Baraza

Category: Africa, Poisoning wildlife, big cats, poaching, wildlifedirect | Date: Nov 10 2009 | By: paula

Dear all,

After the death of a child in Kenya from ingesting Furadan, and with the US Environmental Protection Agency banning carbofuran in America, we feel that there is no justification for delaying banning it in Kenya.

Watch this video and share with your friends. Please support our campaign to save lions.

Thank you

Tags: FMC, furadan, Kenya, KWS, Lion, lion poisoning, Lions, Paula Kahumbu, richard leakey, Tanzania, wildlife poisoning, wildlifedirect, wildlifepoisoning

12 responses so far

Category: Climate change | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: paula

Dear all, I invited readers and friends to contribute their thoughts on Climate change in the run up to Copenhagen from 6th - 8th December - only 52 days away. It may not surprise many of you that our first guest blogger is Sheryl who writes  her own fantastic blog Not Honey: Please don’t tap on the glass.

Climate change decision must include commitment to slow and stop population growth

No one likes to talk about human overpopulation as the number one
crisis facing our planet. Most environmentalists and wildlife
protectors don’t like to talk about it. There’s the idea that having
as many kids as you want is a God-given right and mentioning that
“right” as a cause for climate change and planetary destruction irks
many people.

That silence is deadly. Here the world waits for the U.S. to take the
lead on climate change and the best we can do is a useless
cap-and-trade bill that has no chance of actually limiting greenhouse
gas emissions. There are too many loopholes, including the
“offsets” that industry insists they must have, and no clear plan for just how
many credits for emissions the big polluters can buy. Not included at
all in this bill are greenhouse gases from farms, which emit
35-40 percent of all methane emissions, “(which have 23 times the
global warming potential of carbon dioxide), 65 percent of nitrous
oxide (which is 320 times as warming as carbon dioxide) and 64 percent
of ammonia, which contributes to acid rain” according to the 2006 UN
report “Livestock’s Long Shadow.”

Food production for an exploding human population is a major source of
global warming pollution. There is talk now among wildlife protectors
about designating more wildlife parks and reserves for agriculture and
animal farming. Dr. Richard Leakey, noted anthropologist, wildlife
protector, and head of WildlifeDirect, in an interview for
“Kenya Imagine” said the following:

“Population growth is, as far as I am concerned, is
probably the single most worrying factor for the planet. We can look
at a farm, we can look at a national park – we can say the carrying
capacity of that area is “x.” If we look at the planet, the carrying
capacity for our planet has been exceeded. This planet has too many
people on it. How we address this I don’t know. But I am certain if we
don’t address it, many of the good efforts being made to cut carbon
dioxide emissions and to find alternative sources of energy won’t have
the desired effect. It has got to be linked and conceptualised in a
way that stabilises the human population and ultimately brings the
numbers down.”

Iregi Mwenja, a researcher on WildlifeDirect, has posted more than once about
the threat to wildlife from a growing human population. Recently, he
posted:

“With the population of the world at 9 billion in
2050, we may have 370 million people facing famine
worldwide. FAO says more land is needed to increase food production by
70 percent in 2050. In a country like Kenya where land is scarce now
and famine is the order of the day, the situation will be grave
serious in 40 years time when human population will have grown to over
60 million people. We may be forced to sacrifice some land in our
protected areas to feed this overblown human population! If you don’t
want to contribute to this catastrophe, let us limit the number of
kids per couple to 2. Please read the BBC NEWS
article below for more details on the FAO report.”

Read that again: Food production must increase 70 percent over
the next 40 years to feed the growing human population. What
does that mean?

More factory farms and far more greenhouse gas emissions promoting
global climate change than can be regulated or capped-and-traded. The
BBC story states that “Climate change, involving floods and droughts,
will affect food production.” Climate change is already having a
devastating affect on food production and vice versa.
Thousands of farmers in India have committed suicide because of crop failures
due to drought. Deforestation in the Amazon to make room for
cattle farms and soybean farms to FEED THE CATTLE has caused the loss
of more than 150,000 square kilometers of rainforest in Brazil between 2000-2008.
Loss of forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo is putting
gorillas at risk of extinction, which will put humans at risk of
extinction, too.

How’s that? How can the loss of a fellow Great Ape species have
anything to do with human survival? Turns
out that gorilla dung is a major component in forest growth. We
need rainforests to turn carbon dioxide into clean air and to deter
the greenhouse effect. Gorillas, according to Ian Redmond, the UN
ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, “are herbivores, feeding on
fruit and plants. The digested food, as it passes through their
systems, helps seeds to germinate. … The full extent of the
gorillas’ role in propagation is unclear. But Redmond said a number of
plant species could not flourish without them, or wild elephants, the
other large mammal crucial in germination.” The gorillas “caught up in
the region’s civil wars, preyed on by poachers, and crowded out of
their homes by mining and logging industries - are already endangered
across Africa. …But Redmond’s argument could help give the animals a
new level of protection.” Economists have suggested spending $15
billion on reforestation as a “cheap” way of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions.

“Redmond said gorillas were crucial in maintaining the lifecycle of
the rainforests in the Congo basin. The forests themselves suck up
more than 1bn tonnes of carbon every year.”

“This is what the species are for. They are not ornaments. They are
not just interesting things to study. They are part of an ecosystem,”
he said.”

We are the only species of Great Apes on this planet who seem not to
know their place in an ecosystem. If we continue to allow human
populations to grow and crowd out all the wildlife until they’re all
extinct, and use up all the forests until they’re gone … what will
we have left? A planet full of nothing but humans and a ruined
environment that can no longer support life.

