Baraza

Category: Africa, Appeals, National Parks and protected areas, conservation | Date: Oct 09 2009 | By: paula

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There are days when can not sleep because of fears that WildlifeDirect  cannot survive this disastrous economic crisis. Fund raising has not been easy nor fun lately - and it’s affecting or ability to do effective conservation of endangered species.

Because everyone is affected by the economic crisis, many of our donors are telling us that they can’t contribute anymore, and the average donation of those generous donors who have continued to support us have declined by about 50% from an average donation of $100 to $47.

Despite the drop in funding, our bloggers remain convinced. We now have over 80 conservation blogs from the frontlines in Africa, Asia and South America. Half of these bloggers get funds every month and every month more people inquire and ask to join our network. It is so rewarding to know that good conservationists believe in us. This is what keeps us going at WildlifeDirect.

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Tags: Africa, conservation, endangered species, Gorillas, Lions, Paula Kahumbu, richard leakey, wildlife, wildlifedirect

One response so far

Category: Africa, Climate change, In the News, Kenya, Lions, National Parks and protected areas, Rhinoceros, big cats, drought, national parks, richard leakey, tourism, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: Sep 05 2009 | By: admin

In a previous story about cattle dying in the Nairobi Park We have been going purple in the face trying to raise awareness about the public health, ecological and economic threat facing Kenya as a consequence of uncontrolled movements of cattle during the current drought.

This is Dauti Kahura  story published in today’s East African Standard

A week ago, a man died of anthrax in Nyeri after eating infected cow meat. A week earlier, although not reported, two rhinos from Nairobi National Park died of anthrax. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed the cause of deaths.

The death of the man should raise the red flag. There is great fear that some of the meat being sold in and around Kitengela and Ongata Rongai butcheries could be contaminated with anthrax, foot and mouth and east coast fever. Investigations by The Standard on Saturday revealed that sick and dying cattle are slaughtered on the roadsides and expose nearby communities to outbreaks.

Temporary bomas

Last week, five kilometres into Masai Lodge Road in Ongata Rongai where herders have set up temporary bomas, The Standard on Saturday team found sickly cattle being slaughtered for distribution to neighbouring butcheries.

Mr Rolf Schmid, a restaurateur who has lived in the area for almost two decades, raised the alarm.

“My first instinct was to contact the Ministry of Health and veterinary officials to come and witness the slaughter of dying cattle,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Health officers and vets from Kajiado concur that some of the cattle appeared sickly although not all were emaciated. The Government health officials, who sought anonymity because they are not authorised to be quoted, confirmed that the animals pose danger.

Due to drought, Maasai herders drive the cattle up to the city and many of them are kept in bomas along Mombasa Road. Tens of thousands of cattle that have been migrating from Loitokitok, Tsavo West, Kibwezi, Sultan Hamud and Kajiado are also being held in bomas on the northern and southern sides of the Nairobi National Park.

By day, these cattle are hosted on the local ranches around the park and by night driven inside it for grazing. Early this week, The Standard on Saturday observed hundreds of cattle being driven into the park on the southern end from the Masai Lodge Road. Tired and exhausted, they walked in a profile, with some not completing the journey.

herding in parks

According to a KWS senior warden, herders have been cutting the fence to allow large numbers of cattle into the park. KWS impounded 1,000 cattle and when the herders came for them the next day, they said some of the animals belong to “well connected Kenyans”.

Due to severe drought and exhaustion of grazing fields, Nairobi National Park is the only location in city with ample grazing field.

But now it is also massively threatened with decimation. More worrying is the fact that the wild animals are also at great risk of being infected with diseases. KWS officials say some antelopes have been infected with foot and mouth.

Tags: anthrax, cattle, Dauti Kahura, Lion, Lions, LIvestock, Nairobi Park, rhino, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, Poisoning wildlife, big cats, conservation, furadan, national parks, poaching, predators, wildlifedirect | Date: Aug 29 2009 | By: paula

We are pleased to discover that we are not alone in our concern about the poisoning of lions with Furadan and it’s impact on Kenya. This is an email sent by Jake Grieves Cook to all in the tourism industry in Kenya.

There are 2 main reasons why lion numbers are declining in Kenya:

1. Human-wildlife conflict - spearing by herders and poisoning with FURADAN:

Lions are usually not very welcome in areas used for grazing livestock by pastoralists such as Maasai cattle herders. As a result lions are often speared when they go into these grazing areas and especially after they have killed livestock. The pesticide FURADAN is banned in many countries but is widely available in Kenya and is used by pastoralists to poison carcasses of livestock killed by predators. The predators return to the carcass and are killed by the poison. This can get into the food chain as any animal consuming the dead predators are also killed, from jackals to vultures.It is also poisoning people, see link below:

http://stopwildlifepoisoning.wildlifedirect.org/2009/03/06/detoxication-of-furadan

For more on Furadan click on the link below:

www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=furadan+lions&aq=3&oq=furadan+&aqi=g10

As well as deliberate poisoning, some lions have been lost through accidental poisoning. One of the leading lodges in the Mara was using Furadan as a pesticide on its vegetable garden. Last year a hippo died after eating the vegetables sprayed with Furadan. Then a pride of lions died after eating the hippo. Then hyenas and vultures died after eating the lions. And so it went on…

2. Loss of habitat

Many wilderness areas which were formerly inhabited by herbivores and predators such as lions have been turned into farmland and are no longer available as wildlife habitat. In the outer Mara area there has been fragmentation of land with sub-division into small individually owned parcels.

