Baraza

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 19 2008 | By: admin

Dear all,

We have just seen this headline story on the BBC home page that says an ICCN ranger has been arrested for the killings of gorillas last year which was carried on the cover of Newsweek last August. It looks like the ICCN are taking the case very seriously and we look forward to a conviction. I have asked our team in Congo will give us further details on the Manioc valley blog. The team from ICCN may also comment on this on their gorilla protection blog. We are hoping that the trial will finally get to the bottom of the reason why someone would arrange for the executions of critically endangered mountain gorillas in this magical place of Virungas.

Read the full BBC article and ICCN story on gorilla blog here

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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

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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”.

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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.

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Dec 14 2007 | By: admin

Hello everyone!

I thought I would do my colleague a favour and expose what a great writer he is to all our WildlifeDirect readers. Not just because he asked me to. He is the communications Manager here and has written a couple of the posts on this blog already. He writes a lot of articles for various local Kenyan Magazines like Wajibu and Awaaz.

So to celebrate Dipesh pabari’s creative genius with words, quite unlike my own, I thought I would give you all a little expose on his latest Pambazuka (Pan African online Journal) article featuring WildlifeDirect. I believe it is called the ‘Bush Bloggers’. A fitting title for all those hardy conservationists out there who are, as we call it here in Kenya ‘Bundu Bashing’. Another way of saying roughing it out in the wilderness.

Onto the article now…our dear ‘Atamato‘ blog, the smiling face of a Congolese ranger which graces our homepage from time to time, with his video posts, featuring panoramic views of the beautiful Ishango Park has been used as an example of how the life of one ranger was drastically changed and a National Park was able to function through the generous donations of our readers (give yourselves a pat on the back).

“Take the case of Atama-to Madrandele, a park warden who, in 2005, started working at the Ishango, sub-station of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He carried out his work in almost complete physical and financial isolation. In February 2007, Atamato began to blog on WildlifeDirect about his work. Through this blog he was able to raise some funds to help pay for patrol rations and equipment, as well as salary supplements for his five underpaid rangers (the official pay for a Congolese ranger is about three US dollars per month). From August this year, Ishango has become a fully functional park station, thanks to the donations received through his blog. His men are now fed and have enough fuel to be able to carry out regular patrols.”

Dipesh even managed to include a few quotes from Richard Leakey and feature them in the article. Here is a sneak preview…

“After spending many years struggling to improve wildlife conservation in Kenya, I decided to start WildlifeDirect to solve a very real problem in Africa, the lack of adequate funds to protect our wildlife heritage. Persuading individual donors to give support was not easy because most people are unaware of what is going on in conservation until there is a crisis. I needed to find another way to raise awareness and funds on a continuous basis.”

What more can I say except it is a really good and informative read about blogging and the effect it has on conservation and wordly issues in general.

So you going to read it now??? Off course you are…

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/44859

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Nov 29 2007 | By: admin

Before I introduce you to Kevin there’s some good news I want to share with you from Cameroon - the Taiping 4 are going home. Who you ask? Four baby gorillas that were snatched from the forest and sold - they are going home to Limbe Wildlife Center

Bonobo’s in DRC are also in better shape with the creation of a massive 5,000 km square sanctuary called Sankuru Reserve

And, in Brazil equally important things are happening. Ever heard of Mark van Roosmalen – he just discovered a new species of manatee in the Brazilian rainforest – the dwarf river manatee. It’s adorable. You can find this and other weird (but true) animal stories on Zooillogix – don’t stick your fingers in the cage site.

Before I go let me introduce you to Kevin – an amazing Kenyan cartoonist wearing his own designer T-shirt! Kevin is an art student who is doing some work with us. We will soon be showing you here and elsewhere …. for now here’s a teaser.

There’s a prize for anyone who can guess who these four characters represent

Today is Thursday – only two more days to World Aids day. Be safe.

- Paula -

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 29 2007 | By: admin

Dipesh in the Congo: Nothing quite prepares you for the drive from Mutsora to Ishango in the northern sector of Virunga National Park, DR Congo. Within two hours we traveled from the dense and humid tropical Congo forest to the stunning savannah landscape of Ishango which is located on the shores of Lake Edouard where the Semliki River flows out.

The grass is so green from the short rainy season and the Congo Cobs, a beautiful antelope is certainly not short of good food. As we approached, I saw the mass fresh water lake appear and the reconstructed Ranger’s post which overlooks the magnificent Semliki River. It’s huge!

Pods of hippos laze around comfortably cooling themselves and the occasional grunt echoes across the Savannah. The place is alive with hundreds of different bird species. I now know why Samantha says this is her favourite spot in DR Congo.

We were greeted by Atamato who I felt that I knew so well from his blog. He on the other hand, was surprised that I even knew his name. Once again, the hospitality of the Rangers was as welcoming as the twittering of the birds.