“It is only if you bring numbers down that we will be able to find a
way for resource utilisation per capita to increase. It is the only
way you are going to deal with poverty and unless you deal with
poverty, the situation can only spiral downwards. This is a massive
problem and the solutions are not simply condoms versus draconian
measures such as one child per family. It has to be looked at in
different countries in different ways. I think there has to be a
commitment everywhere to slow and stop population growth. I do believe
that we have been set back a long way by the opposition to family
planning that is being shown by some of the religious groups and by
some of the more conservative governments such as the current US
administration.” - Richard Leakey, in an interview published during
the Bush Administration

–
NotHoney@gmail.com
http://nothoney.com
“… a vegan driving a Hummer contributes less to greenhouse gas
emissions than a meat-eater riding a bicycle.”–Capt. Watson

Thank you Sheryl!

Please leave Sheryl a comment here and if you would like to contribute your thoughts on a blog just write to me paula@wildlifedirect.org.

Tags: Blog Action Day, cattle, Climate change, Gorillas, Ian Redmond, not honey, richard leakey, vegan, wildlife, wildlifedirect

4 responses so far

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

If you haven’t made a donation yet on WildlifeDirect, consider this

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.

Here are some reasons why you should support projects on WildlifeDirect

1. It’s direct - you can choose the blog, item and place you want your funds to go to
2. It’s accountable – you can see your money working by reading the blogs
3. It’s easy  - we use paypal and you will get a tax receipt
4. It’s quick – you can respond to any wildlife conservation emergency and make ….But what I like most about this is that
5. It’s cost effective – a little money goes a long way in Africa where $100 can pay for a rangers salary for a month! Our bloggers only ask for essential things –rations, petrol for patrols , critical equipment, food for animals and basic field costs. They are working on shoe string budgets – many of them volunteer.

Watch our video and Join us

WildlifeDirect has had a far greater impact on bloggers than we ever imagined. Next I will be interviewing Anthony Kasanga (lionguardians) about how his life changed after he started blogging on WildlifeDirect.

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS STAYED WITH OR RECENTLY JOINED WILDLIFEDIRECT.   YOU ARE ALL AMAZING PEOPLE:)

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

One response so far

Category: In the News, WildlifeDirect news | Date: Sep 11 2009 | By: Maina

Nairobi, 11 September 2009 - On Wednessday, 9 September 2009, Dr Paula Kahumbu, the WildlifeDirect Executive Director was named one of the 16 fellows of the prestigious PopTech Social Innovation Fellows program of 2009 for her work at WildlifeDirect. In a press release dated September 9, PopTech, ‘a renowned Ideas Summit and innovation Network dedicated to accelerating the positive impact of world-changing people, projects and ideas’, announced that Dr Kahumbu was among the Class of 2009 of the Social Innovation Fellows.

Dr Paula Kahumbu will be taking the WildlifeDirect idea and experience to PopTech to share with the other fellows. The WildlifeDirect idea was developed by Dr Richard Leakey and associates to bring together conservationists working in remote and often dangerous places - mostly in Africa but also in Asia and South America - and supporters of conservation through blogs.

The model enables individual donors throughout the world to communicate directly with the people they are funding. The overall goal of WildlifeDirect is to build a strong online movement capable of responding to emergencies and reverse the catastrophic loss of habitats and wild species. WildlifeDirect pioneered the model of fundraising for wildlife through blogs.

Millions of people read the blogs and tens of thousands have made donations. Almost a million dollars have been raised for conservation emergencies such as saving gorillas in war-torn Virunga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rescuing the Masai Mara during Kenya’s post-election violence and resultant collapse of tourism at the beginning of 2008, saving lions and many other endangered species. More than 100 different conservation projects in 27 countries tell their daily stories on the WildlifeDirect platform. WildlifeDirect is simply the largest wildlife blogging platform in the world.

Dr Kahumbu and the rest of the 16 fellows, described in the release as ‘a corps of visionary change agents incubating high-impact approaches to some of the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges, have been invited to a five-day intensive ‘boot camp’ before participating in the PopTech 2009: America Re-imagined in October 21-24, 2009 at Camden, Maine, USA where they will present their ideas on stage to more than 700 conference attendees and thousands who will participate via live stream. This according to the PopTech faculty, will begin their entry into PopTech’s rich network of mentors, influencers, contributors and resources.

Each year, PopTech selects 10-20 high potential change agents from around the world who are working on highly disruptive innovations in areas like health care, energy, development, climate, education, and civic engagement, among many others. Fellows work in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds, have a minimum of 3-5 years experience, and are working in organizations that are well positioned for sustainable growth.

The 2009 fellows program - which is the second since inception - attracted more than 200 applicants from more than 30 countries. Of the 16 selected, only three are from Africa, two of whom are Kenyan. Although a number of these fellows deal with climate change and clean energy, only Dr Kahumbu has been selected for her work in using the internet to raise awareness and funds for wildlife conservation - especially in Africa. The 16 fellows represent organizations based in or running projects in USA, UK, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.

Dr Paula Kahumbu is available and ready to do interviews with all reporters. You can call her on +254 (0)20 386 51 20 in the office (Nairobi, GMT +3) or on her mobile phone +254 0722 685 106

Tags: fellowship, Masai Mara, Paula Kahumbu, PopTech, richard leakey, Virunga, wildlifedirect

11 responses so far

Category: Lions, Pride of Kenya, WildlifeDirect news, big cats, furadan, human wildlife conflict, predators, richard leakey | Date: Sep 08 2009 | By: Maina

WildlifeDirect issued this press release on Thursday, 3 September 2009 after Dr Richard Leakey inaugurated the ‘Androcles Lion’ by appending his signature as support for the campaign against lion (and other wildlife) poisoning using carbofurans (Furadan). The release received audience among readers of Nairobi’s Capital FM’s site, was picked by AFP, and blogged about at the Big Cat News blog. I thought you should also have the opportunity to refer to it.