See the map below of the Koiyaki and Ol Kinyei areas of the outer Mara divided into hundreds of 150 acre parcels:

The loss of habitat means that lions are no longer able to move freely around these areas as they did before and there is no longer availability of large numbers of wild herbivores which form their normal prey. So lion numbers decline.

SOLUTIONS

However there is a way that tourism can combat the decline of lions. This is by establishing wildlife conservancies on land owned by the local communities adjacent to parks. If the local landowners can earn a better economic return from their land from wildlife conservation than they can from cultivation or from keeping livestock then they will be ready to set up wildlife conservancies. They do not need to turn all their land into wildlife preserves but a community with over 150,000 acres, such as the former Maasai group ranches, could set aside 20% as wildlife conservancy and keep 80% for livestock grazing. I have been involved with the setting up of 3 community-owned wildlife conservancies over the last 12 years: Selenkay Conservancy in the Amboseli eco-system and Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei conservancies in the Mara. See maps below:

SELENKAY CONSERVANCY OL KINYEI & OLARE OROK

We have had great success with our 3 conservancies and have been given very enthusiastic support by the local communities who own the land on which we have established the conservancies. Since the conservancies were set up, wildlife has increased substantially, in sharp contrast to the surrounding areas. We have 2 American researchers based at Selenkay who have collared a female lion and have been tracking her pride. Two lionesses there have both had cubs. In our 2 conservancies in the Mara we have several resident prides of lions and estimates are that over 30% of all the adult lions in the Mara eco-system are now resident in Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei. Our lion numbers are increasing…

You might be interested in watching 2 short TV clips of a couple ofminutes eachon the links below:

The first is a BBC clip about a recent report by researchers on declines in wildlife numbers in the Mara eco-system but which also highlighted the success of the community wildlife conservancies with which we are involved at Ol Kinyei and Olare Orok within the same Mara eco-system. All the wildlife footage was shot in our two conservancies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8129816.stm

The second is a clip from local KTN TV which highlights the two conservancies:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PT7c8LPxHM

Below are a couple of pics, taken on a night game drive recently by wildlife photographer Paolo Torchio, of our resident lions in Ol Kinyei.

There is no doubt that total lion numbers are declining in Kenya. The answer is to ban the use of FURADAN and also to encourage the establishment of more conservancies. Now the government tax authority says it wants to charge VAT on the conservancy fees! Not exactly encouraging…

Kind regards

Jake

**********************
Jake Grieves-Cook
Managing Director
Gamewatchers Safaris
P O Box 388
00621-Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-(0)20-7123129, 7122504, 7121851
Fax: +254-(0)20-7120864
Website: www.porini.com
Email: jake@gamewatchers.co.ke

Tags: conservaiton, endangered species, furadan, Kenya, Lion, Lions, Maasai, Masai Mara, wildlife, wildlifedirect

One response so far

Category: National Parks and protected areas, drought | Date: Aug 11 2009 | By: paula

The drought situation in Kenya has reached critical levels far worse than I reported earlier. The government has finally admitted that livestock have invaded the national parks. Kenya has always had droughts but rarely this serious.

“This drought may be at least as bad as the drought of 1964 when 90% of Kenya’s livestock perished”. Richard Leakey

In Nairobi Park the herders are increasingly brazen – a sure sign that enforcement is failing. I’ve watched herds of cattle entering the park in broad daylight and within sight of the KWS rangers and gates. Reports are ignored and it often feels like patrols are sent in the other direction.

The herders don’t bother hiding what they are doing and cattle are no longer kept to out of sight valleys, but are being taken right across the plains reducing habitat for wildlife and forcing herds of zebra, wildebeest, eland and buffalo to move further west close to the KWS main gate and very close to the bustling city.

In my experience, KWS are not keen to answer tough questions so I stopped to talk to the Masai herdsmen in Kitengela as they cooked a pot of tea on a 3 stone fire, beside their makeshift plastic tarp tent. They had over 300 cows in an area 30m x 30 m. The cows had been brought here from Kajado, near the Tanzania border. They are held in tiny fenced plots to sleep on top of their own dung, then herded out to graze and get water. There is no regard for land ownership – most trails lead to the park.

I asked if they were allowed in the park to which they said No, we get chased but we have no choice.

The cattle have devastated the land outside the park and are dying on the road side. A few have even been slaughted for sale to local residents before succumbing to natural death.

These herders know it’s illegal to use the park and they claim that KWS are arresting them. This we’re told leads to a night or two in cells before being released. It’s not a nice experience and the cattle suffer in their absence. To avoid getting arrested the herders are now sending women and children into the park with the cattle. It’s impossible to arrest a child, and women claim that they are starving themselves and can’t control the cattle.

The Kenyan government is meeting today to discuss this urgent issue. But as one person on twitter commented ‘the cows need water and hay, not more cabinet meetings’.

The current situation is bad in Nairobi, but it’s a picnic compared to what’s happening in Samburu.

