emergency appeals, Mara Triangle | Date: Mar 07 2008 | By: admin

Although the political crisis in Kenya may be over or at least reduced, tourist and tourism revenues have not and will not snap back. The cancellation of flight routes, closure of hotels and tour companies, and booking cancellations all took place over a few weeks. Restoring confidence in Kenya as a tourism destination however, will take years and massive investments in marketing Kenya.

While in the Mara I had long discussions with the CEO of the Mara Conservancy, Brian Heath.

His dream was and is to make the Mara economically sustainable from tourism revenues. I thought you’d like to read some of the extracts of his February report to get a good understanding of the scale of the problem. Notice how long the security section of the report is!

Tourism

February has been another disastrous month for tourist visitations. There was a short period in the middle of the month when people began to return and it looked as if the situation might be salvaged to some extent. However, the stand-off between the two main political parties and renewed threats of mass action throughout most of February meant that tourists are still very reluctant to visit. We may be lucky and maintain the expected 30% of our original estimates for the coming months but can not foresee any significant improvement in tourist visitations before July.

Security

Ten poachers were arrested during February, 9 of them were Tanzanians and the tenth a Luo poacher who had been arrested before. This brings the total to 1,013 poachers arrested since June 2001.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher on the evening of the 9^th. He was one of three people entering the Lemai Wedge to hunt along the escarpment near Kinyangaga.

Some meat was found stashed in a tree near Ol Kurruk by a routine patrol between the community scouts and our rangers on the 15^th. The following day we mounted a patrol in the Sankuria forest and arrested one Luo poacher, he had been in the forest for six days and had killed a zebra and a waterbuck. Three wire snares were recovered.

The Ngiro-are team arrested two wa Kuria poachers on the 19^th as they were traversing the Lemai Wedge, on their way to hunt hippo along the Mara River. They informed us that they had met with another group of poachers, also on their way to hunt hippo on the Narok side of the river. The following day we mounted a joint patrol along the Narok side of the river but found no poacher activity.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher as he and his companion came down the escarpment to hunt in the Lemai Wedge late in the evening of the 22^nd. They recovered four wire snares.

The Ngiro-are team were asked to assist the rangers from Kinyangaga on the 24^th. The rangers had confiscated some wa Kuria cattle for illegal grazing in the Lemai Wedge and were taking them to Kinyangaga when they were accosted by an irate mob of wa Kuria, trying to recover their cattle. The situation became tense, with arrows and bullets fired at the rangers. Our rangers assisted in getting the cattle into the Kinyangaga compound and then withdrew. The wa Kuria continued firing into the compound. The Tanzanian rangers managed to apprehend one person with a firearm, only to discover that he was a policeman from the local village.

The Ngiro-are rangers found a temporary poacher’s camp at 9.00 am on the 25^th in a water-course between Ol Dono Nasipa and Konyoike – about half a kilometre into Tanzania. The five poachers were the group we had been looking for on the 19^th on the Narok side of the river. They had camped upstream from the search area, had killed one hippo and were on their way home after drying the meat. All five were arrested, four by the Ngiro-are team and the fifth after they were joined by the Serena rangers. Three wire snares and three heavy pears were recovered.

Revenue and Accounts

In January we had to re-calculate our budget, based on possibly receiving only 30% of our anticipated revenue. Although we implemented most of our cost-cutting measures in January our January Profit and Loss account indicated that we have a shortfall of Ksh 1.576 million (US$ 22,500 at the current rate of exchange.

We have been very fortunate in receiving support to meet our projected shortfall and would like to thank the following for their support. I would particularly like to single out Asuka for her support; she has raised US$ 29,000 in three weeks through her articles and blog for the Mara Conservancy. This shows the power of the Internet in raising funds if the message is right.

CMC Motors - 2,500,000 (approx US $ 40,000) for vehicle service and spares for one year

Asuka - 2,030,000 (approx US $ 23,000) Donations through her blog

Anne Kent-Taylor Fund 1,050,000 (approx US $ 12,000) donation for community scouts and security allowances

WildlifeDirect 700,000 (US $ 10,000) Donations through the blog

Care for the Wild 70,000(US $ 1,000) Donation for anti-harassment

Mc Phelps and family 70,000 (US $ 1,000) for Cheetah 1 (patrol team)

Total Raised to date 6,420,000

The exchange rate is about 1$=Ksh70Brian also noted that the Masai who had been laid off by hotels had returned to their villages where they were now herding livestock. These include diploma holders who just can’t make a living anymore in tourism.