Nairobi, 3 September 2009 - Renowned Kenyan conservationist, Dr Richard Leakey, who is also the chairman of WildlifeDirect, today inaugurated the display of the WildlifeDirect lion statue that will be creating public awareness about poisoning of lions by cattle herders using Furadan. The lion statue, which is part of the Pride of Kenya campaign to create awareness about the status of, and to raise funds for, conservation of Kenya’s remaining 2,100 lions, will be on public display at Yaya Centre, a popular shopping mall in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

On Tuesday, September 2, WildlifeDirect joined the Born Free Foundation in the official launch of the Pride of Kenya campaign at the Nairobi National Park. Integrated in this campaign to save the last lions of Kenya is the inauguration of WildlifeDirect’s call to have all carbofurans - especially Furadan, a lethal agricultural pesticide that is behind the death of 75 lions in the last 4 years - banned in Kenya.

With the life-sized lion statue christened The Androcles Lion as the centerpiece of their campaign, WildlifeDirect seeks to rally support from prominent Kenyans and the general public to have the deadly carbofuran class of pesticides banned from the Kenyan market by the Kenyan Parliament. The Androcles Lion, which is painted Fuchsia, the prominent colour on the retail packaging of the most used carbofuran in Kenya - Furadan - and with chains around it denoting bondage by these poisons, seeks to communicate the threat that carbofurans are posing to the survival of this charismatic species.

Prominent personalities such as Kenya’s renowned conservationist and anthropologist Dr Richard Leakey - who became the first person to endorse the campaign - UNEP Director Achim Steiner, Nobel Laureate Wangari Mathai among others, have been invited to show their support for the push to have Furadan banned in Kenya by inscribing a signed message supporting the ban on the body of the lion. The objective is to initiate public debate and support of the proposed ban such that Kenya’s Parliament will finally discuss the motion and eventually pass a law that makes it illegal to import, manufacture, repackage or sell this killer pesticide and anything else in it’s class.

Kenya’s lion population is declining at an alarming pace and climate change, habitat destruction and conflict with humans have been the key drivers for this precipitous fall in numbers. On Monday, August 17, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced that Kenya’s lion population has been declining by an average 100 animals per year in the last 7 years and now stands at a little over 2,000 individuals. In the 1970s there were about 30,000 lions in Kenya. Given the current decline rate, lions will become extinct in Kenya in just two decades. KWS spokesman Paul Udoto told the media on 17 August that “communities are the largest threat to the lions and other cats.”

It is through conservationists blogs hosted by WildlifeDirect that the widespread use of Furadan by cattle herders for retaliatory poisoning of lions suspected of killing livestock first came to the limelight. With increasing reports of lion and other predators as well as birds of prey and scavengers being poisoned using Furadan, WildlifeDirect convened, in 2007, a meeting to bring together affected conservationists and Furadan importation firms in order to chart a way forward in addressing this situation. The meeting resolved that a total ban on Furadan would be the best way to eliminate herders’ access to this lethal poison and thus reduce poisoning of lions. The Stop Wildlife Poisoning campaign was thus launched.

On 29 March this year, American broadcaster, CBS, aired a documentary showing the devastating effect that Furadan was having on Kenya’s lions. Following this documentary, and the information that WildlifeDirect had provided the Member of Parliament for Naivasha, Honourable John Mututho - who brought the issue to parliament - the question of banning Furadan was discussed in Parliament. Parliamentary recommendation was that a committee be formed to craft a notice that would, if integrated into law, make it illegal to import Furadan and other carbofurans into Kenya. The Honourable Minister for Wildlife and Natural Resources, Dr Noah Wekesa, instructed that that committee be formed.

With the distinctively pink lion with a mane covered with replica Kenyan currency notes, representing the greed that is driving the sales of a poison that has already been banned in the US and Europe WildlifeDirect will continue to drum up support to the member for Naivasha and all those parliamentarians who support banning the substance. WildlifeDirect’s quest is to end the poisoning of lions by herders using Furadan, and that is the message that the Androcles Lion will be sending as it goes on public display at Yaya Centre.

WildlifeDirect is a non-profit conservation organization based in Kenya that uses the internet to create awareness about conservation issues and to raise funds for conservation through Web Logs (blogs) written by field conservationists. WildlifeDirect endeavors to create a movement powerful enough to produce a virtual endowment capable of reversing the catastrophic loss of habitats and species. WildlifeDirect is Registered as a charity in the USA and in Kenya.

# # #

For more information and high-res pictures contact:
Samuel Maina maina@wildlifedirect.org

Low res pictures of the inauguration by Dr Leakey are published in the Baraza blog http://baraza.wildlifedirect.org/2009/09/03/the-mighty-androcles-lion-comes-home/

To learn more about the Stop Wildlife Poisoning campaign go to http://stopwildlifepoisoning.wildlifedirect.org

The CBS 60 Minutes documentary can be found here
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/26/60minutes/main4894945.shtml

The Pride of Kenya campaign website is http://www.prideofkenya.co.ke/ and their blog here http://prideofkenya.wildlifedirect.org/

Tags: extinct, furadan, Lions, poisoning, Pride of Kenya, richard leakey

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Category: Africa, In the News, conservation, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: Maina

Recently, Jeremy Hance of Mongabay interviewed Paula, our CEO about the status of wildlife conservation and endangered species during these hard economic times. Paula had just returned from a Society for Conservation Biology meeting in China where it emerged that funding for wildlife conservation and endangered species protection had declined. Environmental funding has shifted to funding climate change and global warming programs. The interview which appeared on Mongabay on 17 August is very telling on how dangerous these times are for conservation and endangered wildlife protection. The interview is reproduced below.

Economic crisis threatens conservation programs and endangered species, an interview with Paula Kahumbu of WildlifeDirect
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
August 17, 2009

Founded in 2004 by legendary conservationist Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect is an innovative member of the conservation community. WildlifeDirect is really a meta-organization: it gathers together hundreds of conservation initiatives who blog regularly about the trials and joys of practicing on-the-ground conservation. From stories of gorillas reintroduced in the wild to tracking elephants in the Okavango Delta to saving sea turtles in Sumatra, WildlifeDirect provides the unique experience of actually hearing directly from scientists and conservationists worldwide.