When Atamato suggested we take a ride down the river, I was up in a flash. Samantha had told me stories of elephants wading in the water and now I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this for myself.

Of course luck always plays a part in coming across wildlife and today, I could not have been luckier. Not far down the river amongst a lazy pod of hippos was a solitary elephant bathing itself. Elephants are no novelty for me as I am spoilt for wildlife coming from Kenya but this had to be one of the most spectacular sites I had come across. We slowly drifted towards the elephant and he sensibly increased his distance as the hippos curiously observed the scene.

And a ride down the river is not complete without being mock charged by Karibu the hippo, a mother of two, who like any sensible mother will do anything to protect her children. Atamato and the others know each pod of hippos like one would know their neighbours and have appropriately named them after famous Congolese singers. If only Papa Wemba knew that a pod of hippos were named after him! What an honour!

Like most places, a short visit is always a thrill and one soaks in the best but being posted here is no holiday. There is no public transport and the closest human settlement where you can buy basic food rations is over an hour’s walk away. The rangers take turns going on 5 day patrols on the lookout for poachers laying snares and other illegal activities. I can imagine it gets quite lonely out here to say the least.

A big thanks to all in Congo for opening my eyes to so much.

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Nov 27 2007 | By: admin

Paula here … in the office enjoying an ant free experience (which Ephrem, Dipesh and others could kill for right now).

Today I was sent a very disturbing story that I’d like to share. Actually the entire week has been disturbing already, and it’s only Tuesday! I’ll start with the story…

Dino of Dudu Diary sent me link to an extraordinary story – it reminded me that as much as we love and try to preserve our different cultures, it can get you into legal problems. Take this story by Tom Hays for example … it’s about a lady of Liberian decent who has been importing monkeys meat and bones (among other things) into USA – it seems that she has been doing it for many many years. I shudder to think about how many monkeys have died for the cultural and religious purposes of the African diaspora in USA and Europe. You can read it here

How could you even think about eating someone who tickles you?

I love the fact that she may get 5 years for this offense (If laws were like this in Africa we might not be losing so much wildlife) .. .but I can’t help wondering about the justice system. She’s currently serving a 2 year sentence for trying to run over a woman who she suspected of sleeping with her husband. 2 years for attempted murder, 5 for importing monkey meat….Hmmm……

Is it me, or is there something odd about this?

Talking of cars and running over things, I have another bit of bad news is about Masumi and Will who are doing a safari at the coast – helping our existing and new bloggers. Dipesh and others have described the roads (or lack of) in Congo where road traffic is dangerous … but then we don’t have to go far….

We have our own home grown flying coffins….Kenyan matatus (read over-loaded public transport system driven usually by a mad man who may or may not be intoxicated). Will was driven off the road by a crazy matatu driver who was overtaking another crazy matatu driver and basically hogging the entire road.

To save his life he pulled off the road and ate a sign board…. this minor accident could have been deadly… (well, the car is pretty messed up and may consider itself to be in Intensive Care) but there were no human injuries. The matatu drivers drove on - ignoring Will - though many other people came to his rescue.

Dealing with the police has been a major headache but it’s all sorted now (call it an education). I’m sure we will give a full update of this safari complete photos once Will and Masumi catch their breath.

It’s only 2 pm but Juliet of the Northern Rangelands Trust has also just reminded us that eating monkeys is not the only wildlife problem … we have an enormous amount of work ahead of us if we are to tackle the poisoning of predators which may be one of the biggest challenges that these animals face in Africa today. We will be letting you know about this new campaign quite soon. The pictures may shock you so for now I’ll leave you with a happy one…

We should learn from our cousins and play more!

The sun is shining outside, monkeys are playing and there is never a dull moment in this office….. I had a good chuckle at Dipesh’s expense today… his computer has died due to a virus called Kibaki. He’s a very quiet guy so you may not know that Mr. Mwai Emilio Kibaki is our current president, but he is fighting vigorously for re-election which is an extremely dirty business that will be held in less than a month. He’s doing an Obama on us and has a website (WOW!!!) but sadly for him it is infecting anyone who dares visit it…… Why weren’t the ministers this innovative and effective when in office?

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Nov 27 2007 | By: admin

Hi Everyone. This is Dipesh again…. Yes, I’m still in the Congo

Getting around in DR Congo is no easy task for the majority of people. We are fortunate to have the support of a free European Commission flight that takes you to major areas around the country. Most roads are virtually inaccessible and when there are roads, what should only take 2 hours could take the entire day. To make things worse, there is virtually no public transport beyond the urban areas. How people move around bewilders me and gives me even more respect for the Congolese.

