Conservation
March 22, 2023

Conservation Alliance of Kenya inaugural meeting with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry

Patricia Awori

The partnership between the governments and the private sector is crucial in formulating lasting
solutions, especially on matters environment and conservation. To this effect, the Conservation Alliance
of Kenya had a roundtable meeting with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry on
Wednesday, 1 March, at the Serena Hotel. Chairing the meeting were the Cabinet Secretary, Hon.
Sopian Tuya, and Steve Itela- Chairperson of the alliance.
It was a consultative meeting to plan the way forward in which Government can partner with the private
sector to achieve its goals for the restoration and protection of the environment, following executive
order one by H.E president William Ruto in his inaugural speech on 13 September 2022.
Public-private partnership is vital in the fight for environmental protection and restoration. Key areas of
partnership on the agenda were:

• Assessment of natural capital values, Biodiversity and carbon credits to increase revenue
• Policy and legal framework
• Public education and capacity building with the communities and sensitization on Environmental
issues and MEAs
• Partnerships with private stakeholders and partners

Industry technocrats who are passionate and willing to see the vision to full fruition are available to the
alliance in terms of expertise and technical awareness. It was concluded that key pillars must be
established for the partnership to thrive.

Grassland /forest restoration: By identifying areas of maximum restoration potential. Adoption of green
schools and conservancies to grow trees based on seed suitability and availability
Water Catchment/Wetlands protection: Securing and protecting the existing water towers. Through
legislation and public participation. That is growing trees for charcoal and affordable alternative fuels for
domestic use.
Funding: It was proposed that 1 % of GDP be committed toward environment conservation efforts.
Additionally, securing funding from the private sector through CSR activities and initiatives to achieve
sustainability of the same.
Dialogue/ Roundtable: There is wisdom in the counsel of many. It was suggested that a quarterly round
table would be necessary to allow for the development and growth of these key pillars.

The Governments initiative to plant 15 billion trees in the next 10 years was also key in the agenda. This
seems/seemed like an insurmountable task. In the words of Nelson Mandela, it’s only possible once
done. The rationale behind this initiative is that if every Kenyan can plant 300 hundred trees over the
next 10 years, we will have achieved this goal. In essence, that is 30 trees a year which is simply
three trees a month.

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African Elephant Coalition Conservation
August 10, 2020

Europe’s double-standards on saving elephants

Patricia Awori

As part of its plans to be the first net zero emissions, zero pollution continent by 2050, the EU published its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, personally championed by First Executive Vice-President Timmermans, on 20th May.

It proposes among other issues “… a further tightening of the rules on EU ivory trade” while nonetheless maintaining a thriving ivory market itself.

“A further tightening of the rules …” is hardly progress. Under the Juncker Commission, which left office on 30th November 2019, significant strides were being made to close the loopholes in the EU’s ivory trade.

The Von der Leyen “Green Deal” Commission has, however, demonstrated scant political will to maintain – let alone increase – that momentum. It is this type of double standard that we can no longer stand for.

“We are tired of these lectures that constantly come from the North, telling us how to manage our spaces while they ignore the implications of their actions. Frankly, the EU has failed to read the mood across the world,” says Dr Winnie Kiiru, Senior Technical Advisor for the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation (EPI), an organisation comprising of 21 African countries working to secure the protection of African elephants.

As an elephant biologist for the past 20 years, Kiiru has fought for the ban of ivory across the world and is not impressed by the EU’s double standards. “Countries that had thriving markets such as China and the US have gone ahead to ban ivory trade – it seems very odd that the EU won’t follow suit.”

Beginning around 2007, a wave of poaching for ivory devastated populations of savanna and forest elephants across Africa. The total numbers of savanna elephants decreased by 30% between 2007 and 2015, while forest elephants were hit even harder.

In some countries, elephant populations declined by over 50% in under 10 years. If current poaching levels continue, elephants may be extinct in the wild within the decade – and this will be thanks in no small measure to the EU’s ivory market, among the largest in the world.