Paula Kahumbu, Executive Director of WildlifeDirect.

“Anyone can interact, participate, and donate from anywhere in the world,” Paula Kahumbu, WildlifeDirect Executive Director, explained to Monagaby.com in an August 2009 interview. “By networking people at the conservation frontline with others all over the world, we have created what we call a virtual endowment. It is a vast community of people ready to respond when called upon in a time of need or during a crisis to help solve wildlife conservation challenges.”

The program has been a success, providing small, but vital, conservation initiatives with much needed funds and attention.

“To date we have over 100 bloggers and over 70,000 unique visitors per month. Last year this community donated to over 70 projects raising nearly $500,000 which went directly to the field,” says Kahumbu. Although stationed in Kenya, and with a general focus on Africa, WildlifeDirect also has bloggers in Asia and South America.

But as all conservationists—and environmentalists know—the path is never easy. Late 2008 brought new and sudden difficulties as the global economic crisis rippled through WildlifeDirect and many of its partners.

“Times are very tough for conservation organizations anywhere. Many major donors are scaling back to protect their cores, which means letting go of small projects. Many of them will I fear, will go bust…Even small donors have scaled back. Conservation groups are making tough decisions, but many are sticking it out and weathering the storm by working hard even for nothing,” Kahumbu says, adding that WildlifeDirect itself has suffered under the crisis, stalling developments and leaving the organization wondering, at times, about its future.

WildlifeDirect’s first field office in Congo - blogging was done from a tent inside Virunga National Park. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

For wildlife, Kahumbu argues the crisis has been “a disaster”.

“There is far less money for conservation in general. This means there is less monitoring so we will not even notice when some species go extinct. Fewer people care about species anymore, governments are not investing in conservation,” she says, yet adds that any crisis may bring new opportunities. “I’m hoping that the crisis will force us to be more strategic in how we spend limited resources on conservation and instead of pouring vast amounts on single species, we can start looking afresh at priorities. For example making decisions based on cost-benefit analysis of saving entire ecosystems, and creating eco friendly livelihoods for communities in wildlife rich areas.”

Kahumbu says that large-scale changes need to happen in order for the world to start tackling the environmental crisis, including mass extinction and climate change.

“I think that to engage the world we will need a paradigm shift in what we communicate. Today’s global headlines are monopolized by scandals, Enron, Financial crisis, Iraq, the British MP’s allowances, Swine flu, Kenyan elections, Wii, Britney Spears baby…you name it. We are inundated with unimportant information every single day [… ] I think we need to be snapped out of our stupor to realize what’s really happening. We need to take action. We must change those headlines. I think we could create a global culture of caring for the planet by having headlines on the health of Planet Earth everyday. We should be making these issues important, and we should be frowning deeply on those who destroy, emit and waste. We could drive a new social agenda that is informed about and cares about things that matter: our future, and our planet. Perhaps then everyone will be able to believe in a future that is fair for all, clean and healthy, rich in biodiversity and able to sustain us into perpetuity.”

Mongabay.com spoke to Paula Kahumbu in August 2009 about conservation, climate change, and the economic crisis.

Introducing WildlifeDirect

Mongabay: What is your background? How did you end up as Executive Director of the new and innovative conservation organization, Wildlife Direct?

WildlifeDirect training current conservationists, future bloggers. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

Paula Kahumbu: Like most Kenyans of my generation, I grew up surrounded by wildlife, birds, snakes and mammals. I spent my childhood exploring swamps and forests and in those days it was safe and clean. I was inspired by this to dedicate my life to saving the wilderness and wild species. I started off with a deep interest in primates and worked in a remote protected areas with two endangered primates. For my PhD I studied elephants to understand how they manage forests. I fell in love with them and ended up getting deeply involved in the ivory crisis in 1989 and 2000. Offering advice to KWS (Kenyan Wildlife Service) Director Richard Leakey about the issues arising in the ivory debate landed me in a job at the government agency. I loved the wilderness and field work but I hated the people politics. Over the years I’ve witnessed how our wilderness and wild species are going fast due to political, social and economic short sightedness. I was about to emigrate to South Africa and go back to teaching in a university when Richard Leakey stopped me, told me off for giving up on Kenya, and invited me to join WildlifeDirect, the organization he founded and believes strongly in. I’ve been here ever since.

Mongabay: Wildlife Direct is unique in terms of conservation organizations—what is your approach?

Paula Kahumbu: It’s simple, rangers and conservationists write blogs on wildlifedirect.org about their daily lives at the conservation front line. Anyone can interact, participate, and donate from anywhere in the world. By networking people at the conservation frontline with others all over the world, we have created what we call a virtual endowment. It is a vast community of people ready to respond when called upon in a time of need or during a crisis to help solve wildlife conservation challenges. To us, a million small donations are much more valuable than one big donation, so we aim for micro donations from a large network of friends. We believe that virtually anyone anywhere can give a little to something they care about, and people give to us because we provide real time transparency and accountability through blogs so that donors can see their money at work. Donors can also donate time to help bloggers with networking, uploading photos, doing research, or even visiting the project. The size and responsiveness of our online community is how we measure our success. To date we have over 100 bloggers and over 70,000 unique visitors per month. Last year this community donated to over 70 projects raising nearly $500,000 which went directly to the field.

Mongabay: What challenges has the organization faced since its creation in 2004?

WildlifeDirect training bloggers. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

Paula Kahumbu: Three things. First challenge was technological, how do we develop and support a technology solution that aims to a global audience, but is built in Africa? The original concept was built in Italy, it looked great but mending glitches was difficult due to the language barrier. We are now using developers in Kenya. Secondly finding funding for our core costs has always been tough; traditional donors want to give money to field projects not to organizations like ours. We don’t charge a fee to our bloggers so we need to finance our core costs support, development and hosting from other sources. This year we won a MacArthur grant without which we might have collapsed. We’re not out of the woods yet but we’re clinging on and our partners are grateful, this is an extremely difficult time for fund raising for conservation so they are really busy telling their stories. Finally, many organizations we have spoken to and tried to bring on board have simply copied the concept. They don’t see the value of keeping the online community together and this is a bit disappointing.