We interviewed Dixon qualified in hospitality, who had returned to the village to herd cattle, a job normally reserved for boys. He was not alone, there were hundreds of cases like his. He was very bitter not about the hotel that fired him, but with the Kenyan leaders who are ignoring the suffering of so many as a result of the violence that followed the election dispute.

If the Maasai cannot get jobs in the tourism and wildlife sector, they will do what they need to do to survive- increase their herds in the Greater Mara ecosystem. This is perhaps the greatest threat to wildlife which migrates through the entire ecosystem which includes the Serengetti in Tanzania. Cattle, sheep and goats all compete for the same grazing as the wildlife…if we lose the Greater Mara, it will only be a short time before we lose the Mara as a consequence. The harmony between the Maasai and wildlife is on the verge of shattering as a result of this crisis. You can learn more about the Maasai wildlife interface in Asukas blog (she deals with livestock diseases that could affect wildlife) and at this website called reto-o- reto which means ‘I help you, you help me’. It’s a research project all about finding better land use management for pastoralists.

For the Mara Triangle the lack of funds means that planned developments have been put on hold. Only essential road works are being done (anyone who has been to the Mara knows what why roads maintenance is so critical).

These workers were on a break - the machine had broken down! Most of the road working machines are lying idle now.

Roads can wait but patrols cannot.

Despite all the cost cutting, we are now facing a situation where patrols are threatened. If patrols are halted, poaching will escalate and could go out of control, this we must prevent.

Before I go, this one’s for Theresa, Sheryl, FJP and all the others who love donkeys. This foal was absolutely tiny and adorable. Enjoy

Tags: 122, 46, 535, 698, 766, 768

14 responses so far

Category: Emergency appeals, Gorillas, WildlifeDirect news | Date: Mar 06 2008 | By: admin

We’ve been preoccupied with the situation in the Masai Mara for a while but don’t for a second imagine we’ve forgotten the crisis facing gorillas. Today the situation in the Virunga National Park is worse than it has ever been, the rangers have not seen the gorillas for over six months. Last year I visited the Kabirizi family with Emmanuel, Diddy and Innocent.

Once you’ve looked a wild gorilla in the you are transformed forever.

It is almost unimaginable that the rangers have been unable to monitor this family for half a year due to the rebel activity and dangers. I was fortunate to spend three days in the area and visited the gorillas twice. Diddy and Innocent as well as Augustin gave me the most interesting guided tour of the park imaginable - I learned about what gorillas eat and where they sleep, how they move and communicate. But the most awe inspiring moment was when I realised that it was in fact me that was the subject of study.

Diddy was happy and relaxed at that time. We had long conversations about his life as a ranger in the Bukima camp. The camp was later dismantled to protect the equipment from encroaching rebels.

At the end of a seven hour trek up and then down mount Mikeno we had much to smile about despite the exhaustion.

Sadly, less than a month later all hell broke loose and things have not been the same since.

Emmanuel was there when the Rugendo family was attacked, he was amongst the first people to find the site of the massacre of seven individuals.

Today Emmanuel is in the USA raising funds and talking about the situation which is quite dire. We are hoping to raise funds for the re-establishment of the Bukima camp immediately it is safe enough to do so. This will ensure that the rangers have a forward operating base to patrol and do the gorilla monitoring from.

For those of you in Denver Colorado, Emmanuel de Merode will be speaking about the situation facing mountain gorillas from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Canyon Theater in the Boulder Public Library, an event sponsored by the Highlands City Club. On Thursday, he will speak at the Colorado History Museum from 7 to 9 p.m. If you can’t make it to the talk but want to make a donation, you can do so on the gorilla protection blog

You will find more information on this fund raising event in the Denver post

Tags: 19, 33, 453, 735, 799

12 responses so far