Poaching of African elephants continues unabated. The fight for countries to shut down the international ivory trade has borne some fruit with key nations such as the USA, UK and China responding to global pressure and closing their domestic ivory markets.

This action has been accompanied by a decrease in poaching within some parts of Africa, primarily in East Africa. However, in other regions, notably West, Central and Southern Africa, the poaching trend has not declined.

If anything, poaching levels are increasing in new hotspots, as major global ivory markets have remained open, notably those of Japan and the European Union.

This makes the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy, as part of the highly ambitious Green Deal suite of policy initiatives all the more extraordinary.

Aiming to provide ‘guidance’ to African countries on steps to take in order to maintain and improve our biodiversity, it is supremely ironic that the EU’s ivory market is effectively a key contributor of the destruction of Africa’s natural heritage.

Laundering ‘legal’ ivory into the illegal market. It is all the more surprising to note this somewhat misguided act of charity has no roots within the EU.

The European Commission continues to maintain that the EU’s ivory market deals only with old ivory stocks and has no influence on current poaching levels.

Yet, recent studies have shown that ivory pieces can be aged and made to seem older than they actually are. Limiting the trade to small ivory pieces is also no solution, as carving operations have now been established in elephant range states.

This ongoing consumption of ivory puts the safety of the African elephants at great risk because, by giving ivory a value it prolongs demand, which maintains the push for supply.

Until the EU shuts down its domestic market, ivory will continue to be laundered into European markets under the guise of being ‘old or small stock’.

“The EU needs to appreciate the role of any African market in increasing the cost of law enforcement in African countries and destroying livelihoods. Furthermore, their strategy will be impossible to realize in Africa until they shut down their ivory markets,” Kiiru maintains.

Critically, ivory has no value within Africa; it is only countries outside that continue to clamour for it and by so doing fuel poaching across the continent.

And so, however good the intentions were in writing the EU Biodiversity Strategy, I am reminded of a song my mother would sing: “Sweep your yard before you come and sweep mine”. This is precisely what the EU needs to do.

The time for decisive action is now. Overall, the importance of healthy elephant populations is to increase and help support our African biodiversity, and they are part of our cultural heritage.

We cannot afford to lose them for the sake of demand by foreigners in Europe and elsewhere for trinkets.

Again it remains clear, the EU needs to re-examine its so-called ‘role’ in promoting global biodiversity; here in Africa, what it does in reality is continue to endanger African elephants.

Rosie Awori is the Communications, Marketing and Youth Affairs officer of the Pan African Wildlife Conservation Network

Source: The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper

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Conservation
May 2, 2020

CORONAVIRUS A BLESSING FOR THE EARTH?

Patricia Awori

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon and I can hear the sounds of a storm gathering outside my window. It has been a different season, the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 was like wildfire and in its wake,  it shut down the world. The question has been asked on what the impact will be on the environment and wildlife.

 

In parks, wardens and rangers are the front-line workers. Working tirelessly to ensure that the animals remain safe. I am of the firm believe that we should work tirelessly to have them taken care of. Their salaries should be on time and they should have special measures arranged for their transportation to and from the park. Have they been supplied with sanitizers, gloves? The importance of species to the planet is insurmountable, from bees to elephants and thus it is only logical to ensure that those involved in the protection and nurturing of species are well taken care of.

 

The fact is, we have destroyed our environment, fossil emissions, pollution, deforestation, poaching, oil spills have all resulted in plundering the earth’s bounty. The destruction of the environment has resulted in a wide number of environmental catastrophes.

Conspiracy theories aside, simply focusing on the fact that the capacity for animals to give us disease as much as we can give them disease did not exist when nature was in a proper balance. Now that things are out of balance, we see this rising dramatically. Could be why the world had to stop, we were killing each other, we were killing ourselves and the environment around us. And perhaps this time of confinement can be a season where we readjust our values and make a better plan for how to co-exist harmoniously with our environment.