Mongabay: I have to ask, Richard Leakey is a conservation legend both in Africa and across the world. What’s it like to work with a man who has given so much into saving Africa’s wildlife?

Paula Kahumbu: Working for Leakey is always inspiring. He is passionate and super-smart. He expects a lot which can be challenging, and yet exhilarating knowing that he believes in us. He has the memory of an elephant which is useful when we need help and have hit a brick wall – there is usually someone that he knows can help us. He’s also extremely compassionate and indeed rather fatherly. Although running the Turkana Basin Institute is his main job, he often wanders around our open plan office, visiting our desks, chatting to us and introduces us to any important visitors. It doesn’t really feel like we’re working for one of the most famous people on this planet; he’s very down to earth and human. It’s great working for him; I love it.

Many of WildlifeDirect’s participating organizations work directly with the world’s great apes, including mountain gorillas. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

Mongabay: Wildlife Direct currently carries 80 blogs from Africa, Asia, and South America, are there plans to add more? Any plans to extend geographically beyond those three continents?

Paula Kahumbu: We are always expanding and we receive about 4 applications for new blogs per week. If they meet our criteria we do accept them. Our goal is to be global but our focus is to help those organizations in developing countries that need the support most.

Economic Crisis and Conservation

Mongabay: You work with a lot of very small, but extremely effective and important, conservation groups every day—how has the global economic crisis affected them and their work?

Paula Kahumbu: Times are very tough for conservation organizations anywhere. Many major donors are scaling back to protect their cores, which means letting go of small projects. Many of them will I fear, will go bust. We thought that WildlifeDirect’s model was perfectly suited for a recession environment, after all, who can’t afford to give 10 dollars during good times or bad? Well, even small donors have scaled back. Conservation groups are making tough decisions, but many are sticking it out and weathering the storm by working hard even for nothing. We have noticed a surge in interest by organizations to join WildlifeDirect, some of them large organizations that have lost major donors.

Mongabay: Has the economic crisis affected Wildlife Direct itself—if so, how?

Paula Kahumbu: The economic crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time. A potential major donor pulled out at the last moment last year jut as we were about to implement our strategic plan. That was devastating. We had to scale back and take our developments much more slowly. We have been badly hit because our core funds are raised through grants and many large donors are scaling back. We still have a $100,000 hole in our operational budget for this year so we’re looking for donors, partners, or supporters who believe in what we are doing and will be willing to help us over this hump.

Group of bloggers. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

Mongabay: Some have argued that the economic crisis may actually have some positive environmental impact—i.e. lessening global consumption—what is your view?

Paula Kahumbu: Yes and No. Perhaps there will be less consumption in the West. In developing nations where the recession means that more people are on the brink of starvation, the opposite happens. Desperate people can’t afford to make long term decisions. In Kenya for example we have seen an explosion of bushmeat hunting – why? Because people are hungry. In some places the wildlife is almost completely gone, and they are now eating baboons. It is tragic that governments found the means to bail out those responsible for this economic crisis but have been unable to find the resources to save our environments, to alleviate poverty and to protect our wildlife heritage. It makes me mad that we have such backward global priorities.

I can only think of one place where the global crisis has been good, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before the crisis high global prices for their minerals was leading to the destruction of the forests in the east, and the illegal mining that was financing the militias that were destroying the parks. The collapse of commodity prices last year led to the collapse of these militias, and now Rwanda and Congo are cooperating. This means that the parks can now be managed effectively, and some donors are taking advantage of this opportunity. So, yes, in this case, there’s at least one conservation area that we can thank the greedy bankers for.

Infamous massacre of gorillas in Virunga National Paark. Photo Courtesy of WildlifeDirect.

Mongabay: Is it possible to balance economic development in poorer nations without plundering, and thereby devastating, the environment for goods?

Paula Kahumbu: Of course it is possible to develop without destroying but it takes good thoughtful leadership, excellent planning and enforcement of plans. Theses things are in short supply in Africa. What we have in Africa, and many other places, is a greed that seems limitless, and sadly is the consequence of aping the West. The West is addicted to consuming, and developing nations think that they will get rich by supplying the consumers. Our political systems aggravate this because it drives short term and mind-bogglingly short-sighted ventures. Few countries have national targets that that the public know about and can measure the performance of their elected officials against.

Mongabay: What do you think the economic crisis has meant for endangered species worldwide?

Paula Kahumbu: It’s a disaster. There is far less money for conservation in general. This means there is less monitoring so we will not even notice when some species go extinct. Fewer people care about species anymore, governments are not investing in conservation. But yet they seem to have funds to address climate change adaptation, it seems more immediate. But, I’m hoping that the crisis will force us to be more strategic in how we spend limited resources on conservation and instead of pouring vast amounts on single species, we can start looking afresh at priorities. For example making decisions based on cost-benefit analysis of saving entire ecosystems, and creating eco friendly livelihoods for communities in wildlife rich areas.

The Effect of Climate Change on Africa’s Wildlife

Mongabay: For wildlife climate change is seen as an unpredictable threat, since no one really knows how well already-imperiled species will be able to adapt to a warmer globe. What is your view? Does climate change keep you up at night?

Paula Kahumbu: Yes, climate change does keep me awake at night. I climbed Mt. Kenya last year and could not believe how much the glaciers have shrunk. I’ve witnessed rivers drying up, and I’ve seen how our coral reefs are bleaching. I feel angry and deeply sad at the same time because it’s not our fault, and there is little we can do in poorer countries to have a smaller carbon footprint. I feel angry that communities in Africa that are doing so much to save forests are not rewarded – in fact we expect conservationists to accept and tolerate the costs to their own development, and we frown on anyone who cuts down a tree, or kills an animal for food. But we do reward those who exploit these resources, we give most of the carbon funding to big business. It’s insane! At present there is no incentive for land owners to return to environmentally friendly practices that will help us to survive in the climate changed world.