We took off from Goma on a small plane destined for a town in the north called Beni. We drove to Mutsora which takes about 2 hours where WildlifeDirect.org has established a base camp at the Northern Sector Virunga Park Headquarters. I am told that this is one of the most densely populated areas in the world where tens of thousands of people have resettled alongside the park boundaries having escaped the constant civil unrest in deeper rural areas. The land is fertile and green and the view is beyond dreams. As you drive along a dusty road, the range of Ruwenzoris, the Mountains of the Moon, start to appear in the east and there are streams of makeshift houses and children smiling and shouting. It reminded me so much of western Kenya which was once part of the Congo belt – the only difference was the alarming amount of soldiers every few kilometres.

As we approached Mutsora, that tropical humidity settled in as the Congo forest began to show itself in its full majesty. We drove into the Park headquarters where I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful reconstructed buildings which ICCN, ZLS and WildlifeDirect.org had been instrumental in supporting. And just above us hidden in the clouds was the snow capped Mount Ruwengori, Africa’s third highest peak.

Speechless, I was greeted by Ephrem who manages the projects for WLD and Kizito who oversees logistics and finances in the camp and of course Antoine, the notorious cook. We walked down closer to the omniscient sound of the river and small tents appeared through the cracks in the trees. We were virtually in the middle of nowhere and a group of dedicated conservationists are permanently based here. This is the only way that concerned organisations can ensure the protection of Virunga’s magnificent biodiversity – by being right next to it.

The primary reason for coming to Mutsora was to look into ways that we might be able to support the schools further. As you know, classrooms in two schools are nearing construction thanks to funding from the EC and support of SODERU (please see Manioc Blog for more detail). The previous classrooms are on their last leg barely holding off from crumbling down as the children sit squeezed under a jaded roof. Once again, my own life stared straight at me. The children smiled and laughed; raised their hands determined to answer questions.

I had long conversations with the teachers to explore initiating extra-curricular environmental and conservation clubs which they were very keen to get going. In addition, we looked at the lack of financial and resource support and how they manage. Teachers receive approximately $30 a month and students are supposed to pay $3 a month school fees but for most even this is too much.

Many might turn around and accuse me of sensationalising Africa and reinforcing all the stereotypes. I am Kenyan and situations like this are unfortunately all too familiar. But the bottom line is that no one deserves to live in these conditions, and if we claim to be global citizens, then it is our responsibility to help facilitate improving less fortunate lives and places. WLD will be launching an educational support campaign very soon and I personally hope to lead a fundraising campaign that will help provide basic necessities but in the long term we also hope to show that no matter how little people have, they still have so much to offer and teach all of us. So watch this space…

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Nov 24 2007 | By: admin

Hello, Jambo and Salut from Congo! I just arrived a few days ago from our Nairobi office where I starting working with WildlifeDirect.org. Every day has been a new adventure and now thanks to Jonathan, Will and Paula, we have the Baraza blog to download the ramblings in our heads!

People with money move around Goma by motorbike partly because the roads are mostly terrible

Goma, the capital city of north Kivu Province in DR Congo must be one of the most extreme places in the world. On the one hand, the environment is spectacular: the sky at night is lit up by Nyiragongo, an active volcano and the mountains surround the lake side town which trail into Lake Kivu. As we descended into Goma by plane, I could not help but think that this surely is the Switzerland of Africa.

And so it should be except for the tragic fact that Goma is situated at the heart of countless civil wars. Just 13kms away, one of the most brutal wars ever is being fought between General Nkunda’s rebels and the army. Thousands have been murdered; hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced and the fragile ecosystem of Virunga National Park which has one of the greatest biodiversities in the world is barely holding out from complete destruction.

At the heart of this extremity are the Mountain Gorillas, who, like the people are victims of a senseless human dispute. Many find it difficult to consider the welfare and importance of protecting wildlife when there is so much human suffering. In this case, however, with only 700 mountain gorillas left in the world and incidents like the July massacre when 5 gorillas were murdered, their suffering and risk of extinction cannot be ignored.

Over 120 rangers have been murdered in the line of duty in the last 10 years and the situation as you all know has become so risky that all the rangers have moved to the safety of urban areas. I met Didi, Innocent, Balemba (who blogs for the Rumangabo Youth Alliance) amongst others. What a great bunch of people! They wait patiently to be able to return to the Park but you can see their anxiety as each day passes and nobody really knows the fate of the gorillas.

Those less fortunate are amongst the most resourceful people on earth - this is a Chukudu (completely wooden bicycle), a common means of transport in Goma

Coming here has made me respect and admire everyone even more. We take so much for granted in Nairobi and complain bitterly when our internet connection goes down for five minutes. In Congo, electricity, running water and roads are a luxury let alone the internet. People live and work in here in some of the toughest conditions in the world but this has not stopped anyone from doing the best they can to protect our world heritage.

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