 

In Kenya and across the African continent we have adopted the slash and burn mentality as a result of colonisation. While traditionally we would build around instead of cutting our destroying in order to create a habitat. The horse has bolted, it may not be possible to flatten buildings right now, however we can stop encroaching on land reserved for wildlife. We can take steps to build further away from reserves. This is something that should be made law and gazetted so that even as we think of development, we develop in an ethical way without encroaching and ensuring we strike a balance. The truth is we have invaded our wildlife’s space and consequently they are now in our space.

 

As a starting point, everyone should plant trees one or two or however many one’s space can hold. Instead of speaking about fencing the parks we should perhaps fence the areas where we are, wildlife is constantly on the move, when it rains, they move one way and similarly during the hot periods they move another way. Therefore, it is in their best interests if they allowed to roam freely, they really aren’t interested in us.

 

As we’ve been in confinement for the past month, we’ve got a chance to see the earth healing. Airplane free skies, no emissions from industries, no pollution from cars have made the earth a beneficiary from the pandemic. Both Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro have full heads of snow. A time like this last year the snow caps on both these mountains was melting. Global air quality has improved drastically as the rain hits the earth the smell of undisturbed ground wafts into my nostrils a scent I remember from childhood.  It is time to think about how we can be kind to the earth even when things open up again.  This is a collective responsibility that rests not only on governments but on us as citizens of the earth.

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Safari
September 23, 2018

Safari Chronicles: Day 10 – Penultimate Day

Patricia Awori

Today once again after a restful night (still not sleeping past 0430) we headed out on an early game drive at 0630 to see what we can see and what magnificence lay ahead!! It was a wondrous game drive that awaited us…..after watching smaller animals that we dont always see including hyaena pups playing we crossed a few rivers and found the mother cheetah and her three offspring who were in playful mood!! What a delight to watch them jumping on Mum and then running about on the plains …at one point Mum looked like she would have liked to go and look for something to eat but her cubs were not to be left behind and they were also wanting her to play with them too!! After a while we left them and went on to see what else we could see and loo and behold a leopard in a tree …this one larger than the one we saw yesterday and truly spectacular ..we could hardly believe we were so fortunate to see a leopard two days in succession!!! truly wonderful!!! Well satisfied we headed back for breakfast. Then off we went again this time to visit a Maasai Village….this was a memorable experience listening to the singing and dancing and interacting with them. In the late afternoon we head off to the river and this time to see the mighty Mara River and its Hippos and Crocodiles…and we surely were not disappointed. It was a full and lovely day out in the bush

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Safari
September 22, 2018

Safari Chronicles: Day 9 -Autumunal Equinox

Patricia Awori
Today was a magnificent day from the time the sun rose until it set!!! We arose in the cool morning air and the sound of lions roaring in the distance to do an early morning game drive and after watching a spectacular sunrise on the Mara plains we drove through the long grass which has been shortened by the annual migration this year that seemed to have been dramatically curtailed with the migration heading back into the Serengeti after only being in the Mara for two months….HUGE fires are on the horizon as the old grass is burned off in anticipation of rain and new growth…praying that they keep it under control…In the distance a few hippos were making their way laboriously grazing all the while  to the river having spent the night out grazing 
As we drove along the Olare Orok River we eventually came upon a pride of lions with an older magnificent male strode along on the other side of the river He had a magnificent mane and a few battle scars …we went to visit the ladies of the pride eventually who found their heads to heavy to keep upright and so they soon flopped down in the grass and went to sleep. On and on we drove until we happened upon a mother cheetah and her 3 cubs relaxing onto of a termite castle…soon they got up and came striding accross the plains apparently in search of shade and perhaps a vantage point to secure dinner while hiding the cubs?? What an amazing morning we had and after lunch and a little R&R we headed out onto the plains and this time very fortunate while sheltering under some trees lo and behold a Leopardess!!!! We were reaaaally excited especially as no one else was there Elephants and the morning pride that had moved to the banks of the River 
The sun finally set on what had been truly a magical day.
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Safari
September 20, 2018