We have been told by authoritative sources that Shaba National Park in Samburu is not only full of livestock and people, but that they are actually settling there. I suspect that this is happening because the government has been promising to compensate all the settlers in the Mau and other Forest. While it might sound compassionate, this will lead to perverse incentives.  I predict that in coming weeks and months, we will the aggressive invasion of  our national forests and parks and reserves. Those now settled in Shaba National Reserve are unlikely to move, even after the drought ends, unless they get a hefty compensation. Where the money will come from is any ones guess, tourism revenue here is probably a shadow of it’s former potential, and no normal tourist will agree to spend 40$ to see starving and dead cattle in a degraded overgrazed park.

The problem is not unique to Kenya but is also affecting Tanzania and Ethiopia where over 200,000 Kenyan cattle have migrated from northern Kenya into southern Ethiopia, the largest migration in over 10 years.

Tags: cattle, drought, Kenya, KWS, nairobi national Park, wildlifedirect

One response so far

Category: Kenya, Lions, Mara Triangle, Mau Forest Complex, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, national parks | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: paula

The drought in Kenya is having terrible consequences for everyone especially in arid areas which are sending out appeals for help.

Wildlife is also at risk. Today, yet again, I came across herds of starving cattle in the Nairobi National Park.  The problem is provoking a muted response especially from KWS who seem hesitant to chase them out.  Some people think that this is the right “for humanitarian response”, and I’m hopping mad.According to the IUCN, a national park is meant to be a protected area where natural ecosystems are not materially altered by human exploitation or occupation and where the competent authority (KWS) takes steps to prevent or eliminate such impacts. National Parks are used for inspirational, educative, cultural and recreative purposes.

The KWS Vision is “To be a world leader in wildlife conservation” and it’s Mission is “To sustainably conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife and its habitat in collaboration with stakeholders for posterity”.

SO, WHAT ARE LIVESTOCK DOING IN KENYA’S NATIONAL PARKS?

Even though Livestock is critical to our economy and contributes 12% of the GDP, the Kenyan government has failed Kenyan herders. Pastoralist occupy the ASAL areas (arid and semi arid lands) which make up two thirds of the country’s surface area. But very little has been done to help them. Historically the colonial government dispossessed land from pastoral communities, and our current government has been complacent and allows our political elite to benefit from the status quo by serving their private interests.

I believe that corruption in public institutions may be the greatest cause of Kenya’s economic decline, environmental degradation, and deepening poverty for millions of people.   It has created a humanitarian situation, for many Kenyans livestock keeping is a matter of survival.

This is why every time there are problems in the northern range lands, like droughts, conflict and disease, cattle are herded into the parks as a refuge.

KWS may in fact be powerless to stop them unless they take on a political war.

But does this effect conservation? Should we allow cattle in the parks?

I say “Hell No!! Chase them out as fast as possible!”  You may think me heartless in demanding that KWS drive the starving cattle and poor communities out of the parks. But  the long term consequence will cripple us – look at the devastating implications of corruption and impunity as a result of the destruction of the Mau forests.  Kenya’s entire economy is suffering and some 2,100 people will soon be homeless because of the greed of a few politicians.

There are also short term consequences of allowing cattle into our parks during droughts. Tourism is the backbone of this faltering economy, can we afford to ask visitors to pay $60 dollars per visit to see this?

Cattle taken into park after closing hours - Photo taken 6.20 pm last night at Nairobi National Park

Or this?

Photo taken 8.30 am this morning in Nairobi National Park despite several reports to KWS

Instead of this?

To me the answer to the cattle in the park problem is simple. Would the KWS director, or any of our ministers allow these sick starving cattle onto their personal property where their grazing would eat entire crops and destroy flower garden leaving a dust bowl and lots of parasites and diseases? Of course not!

Why is it that conservation areas are seen as opportunities to soften the devastating impacts our other failed policies? Numerous reports have concluded that the livestock ministry and related government departments, as well as our greedy political elite are  responsible for the crisis facing our cattle today. They created this problem, they must solve it.

In my opinion, letting cattle into the parks will not solve the problem any more than loosening the belt of an obese man will help him manage his weight.

What do you think? How can we send that message loud and clear that the Parks should not be used as emergency fodder for livestock during extreme droughts?

Tags: drought, human wildlife conflict, Kenya, Lions, national parks, poaching, wildlife

4 responses so far

Category: Hells Gate, Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, Snares, wildlife | Date: Jun 03 2009 | By: admin

March 29th 2009, from high above the cliff opposite the famous landmark, Fischers tower, when looking straight down, a strange tan rock like object with four, spindly and narrow branch like appendages extending from the right side lay motionless on the plain below. Could it be a carcass? The position and overall appearance of the object looked far too obscure to be one. Perhaps it is just a rock.

A couple of hours later driving in the park, my friend and I stopped the car on the track closest to a conspicuous fig tree with roots anchored between a large boulder, splitting the once complete mass into segments. The object we could see from the cliff turned out to be a hartebeest carcass, nothing unusual there except when you are standing right above it. A thick wire was wrapped several times around one horn and extended outward, the entire length of the carcass. The bizarre, contorted position of the hartebeest could now be explained by the presence of the wire. The carcass was so far decomposed, that all that was left was the hide. There was no evidence of the internal contents.