Mount Kenya. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Mongabay: How do you see climate change particularly affecting ecosystems in Africa?

Paula Kahumbu: Most of Africa will be hotter and drier, streams will dry up, forests will not recover from degradation, fisheries will disappear. We will see extreme climate events will be more extreme and more common, like floods and droughts. More of our land will be ‘marginal’ and farming these landscapes will push ecosystems over a threshold and point of no return. Once we’ve lost soil and seeds no amount of rain will bring them back. The main impact we will notice will be deepening poverty which will be extreme and bushmeat hunting will exterminate wildlife from large tracts of land outside of the best protected areas. I expect we’ll see more incursions in the protected areas. Today our parks in Kenya are full of cattle due to a prolonged drought. Not only do the livestock compete with wildlife, introduce diseases and damage the environment, but they also put people in direct conflict with wildlife and predators will be exterminated, and antelopes killed by the herds by people who have to eat. I think we will see governments make more environmentally unfriendly decisions to address poverty and we will lose much of our wild lands.

Mongabay: Working with people across the globe, including in some of the world’s poorest countries, how do you think climate change should be tackled? Is it everyone’s problem or should the bulk of the responsibility be on developed nations?

Boy from the Turkana tribe in Northern Kenya. Poor and marginalized peoples will be hit the hardest by climate change. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Paula Kahumbu: I think climate change will be tackled badly! There’s a meeting of African environmental ministers taking place in Nairobi this week. I am amazed that the public are not aware, and have not had an opportunity to present views. The climate problem has been caused by the West but now India and China are amongst the largest polluters. We cannot ignore the fact that developing nations need to take responsibility, but how do you divert attention and funds away from the pressing crises like poverty and disease in Africa? They are far more immediate and, frankly, these issues influence voters so our policy makers will give lip service to climate change unless there is a short term benefit that can be translated into votes.

Regardless of who created the climate change problem, the world’s poor people will pay and they are paying already. We are kind of helpless and it’s shocking. Don’t you think it is amazing that the world’s most powerful nations are those that we consider to be the richest? They are the biggest producers and greatest contributors to the global economic and environmental crisis. The environmental debt outstrips their measurable wealth, doesn’t it? The countries richest in natural resources (forests, biodiversity, fish, clean water) have the smallest voice on the global platform because they haven’t converted these riches into gold bullion. Why don’t we measure the wealth of a nation realistically? I think that if intelligent aliens visited the earth today they would report back that we are a backward species that is destroying its own habitat even though we have the means to save planet Earth.

Mongabay: What are your ideas in engaging the public to supply adequate funding for large-scale environmental issues, such as climate change and the extinction crisis?

Paula Kahumbu: I think that to engage the world we will need a paradigm shift in what we communicate. Today’s global headlines are monopolized by scandals, Enron, Financial crisis, Iraq, the British MP’s allowances, Swine flu, Kenyan elections, Wii, Britney Spears baby…you name it. We are inundated with unimportant information every single day, we inhale and are addicted to irrelevant facts and, we have created a culture that cares more about gossip and other people than our own survival. These are all diversions that keep us busy and prevent us from seeing what’s really happening. I think we need to be snapped out of our stupor to realize what’s really happening. We need to take action. We must change those headlines. I think we could create a global culture of caring for the planet by having headlines on the health of Planet Earth everyday. We should be making these issues important, and we should be frowning deeply on those who destroy, emit and waste. We could drive a new social agenda that is informed about and cares about things that matter: our future, and our planet. Perhaps then everyone will be able to believe in a future that is fair for all, clean and healthy, rich in biodiversity and able to sustain us into perpetuity.

Screenshot of WildlifeDirect homepage, showcasing a variety of conservation blogs. Photo courtesty of WildlifeDirect.

Tags: Africa, conservation, economic crisis, Mongabay, richard leakey, wildlife, wildlifedirect

4 responses so far

Category: Africa, China, Ivory, Kenya, Rhinoceros, elephants, poaching, wildlife trade | Date: Jul 20 2009 | By: Maina

On Tuesday last week, Kenyan authorities seized a 300kg haul of elephant tusks and rhino horn hidden in coffins at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This large haul, valued at approximately $ 1-million, is thought to have either come from Tanzania or South Africa and was headed for Laos. Officials of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) however speculate that the load’s final destination was indeed China, but through Laos, the de-facto ‘gateway to China’.

A previous haul of illegal ivory as reported on Baraza in April 2009

The KWS has been complaining about increasing ivory poaching since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allowed a one-off sale of ivory from southern Africa to China and Japan.  The entry of China into the world trade in ivory was in itself a cause for alarm amongst many conservationists on account of what is viewed as China’s laissez-faire attitude towards wildlife - except the giant panda.  There have been reports from the KWS and other organizations in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa indicating that there is definitely a rise in poaching for ivory and rhino horn.

According to the KWS, the rise in ivory poaching is partly caused by the CITES declaration to allow minimal trade from southern Africa. They say that this declaration created the illusion that it was OK to trade in ivory. If the number of seizures of ivory being witnessed today is anything to go by, then the KWS are right: the CITES declaration is indeed responsible for this mess.

It’s not just elephant poaching that is a problem. Just the previous week, a report was made public that indicates that rhino poaching has reached a 15 year high. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, and the global conservation organization WWF, and their affiliated wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, told a CITES committee in a recent meeting that poachers in Africa and Asia are killing as many as two to three animals a week in some areas to meet a growing demand for the horns. What is more worrying is that this poaching is no longer a subsistence activity but it has now evolved into organized crime similar to cocaine and small arms rackets.