Safari Chronicles: Day 8 …Mountain Conservation Area to Maasai Mara

Patricia Awori
What a glorious day dawned for us this morning with the sun coming up early and a truly magnificent day looked imminent.. after the chilly night it was hard to get out from amongst the warm sheets and the hot water bottle to the chilly air but it was time to pack up and say goodbye to Sweetwaters and Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Completely impressed with the great work that is being done here and how committed the various people we met from the Dog Unit to the Endangered Species compound to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and the the Conservancy itself….it was magical and long may it be soo!! Three Rhinos came to the waterhole to drink water and to say their goodbyes….
We flew over the saddle of the Aberdare Mountain Range and through the Rift Valley in between Lake Elementaita and Lake Nakuru …over the vastly depleted Mau escarpment and into the Maasai Mara its vast open plains with the Mara River snaking its way through the plains forming oxbow Lakes…finally we arrived at our destination and home away from home for the next three nights Mara Intrepids!!!
Our expedition this afternoon was to find Big Cats….and so after spending some time with Giraffe that were in abundance this afternoon..we decided to go on and lo and behold the 5 Cheetah brothers who have this close bond and are always together!! After spending time with them and marvelling at how well they look we went onwards Raphael knew the whereabouts of some Cheetah cubs with their Mum and so we decided to see if we could find them and 15 minutes later there they were…It was a wonderful first day and looking forward to tomorrow.
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Safari
September 20, 2018

Bush Chronicles: Day 7 from the Mountain Conservation Area

Patricia Awori
 
Wednesday was cold in the early hours of the morning when we arose to go out a 0600 but the colors in the sky were soo beautiful and the birds were already in full song telling us that morning is here. We had a full schedule ahead of us today and we were eager to see what we could see out in the plains and we were not disappointed….in an open field we came around a corner and almost all the species in the magnificent conservancy were before us grazing giraffe, zebra , waterbuck, eland to name but a few .. rhino mothers and their calves….greatly heartening to see this and it gives hope for this cricically endangered species!! As we returned for breakfast we caught a glimpse of  a lioness also looking for breakfast!!  Soon after breakfast the sun had chased away all the cool air and two rhino arrived at our waterhole and made themselves comfortable. We dashed off after enjoying watching them to visit the Chimpanzee Sanctuary…Patrick who takes care of a large group of the older ones took us to see them while he fed them their lunch and it is truly inspiring that these animals that have been treated so badly have built social bonds amongst themselves much like they might have in the wild where they came from with their real families!
In the afternoon we went to the critically endangered species enclosure to visit the remaining 2 Northern White Rhino and their friend a Southern White Rhino and Robert who watches over them shared with us his love for rhinos …he has been involved in the project since the inception of the rhino rescue in the conservancy with the original solitary rhino Morani !!
We finally got to see a couple of lioness who were basking in the sun but looking like they were on a mission!!!
What a glorious time we have spent in this amazing Conservancy and we are soo grateful for everything we have been able to see…now we pack and prepare to travel to the famed Maasai Mara.
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Safari
September 19, 2018

Safari Chronicles Part 2 Day 6

Patricia Awori

Too many times we allow ourselves to be swept up in doom and gloom and yet there is extraordinary work being done and we dont always remember to commend those who are working so hard to ensure that the situation continues to improve particularly for rhinos who are in such a precarious state. The rest of our day was filled with images and experiences of wonderful game viewing and all the species interacting and peacefully enjoying their lives …I remember when i first came here in the 80’s and it was soo difficult to see animals because they had been used to being shot at the moment they heard the sound of a vehicle they would be off and yet now we were able enjoy seeing them at close quarters….the management and security of Ol Pejeta are doing a magnificent job and the rhino are  clearly thriving  and we were so thankful as we were able to see more than 12 rhino in one day and the spectacle of elephant buffalo and rhino in the same field peaceful enjoying their food was a lasting image from this day…it was a special day and we are thankful and must ensure that this is the case throughout their range that many generations can enjoy this wonder

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