Perturbed by the sight of what looked to be a snare and the obvious neglect of the park authorities and rangers we walked closer toward the rocky outcrop facing the magnificent fig tree. Why hadn’t the park rangers taken the carcass for analysis, what was it doing lying out in plain sight of all the park tourists, right next to a track? What had happened to the hartebeest? If it was snared for bushmeat why was it still left there?

There was litter lying around on the rock, graffiti and someone had painstakingly chipped off a portion of the granite from the top. Our confusion quickly progressed into anger at careless and disrespectful tourists for defacing the park and the lack of supervision by the park authorities.

Further to the carcass lying out on the plain, I stumbled upon a tree adjacent to the rock with the graffiti, where another hartebeest carcass had been intentionally wrapped around the trunk of the tree with the same kind of wire attached to the first carcass. Frantically looking around the site for some kind of explanation I saw some used and filthy gloves anchored by a rock, acting as a weight. The gloves were on a rocky outcrop directly in front of the tree. It must have taken more than one person to accomplish securing a full size hartebeest carcass to a tree. At the base of the tree was a severed hartebeest head and it did not come from either of the two wire entangled ones, as each had the head attached. Neither of us could understand what was going on. It was most bizarre, to say the least. Was this some kind of research? What kind of research would be so twisted? Are the park authorities aware that there is something so disturbing in plain view of anyone who visits the park? What sort of an impression is this creating?

The ranger or warden at the gate could not tell us what was going on. He looked at the photos and repeatedly confirmed the location where we encountered this was the ‘green tree’. He did not know of any research groups working around that area. It was quite a miserable effort on the parks behalf to assure us that someone was going to look into it. His manner was rather nonchalant.

I asked some of my colleagues at WildlifeDirect for their interpretation of the photographs. It seems like leopard baiting is the most plausible. Whether for research conducted by scientists or poachers, it is unclear. If it were for research, how were the hartebeest carcasses obtained? Were they killed by someone for this purpose or did the hartebeest die of natural causes and their carcasses used as bait? By whom? Does KWS know? Have they consented to such research, if it is indeed the reason? I want some answers. There is no procedure I am aware off where a visitor to any Kenyan National Park can file a formal complaint that is documented and given a response to. It seems to be upon the discretion of park visitors to report any incidences witnessed inside KWS protected areas. So much information is lost that way. There were also illegal cattle grazing at the southern end of the park on the far end of buffalo circuit, something I have seen year upon year but no action seems to be taken against such activities. They have been reported informally at the gate several times.
What do you think the hartebeest scenario looks like? Some answers and/or explanations to this would be welcome.

Tags: bushmeat, Hartebeest Carcass, Hells Gate, Kenya, KWS, national parks, Snare

5 responses so far

Category: Mara Triangle, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, poaching, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: May 18 2009 | By: admin

A new study has found that the Masai Mara is in a crisis. Based on an analysis of the monthly sample counts indicates that the losses were as high as 95 percent for giraffes, 80 percent for warthogs, 76 percent for hartebeest, and 67 percent for impala. Researchers say the declines they documented are supported by previous studies..” and  “Researchers found the growing human population has diminished the wild animal population by usurping wildlife grazing territory for crop and livestock production to support their families. Some traditional farming cultures to the west and southwest of the Mara continue to hunt wildlife inside the Mara Reserve, which is illegal, for food and profit.”

The report which is based on the analysis of 15 years of monthly counts for 7 species of ungulates; Cokes hartebeest, warthog, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, impala and topi. The researchers didn’t examine the data in its raw form but manipulated it with a statistical model to illustrate the trends. In doing so, the authors claim that they were able to remove the effects of rainfall in order to highlight the individual impacts of land use, poaching, competition from cattle, range contraction and deterioration of habitat on the ungulate populations.

The graphs in this paper illustrate population trends in all 7 species. For all except zebra, populations initially decline between 1989 and 1993. This is followed by a recovery period peaking in 1995 and then further decline and stabilization until 2001/1 /. After this all species show upward trends as populations recover to 2003. The zebra population however is simply stable from the start of the study in 1989 until 2000 when it shows a dramatic increasing trend to the end of the study in 2003.

Finer detail is provided in a series of 21 graphs illustrating trends in each species giving a clearer picture of how these species numbers have changed in there different blocks of the Masai Mara Reserve. Many show a general downward trend between 1989 and July 2000, and almost all illustrate upward trends after 2000.  For the life of me I cannot find the 95% decline in giraffe in any of the blocks – the greatest decline that I can find is in block 3 where numbers of giraffe decline from 37 to 12 individuals.  That’s only a 67% decline.

The study has attracted global attention and hundreds of news articles. Here in Kenya the report caught many by surprise and prompted disbelief. One paper condemned the report as false  and at least one manager in the Mara refuted the results and said he did not know which part of the ecosystem the study actually referred to.  I spoke to the lead author, Joseph Ogutu to find out more.

Q1. Is the Masai Mara really in trouble?

Ogutu: This study found that the numbers of giraffe, warthog, impala, topi and hartebeest fell by 50% or more between 1979 and 2002. These declines were linked to rapid growth of Maasai settlements around the reserve.

Q2. Your paper documents a fantastic explosion in huts and bomas in the Koyiaki Group Ranch – some people say that this is an exaggeration.