Elephants and rhinos are in a very dire situation as this new wave of wanton decimation of the majestic creatures picks up pace. We are witnessing the inevitable extinction of - in the case of the rhino - an evolutionary relic that generations upon generations of humans have marveled at; and the total loss of - in the case of the elephant - the gentle intelligent giant that has been the centre of almost all mythology.

Sentimental values aside, these are ‘keystone’ species that shape the environment that they occur in. Keeping a balance in the ecology of their habitat, and therefore determining the biological diversity of these habitats. The looming departure of these two could permanently alter ecosystems - in the most part - for the worst.

Poaching can do that, and this is going to happen in our lifetime.

A solution has to be found. We first have to stop lying to ourselves that there can be any sustainable trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. We have seen this with our own eyes. It’s never going to happen. Having realized that, governments should tighten the noose on illegal traffic routes, cut down the poachers on sight, and increase punishment for poaching offenders. China and it’s Asian friends will need to be re-educated.

Dr Richard Leakey, while he was the head of KWS, led an elephant anti-poaching campaign back in the mid-1980s which brought down a large number of poaching rings. It has been 20 years since the symbolic burning of  12 tonnes of ivory - then worth about $3 million and from approximately 2000 dead elephants - at the height of the campaign. Today, elephant population that had dropped from 167, 000 in 1973 to a paltry 16,000 in 1989, now stand at 32,ooo. These numbers could easily start falling if nothing is done about the recent upsurge in poaching. Current wildlife officials could learn from this and step up the fight against poachers on the local level, while all conservationists push for the total ban on trade in ivory and rhino horn.

The symbolic ivory burning in 1989

Again, China and the Asian world that still believes that rhino horn has medicinal value, and carvings from elephant ivory  are ‘cute’, needs re-education.

Tags: Africa, Asia, burning ivory, China, CITES, elephant, Ivory, KWS, poaching, rhino, rhino horn, richard leakey, wildlife trade

8 responses so far

Category: Africa, Kenya, Lions, Poisoning wildlife, big cats, conservation, furadan, predators | Date: Jun 02 2009 | By: Maina

NAIROBI, Kenya - 2 June 2009. A Kenyan legislator, Honourable John Mututho, is today expected to ask for total ban on Furadan in parliament. Hon. Mututho, who represents the Naivasha Constituency and is Chair of the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee, will ask the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife to effect a total ban on this pesticide that is reported to have killed more than 30 lions, hundreds of vultures and other animals.

Furadan is the brand name of Philadelphia-based FMC Corporation’s formulation of carbofuran-based pesticides considered to be the most lethal in their class. Available cheaply in Kenya, the pesticide is being used by local herdsmen in retaliatory poisoning of lions and other carnivores blamed of predation on their livestock.

It is more than a year ago when Kenya’s conservation icon, Dr Richard Leakey started calling for a ban on the lethal chemical that was recently the subject of a documentary by American broadcaster CBS.

On 29 April, after American broadcaster, CBS, aired a documentary about lion poisoning in Kenya in their 60 Minutes programme, the pesticide manufacturers, FMC Corporation, immediately announced the withdrawal of Furadan in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and instructed the local distributor, Juanco Limited to immediately begin a buy-back programme in Kenya to remove all available stock from the shelves. There are only about 2100 lions left in Kenya.

The buy back programme is considered by local conservationists to be largely effective but some agro-vet stores are still hiding old stock and selling it under the counter. As a result, more than one month later, the pesticide is still reported to be causing wildlife deaths in various locations in Kenya.

On 25 May, one lion, a number of hyenas and 35 vultures are reported to have died at Olololaimutiak gate in the Masai Mara Reserve from retaliatory poisoning from a cow carcase that had been laced with poison suspected to be Furadan. The cow had been killed inside the reserve where they were grazing illegally.

These recent cases have prompted a group of Kenyan conservation organizations, including Nature Kenya to launch a campaign to push the government to ban this deadly chemical. They support of this campaign from the Naivasha Member of Parliament, Hon. Mututho is welcome. His push for the hearing of his proposal for a total ban has been postponed twice already.

On 18 March 2009 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that ”dietary, worker, and ecological risks are unacceptable for all uses of carbofuran” and hence cancelled all tolerances for carbofuran in in food. On 11 May, they announced the total ban on these tolerances. In December 2008, the EU also effectively banned carbofurans. Canada is expected to follow suit in the near future.

American scientists concluded, in as far back as the late nineties, that there is no foreseable way that carbofurans can be used on crops without killing birds. The EPA also concuded that ‘all products containing carbofuran generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on humans and the environment and do not meet safety standards’

The Furadan problem in Kenya is therefore not only a wildlife issue but also a human health issue. A researcher, Martin Odino, who’s been monitoring Furadan use in Bunyala Rice Scheme in western Kenya reports that birds are deliberately poisoned and sold in the local market as human food.

A study on the effect of pesticide-fishing on dragonflies on Lake Victoria by a Kenyan PhD candidate at Harvard University, Dino J Martins, has also revealed that Furadan is being used widely to fish in the lake. Martin reports that HIV/AIDS orphans from the lakeside are allowed to collect the immature fish bycatch for their food thereby exposing them to this health risk.

Cases of inadequate monitoring of health risks in Kenya are not unusual and Martin Odino believes that it is just a matter of time before human deaths are reported.

WildlifeDirect has collected a wealth of background information. Anyone who needs to support Hon. Mututho on his call for the ban either by giving this issue media prescence or otherwise can get the information from us. We believe that when there is concerted effort from all those who care, Kenya’s parliament and government will be inclined to at least listen to one of their own - Hon. John Mututho.

Tags: birds, FMC, furadan, Kenya, Lions, Masai Mara, Parliament, poisoning, richard leakey, vultures, wildlife

2 responses so far

Category: Poisoning wildlife | Date: Apr 18 2009 | By: admin

Here’s a report from Dino Martins, of the Insect Committee of Nature Kenya (The East Africa Natural History Society).
April 14, 2009

SUMMARY REPORT:
PESTICIDE FISHING IN LAKE VICTORIA

The Insect Committee of the East Africa Natural History Society has been surveying
dragonfly and damselfly diversity of Lake Victoria as part of a summer course (Ecology
of the Great Lakes and the African Savannah) for ~3 years.

As part of the surveys and interaction with fishermen and people involved in the fish trade, we have found that
pesticides are widely used to fish with in certain parts of the lake (especially nearer to
urban areas or towns).

We have gathered data on the prevalence of pesticide fishing and its effect on one
indicator group of insects: dragonflies (Odonata). The prevalence and distribution of
pesticide fished areas was roughly mapped through direct observation of zones of dead
fish that appeared to have been poisoned, and through interviews with fishermen and
other local stakeholders. Diversity and distribution of dragonflies was monitored by
direct observation at different sites. We also looked at dragonfly diversity in areas that
were not pesticide fished (but fished using conventional methods) and in areas that were
protected. The results are very clear: pesticide fished bays have much reduced dragonfly
diversity. On several occasions we found numbers of dead nymphs (aquatic larval
dragonfly life-stage) floating in the water where pesticides had been used, as well as
poisoned non-commercial fish species (mainly cichlids) and other aquatic insects. We
hope to publish the results of the dragonfly survey shortly.

Pesticides are widely available in lake-side towns, such as Mwanza, and sometimes sold
in shops that deal in fishing gear and tackle. Local people were often aware of the
pesticide fishing and were concerned about this. It is apparent that it is a few
unscrupulous fishermen who use this technique and not the majority. Several different
pesticides are used, including ‘Furadan’ which is the cheapest option available in local
shops. For more information, please contact the Insect Committee of Nature Kenya.

The victims of pesticide poisoning are not only fish, invertebrates and lake biodiversity, but include innocent and vulnerable HIV orphans who are who are permitted to pick through and select poisoned fish for their own dinner.

Dino J. Martins
Chairperson, Insect Committee –Nature Kenya – EANHS, Box 4606 Nairobi

Tags: carbofurans, fishing, FMC, furadan, Kenya, Kisumu, Lake Victoria, Poisoning wildlife, richard leakey, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: Poisoning wildlife | Date: Apr 16 2009 | By: admin

What a week of ups and downs! We were so pleased when FMC announced the withdrawal of Furadan from Kenya, and welcomed the opportunity to meet a team from FMC here in Nairobi. All our colleagues came, with stacks of evidence of the damage that Furadan is causing to our lions, vultures, waterbirds and fish. We were sooo hopeful…like naive fools. Of course FMC are not really interested in wildlife per se, and we’ve been warned that their local distributor won’t give up without a fight over their deadly product. The scariest thing we heard from FMC was that they “will reintroduce Furadan once the right conditions are in place” course they wouldn’t divulge what those were.

Most of us in the meeting (represented by WWF, Nature Kenya, various bird groups, Living with Lions and others) felt that our concerns were not really being acknowledged, at least the FMC officials were not able to officially accept that their product was devastating Kenyan wildlife. We were told that the Government chemist who has analysed all our samples did not have the correct testing kit and were therefore producing false positives. The advice to us, look for another source of poison. This didn’t jive well with all the other evidence we have, eg. people admitting to using Furadan, purple grains on carcasses baited for lions, purple grains on snails for the bird hunting in Bunyala….How much more obvious does it have to be??? FMC were just as adamant that Furadan is just a name used to define any pesticide. AAARrrrrrrggghhhh it is so frustrating.

The other problem is that the government chemist charges 20$ for each sample while the other organization KEPHIS charges nearly 100$ per sample. We just don’t have the resources to analyse samples that are still in the freezer!

The meeting was fairly polite but I personally didn’t feel as if we made much headway, FMC maintain that there is no credible evidence that their product is killing Kenyan wildlife, but they do admit that there is potential and that they have withdrawn the product as a precaution. They also expressed many valid points about the alternatives, the black market and competitors flooding the market, issues we chewed on for a while.

We asked many questions – but I especially loved this cheeky one   “If you are an ethical company, why not just stop producing Furadan altogether”. Ouch. I don’t recall the answer.

FMC have a series of other meetings with the government, obviously they are more concerned about the authorities and we totally understand this. We just feel that it’s equally important that consumers and citizens have the right to information, opinions and a place on the negotiating table. Sadly, many people fear the response from the authorities - I don’t for a minute deny that our ‘officials’ and ‘leaders’ can be heavy handed. In general once elected our Kenyan leaders forgot (or perhaps never learned) what being a civil servant  is all about, Servant is the key word.

The truth is that while Furadan is misused for poisoning wildlife, even when it’s used for agriculture, it is not used safely in Kenya anyway - people do not use protective gear when applying this deadly pesticide.

KWS who admit that our lions and other predators are in trouble, are not really coming out strongly about the risks to our lions posed by Furadan. Meanwhile the Pesticide Control Products Board (PCPB have a statement that sounds like their interest is in protecting products not people or the environment.
Thankfully the public are listening though and we want to thank all of you who have written in support or donated towards our work to end the poisoning of wildlife in Africa.

What I can’t get my head around is how our government can defend the use of a chemical that is banned in Europe and for which the US EPA has found there is no safe way to use it in a country of educated people who also have excellent enforcement.  In Kenya the people who use Furadan don’t even know how to read the label and none of them use any form of protective gear. That alone should make the officials question whether it’s safe for human use.

There are rumours going around that thanks to all the negative publicity (especially the decline of lions), there is support for a Furadan ban in certain quarters of our government, so fingers crossed, perhaps we’ve reached someone who actually does care and is willing to do something about it! Our challenge will be to effect a ban on the actual chemicals not just the trade names - Carbofurans.

Keep reading right here, we’ll updated you here and on the stop wildlife poisoning blog.

Tags: carbofuran, furadan, poison prevention, poisoning, richard leakey, stop poisoning wildlife, wildlife, WildlifeDriect

8 responses so far