Ogutu. We physically counted and mapped using a hand held GPS. We also used national census data which show more modest population increases. The number of homesteads or bomas increased dramatically because of the recent break up of group ranches into individual land titles. Families that once lived in small communal bomas in a large land area, have now built their own homesteads on their individual parcels of land. This multiplication of settlements has greatly increased the human footprint.

Q3. But the increasing human populations is occurring outside the reserve, how can this affect resident wildlife inside the reserve if these animals are non migratory?

Ogutu. The wildlife that are residential in the Mara Reserve are non migratory but they still move between the ranches and the Reserve seasonally. This is because the constant grazing of livestock outside the reserve keeps the grass low and nutritious in wet season. Inside the reserve the grass grows much faster than it can be consumed and gets tall and fibrous. Tall grass is not only unpalatable, it also hides the predators so grazers seek short grass for safety.  Once the wildebeest arrive on the annual migration, and after fires burn down the grass, these animals move back to the Reserve. Therefore anything that happens outside the Reserve affects what happens to migratory and resident species inside.

Q. 4 I witnessed the migration last year which was hailed as one of the best in recent years. Haven’t you guys exaggerated the situation a little?

Ogutu. Let me warn you that we are in for catastrophic declines in wildlife if we do not act now. He said that it was unfortunate that some people have challenged the study without looking at the data. If you are in the Mara Triangle you will only observe a small part of the ecosystem, and you will be oblivious of what is going on in the entire landscape. The Mara conservancy is a small section of the reserve where wild animals are increasing in number simply due to displacement of wildlife from elsewhere including the Loita plains

Q 5. Is it too late, is the Mara ecosystem collapsing? 

In the Mara Reserve some species are declining to worrying levels, but it is in the greater system Lemek Koiyaki, Loita and Siana there is a real cause for alarm” He says. According to Ogutu, we have already reached the tipping point in the northern wildebeest migration, which is restricted to Kenya. This unique but smaller migration involves the movement of wildebeest from the Mara Reserve to the Loita plains group ranches. The number of wildebeest has dropped from 120,000 – 190,000 in 1979 to fewer than 10,000 today. The wildebeest calving grounds of the Loita Plains have been ploughed, fenced and filled with cattle. Ironically, the increasing numbers of cattle have been paid for from tourism earnings.  Having studied wildlife in the Mara for 20 years now, Ogutu says that it is not clear if this northern migration exists anymore and laments that people see this everyday but nobody is saying anything about it.

Q 6. Scientists like David Western claim that the Masai way of life is wildlife friendly, your study suggests that they are villains causing to the collapse of the Mara ecosystem.

Ogutu. The traditional Masai way of life can co-exist with wildlife if their numbers and cattle do not exceed a certain density. Individual land ownership has led to the abandonment of traditional nomadic pastoralism in favour of cultivation which is now occurring right up to the Mara Reserve boundary. Subsistence farming and large scale commercial wheat farming are filling up the plains and destroying wildlife habitats, while rapidly growing developments including the settlements of Talek, Sekenani and Aitong are also blocking the migration routes. Add to this the illegal and unregulated extraction of water from the Mara river, and the destruction of the Mau forests which feeds the Mara River and we have a ticking time bomb. “Without the Mara River, the migration will cease” Ogutu warns.

Q. 7. Is it too late to save the Mara?

Ogutu. One of the most positive signs of hope is the growth in community owned wildlife conservancies. If this can be supported we can keep large parts of the the Greater Mara ecosystem open. Conservancies are becoming increasingly popular. The Masai like the conservancy idea because the land is rented by tourism companies from the individual land owners. This eliminates the corruption which was rife when dealing with elders and chiefs representing large communities on group ranches.

Q. 8 Given the economic opportunity, why have so few conservancies in the Mara ecosystem worked?

Ogutu. It’s no easy task to create a conservancy. Since the land is divided into 100 or 150 acre individually owned units, creating a conservancy needs the collective and coordinated action of numerous families. This can be difficult and slow. Nevetheless, families are signing contracts with tourism concerns. These leases typically run for up to 5 years, it is not a long enough period to ensure sustainable long term management. Longer leases would benefit both the investor and the land owner but neither side is willing to take the risk. Given what happened after the elections in 2007, investors are hesitant to accept full liability should tourism nosedive again, while families want to be assured of payments regardless of visitation.

Another problem that is holding back the speed with which conservancies are being registered, is the absence of policy framework or legal foundation for establishing private conservation areas in Kenya.  KWS, he says, provides no leadership or direction in this area, and are virtually absent on the ground.  As a result, each group ranch works independently, with little or no legal support.

Q 9. What can the world do to help the Masai participate in keeping the land open and saving the Mara and the great migration?

Ogutu. It is critical that some form of security is needed to back up or insure the land owners and investors. We need to create a trust fund to ensure the long term viability of wildlife conservancies in the greater Mara.  He is hopeful that this can happen because many people are interested in saving the Mara, and he mentioned in particular Sir Richard Branson.

After talking to Ogutu I am convinced that we have a crisis on our hands, not only in the Mara but in many of our other ecosystems too. Ogutu fears that this dismissal of the results will delay or even prevent the government from taking action. “KWS and DRSRS have been monitoring wildlife numbers for decades, but are they simply monitoring them into extinction? Why are they not analyzing trends and making the findings available to the public, the policy makers and the land owners?”

Ironically, KWS recently celebrated the launch of their new strategic plan which was proudly presented to the public by the Minister for Wildlife and the KWS Chairman who hailed it’s contribution to Kenya’s vision 2030. I asked the Director why members of the conservation community who contribute so much to the state of knowledge of wildlife in Kenya and on whose land most of Kenya’s wildlife resides, were not involved in drafting the document. He said it was done in-house but did not seem to agree that the voices of the public would have helped to create a more useful document. Amongst his strategies, he intends to improve customer service and raise park fees to improve the viability of the KWS.

I can’t help feeling that this blind business approach is why we are hemorrhaging wildlife in Kenya. No longer are wildlife or wilderness areas viewed as worth saving in their own right. Wildlife is now viewed as a commodity, something that should be paid for, and it’s assumed that only tourists appreciate it.  To everyone living outside of conservation areas, wildlife is a pest that costs $$ and should therefore be eliminated.  To unscrupulous traders wildlife anywhere, represents trophies or meat that can be sold for $$. To pastoralists and poor communities, parks are just stolen grazing or farming lands and many are fighting to have these protected areas degazetted.

There seems to be a shrinking community of Kenyans who visit wilderness areas to enjoy the peace and pleasure of unspoiled landscapes, to hike for health reasons, and who are excited by just watching zebras playing, lions greeting each other, or birds feeding their young. I can’t tell you all how sad I was to see that the new KWS strategy does not mention strategies to inspire Kenyans to care about wildlife. Instead KWS is looking to extract more money from the few Kenyans who do still go to the parks. No wonder, the KWS Director feels alone when neither the public nor businesses come out to support his proposals for greater government commitments to our wildlife heritage.

Leave a comment with your ideas, how can we turn around the situation in Kenya around. Or send me a question to ask the KWS director! What can we do to win over the general public, the communities, the government bodies and the management authorities?

Tags: Kenya, Mara Triangle, Masai Mara, migration, poaching, population crash, wildebeest, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: National Parks and protected areas | Date: Apr 20 2009 | By: admin

Hi everyone, this is Paula. Last Thursday I attended a breakfast meeting at KWS, the Director, Julius Kipngetich revealed that the post election violence hit hard and deep.  Within the first 3 months of 2008, revenues declined by 90%.  They haven’t fully recovered and currently revenues are still only at 60% of 2007. He warned that if anything happened and revenues slipped lower than 50% it would spell a disaster for KWS.

He also mentioned that the financial environment is further complicated by the current global economic crisis and the ongoing drought which he believes is the worst in Kenyan history. He admitted that there were huge herds of livestock in Samburu, Tsavo (over 100,000) and other protected areas.

However, he noted on a cheerful note that the Rhino population is up by 5 – 7% and we now have 800 individuals in Kenya. 15 were released into an intensive protection zone in Tsavo West recently where they are protected by 40 rangers. Each rhino has a chip in the horn and so can be tracked.

Elephants are also up by more than 4% in Tsavo, as well as Isiolo, Samburu and Marsabit. So are Greys zebra.

However he noted with some concern that  Kenya’s lion population has stagnated at 2,100. Threats to lions include lack of space, in Mara, wheat production and livestock. Being the national symbol, and one of the big 5, KWS is committed to protecting lions and will be starting a large carnivore program – recruitment soon.

Wildlife is under unprecedented threat from bushmeat poaching especially in Kajiado, between Naivasha to Nakuru, and along the Mombasa highway.

The outlook is bleak Kenya’s human population is still growth faster than the GDP which means that poverty is worsening and this problem will get worse. The availability of weapons in the north of the country means that every man, as well as some woman and children has a fire arm that is often turned against wildlife.  Poaching is more sophisticated than ever as poachers are simply herdsmen who turn to poaching when they get an order placed by someone in Nairobi via phone. Money is also transferred using cell phones.

To address these new challenges, KWS is about to launch new strategic plan (6th May).

The strategy will examine climate change concerns and opportunities for funding.

It includes the introduction of a new Wildlife Bill and Policy which has been sent to the Minister. He also noted that we should expect tariff adjustment – that means park fees will continue to increase. He mentioned specifically Nakuru and Amboseli National Parks as well as  Mt Kenya where new fees will more than double from $20 per person per day today, to $50 per day, but tickets must also be purchased in a block of 3 days. This he felt competes with Tanzania where it costs $100 per day to climb Mt Kilimanjaro.

Mr Kipngetich was proud to report on the activities that KWS has been upto over the last year.

Last yea he recruited 36 new management trainees. He also created an emergency Management team has been created to deal with emergencies like fire.

KWS armed forces toook over the management of the Mau Forest which is Kenya’s most important water tower. This forest is supposed to be under the management of the Kenya Forest Service, a new unit that he declared is not disciplined. The Mau is patrolled daily from Nakuru by the KWS air wing.  He said that he has proposed a new ‘sustainable’ model for the Mau complex of forests and that these have submitted something to the Prime Minister.

In dealing with wildlife populations, KWS has handled two important translocations – the move of 2,000 ungulates moved from Lake Nakuru Park to Meru National Park.

Several hundred ungulates have been moved from Tsavo to Shimba Hills, as well as from Solio Ranch to Ruma National Park after 15,000acres was hived off Solio for resettlement of poor commnities. A rare antelope, the Lelwell Hartebeest was moved to Ruma.

A major donor, the Rhino Ark is now completing the fencing of the Aberdares forest and concentrating on raising funds for the maintenance of the fence.

KWS has been working with the African Wildlife Foundation on the Kenya Land Conservation Trust – a Land bank that purchases critical conservation lands for conservation. Already bought Eland Downs in Laikipia. Formerly owned by former president Daniel Arap Moi and originally earmarked for resettlement of people now on Solio Ranch in Laikipia.

Although we did not see the new KWS strategic plan, we were told that it is to be launched on May 6^th  to re energise conservation efforts.

In brief he spoke of 6 key strategies in the new strategic plan

1. Force modernization, technology to monitor troop movements
2. Infrastructure to strengthen customer service, staff housing and roads
3. Ecological integrity  more scientists, labs, equipment and collaboration in science
4. Customer service, rangers removed from gates to be manned by civilians, changing old smart card to Safaricard
5. Community mobilization, community enterprises, no more hand outs
6. Resource mobilization – lobbying for more funds from GOK.
   1. Pricing study to be done and  new fee structures 
   2. Create Wildlife Endowent Fund targeting Euros 100m
   3. Donations

Kipmgetich spoke about the creation of a private sector Association to get Kenyans to participate in Kenya lobbying on behalf of KWS especially on negotiation of budgets. I.e wildlife industry lobby group.

 An number of Questions were raised  –

1. What climate change coping mechanisms have you in place for climate change

Ans – we need to get skills and knowledge  to advice policy makers – we need to do research in order to know what adaptations are required.

2. How will independent researchers collaborate?

Ans. Everything must be science based

3. How will you enlist Kenyan supporters when park fees our out of price range for the masses?

Ans. Pricing study will get to the sensitivity  - prices are currently affordable for Kenyans

4. New bill proposes KWS breaks up into 3 unites, what will be the relationship between the three bodies

Ans. KWS currently does regulation, policy, operations, research, security and  training. Split will create the Directorate of Conservation in the ministry to define policy.

A regulatory body will handle licensing

Research will be a semi autonomous body within KWS to help KWS attract funds from treasury.

Training is already a semi autonomous body

4. Tanzania’s wildlife policy is talking about taking tourists from Kenya. What are we doing about this?

Ans Regional cooperation was not described in the strategy but is essential for cooperation and collaboration at international meetings like LATF and CITES. We are working in framework of EA community even though TZ has a different approach and is derailing the EA community. E.g a Kenyan registered car cannot take tourists into a Tz park. Hoping for resistance to decline over time. 

5. Training is currently very limiting – rangers need to understand the flora and fauna. Will you introduce specialization in the program. What is happening in the Mau where there are tense situations between FD and KWS

Ans. Mau is an emergency, KFS guard were not disciplined like KWS. The forest has been sectorized.  KFS is in charge of Masai Mau, Trustland is managed by County council, KWS has a sector as does admin police.

Overall command is with KWS warden. There are occasional flare ups due to differences in perception and discipline. Destruction of the Mau is due to the incompetence of FD/KFS.

Recommendations have gone to PM but are not public – to restore Mau on a more sustainable basis. It will severely restrict KFS who will take 10 – 20 years to develop.

Staff transfers are no longer random, now all computers, all staff go for training each 3 years. 92% of staff are men.   

At the end of the meeting, there was a group photo and I chatted to the Director. Later I caught up with him to talk about the problem of poisoning of lions, especially with Furadan. He said that he wanted to see all the facts and figures before he could quantify the scale of the problem.

After the meeting someone asked me if anyone had seen the document  on the Prime Ministers desk regarding the Mau Forest, or the proposed new Wildlife Act- well I haven’t, and nobody I know has either.  I sensed that while the public sector was being asked to lobby on KWS behalf through our political channels, our MP’s etc, we actually don’t really know what the proposals are. I tried to get a copy of the strategic plan but was told it would unfortunately not be available until the 6th May. Since it was prepared in-house, nobody outside of KWS knows what is really in it even though the document refers to communities, stakeholders and partners.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  More on that later

Tags: furadan, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kipngetich, Lions, Meru, Nairobi Park, Nakuru, Paula Kahumbu, rhinos, shimba

2 responses so far

Category: Albertine Rift Project, Bujumbura, Burundi, Lake Tanganyika, National Parks and protected areas, conservation | Date: Mar 19 2009 | By: baraza

Part of our MacArthur project mission is reach out to countries that fall within the Albertine Rift region. Our next destination was Burundi. Enoch and myself (Masumi), set out for Bujumbura, the capital city.

My first impression of Burundi was defined by the neglected rust covered Air Burundi passenger plane sandwiched amidst UN choppers. Typical Central African scenario right there, I thought to myself. All the websites and news related to Burundi we had were of travel advisory warnings and security issues within the country. We were taking a risk by traveling here. Despite the little knowledge I have about the country it was summed up by the image the plane portrayed. Destroyed, neglected and left to the elements to consume whatever was left.

I feel very differently about it now.

Overall, Burundi is in it’s infancy as far as conservation work is concerned and most of the organisations around are working to alleviate poverty and as a strategy have incorporated some wildlife and environmental protection activities. There has hardly been any previous work carried out on biodiversity surveys or general ecosystem monitoring and thus most environmental organisations are carrying out this baselines research for initiation of conservation projects and activities.

Perhaps in the near future with adequate funding these organisations and others will increase in numbers and implement conservation activities on a wider scale to protect the national parks and reserves in the country. There are a few organisations we did meet that conduct direct conservation but also have a strong social sector involved. Without addressing the poverty of the regions, especially around the 15 protected areas. conservation initiatives would not work and the people are very aware of this.
We had the pleasure of meeting a number of representatives from various Conservation Organisations here in Bujumbura. In general there are groups of concerned individuals who have formed organisations to conserve the remaining natural resources and wildlife this beautiful country has to offer. A major conflict area is deforestation. The population is high, putting immense pressures on the forests for timber for fuel. Many projects have put in place re-afforestation schemes as well as starting tree nurseries to reduce some of the pressure on indigenous forest. Burundi is home to an endemic palm species, I cannot recall the name right now but will make sure I write it in the next post. The most touching part of the conservation work going on here is that all the organisations work together, share information and ideas. This is something I feel most places have lost and it’s what WildlifeDirect aims to promote.

I am very encouraged by the motivation and enthusiasm from everyone we met here. The people of Burundi want change and an opportunity to rebuild their country and protect their wildlife and environment. The media has shed a very harsh and negative light in this region of the world and muffled the peoples voices. I hope that through WildlifeDirect blogs we will be able to help give them a voice and give the rest of the world a platform to support this noble cause.

I promise to post photos as soon as I locate the right USB cable, if not now then in Uganda when Maina and Victor meet me.

Tags: Albertine Rift, Burundi, conservation, Lake Tanganyika, MacArthur Foundation

One response so far

Category: National Parks and protected areas, WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 27 2009 | By: baraza

Sarah Chamblis of Princeton university spent ten days with me on an ecology and conservation field course through The Great Rift Valley.  apart from mothering a rescued baby ostrich, she also wrote a couple of guest blog posts for us.

Enjoy and please encourage her with your comments.

Paula.

Lake Bogoria and Conservation Challenges

Our first day out, Paula Kuhumbu introduced us to William Kimosop, the senior warden of Lake Bogoria National Reserve.  William is somewhat of a visionary of community-driven conservation, and he has worked for over twenty years to help those living in the areas around Lake Bogoria to understand the long-term value of their natural resources.  He encourages them to harvest resources like firewood and lake salt at low, sustainable levels by assuring them that the real profits from these items will come from the tourism they bring.

To deliver on this promise, William is trying hard to attract more visitors to the area.   To this end, he has planned and organized the construction of a tourist information center located along the highway, just a few meters from the equator.  We visited the site to see the progress they’ve made, and at this stage it looks good.  The main information office itself is a round, two-story cement building, and the site also includes a classroom and an outdoor platform with a 10-foot statue of a globe ringed prominently by the equator.  It is all appealing and modern-looking, and has real potential to attract visitors.  It still needs some polishing touches, though– for example, it doesn’t yet have power.  But, as William noted with a laugh as we walked away from the building, he would have to harass his boss for funding.  The project, it seems, is running short on money.

This does not spell doom for the development of the center, however: William has a plan.  He will try contacting multinational energy-producing companies and asking if they would like to be the tourism center’s corporate sponsor.  In return for providing the building with solar panels, they would receive an advertising space near the tourist center main building.

In some respects, seeking sponsorship from large corporations is a nice solution.  It seems like a win for the energy companies; in the US, at least, I have seen many attempts by big oil to work the “we’re pushing for alternative energy strategies” angle.  Being able to claim sponsorship of clean energy for eco-tourism in a developing country, all for the cost of a few solar panels and some posters– how could they pass up that opportunity?   And for community members, in order to move from subsistence farming to a profitable tourism-based business, they need capital.  Micro-finance organizations have been stepping up to provide that capital, but for some projects it might be easier to look to corporate donations.  If a company is willing to give materials in return for only public recognition, why bother with applying for a loan to buy those materials, especially since you would then need to worry about repaying the loan?

However, there are definitely some drawbacks I can see.  For one, part of the tourist appeal of Kenya is the idea that it is a natural setting that resists the advertising and corporate branding so prevalent in industrialized countries.  Smacking a multinational corporate logo on a tourist center might greatly decrease its appeal.  This idea falls flat when you see how many shops and roadside stands are already plastered with Coca Cola branding; Kenya is far from untouched by ads.  Buildings painted in garish colors like the bright pink of Zain or the lime green of Safaricom are already everywhere.  Suggesting that Kenyan tourism should avoid selling out may be a blind denial of the forces of globalization.

Safaricom store

The second danger I see is the possibility that a sponsor corporation will take far more from recipient organizations than they expect.  If companies agree to provide solar panels but ask for more than just a corner of the tourism office, what is William Kimosop to do?  He is not naive, but he can’t afford to hire a team of lawyers to negotiate on behalf of the community conservation effort.  Lake Bogoria has lost out to corporations before, although in that case it was due to confusion between KWS and the National Council for Science and Technology, and had little to do with the local council that is in charge of managing Lake Bogoria National Reserve.

But if the visitor’s center never gets off the ground and the communities don’t profit from tourism the way they were expecting, conservation in the area might be in real trouble.   I do hope that the tourist center gets its sponsor, but I really hope that they get a fair deal.

Sarah with the Baby Ostrich

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