Kenya Wildlife Service statement on status of wildlife conservation

The new Wildlife Act, 213

 The enactment of a new law heralds a new beginning on addressing threats to wildlife conservation and institutionalising efficient management of wildlife and seeks to secure, in law, communities benefits. This has given Kenya the toughest wildlife law in Africa. KWS will leverage on the law to safeguard wildlife. http://www.kws.org/info/news/2014/19march2014wildlifestatus.html

A suspected poacher was on Monday March 18, 2014 at 1.45 am shot dead in Lake Nakuru National Park while two of his accomplices’ escaped. The body was taken to the mortuary in Nakuru and assorted weapons, including a bow, four poisoned arrows, spear and food, taken by police.  Kenya Wildlife Service acting Director General Mr William Kiprono flew to the scene of crime in Lake Nakuru National Park where he addressed journalists and KWS staff. He was accompanied by Mr Francis Kirathe, County AP Commander, Mr Mohammed Birik the County Commissioner and Mr Mbogo County CID boss.

Mr Kiprono noted that Lake Nakuru was one of the most hit by poaching of rhinos, having lost four since the beginning of the year.Vigilant KWS rangers responded swiftly and recovered horns from three of them while poachers took away one horn.  At national level, 16 rhinos have been lost, with 13 killed by poachers and three due to natural causes. Last year, Kenya lost a total of 59 rhinos. 

Thirty elephants have been poached since January this year compared 302 elephants in the whole of last year (2013). These statistics point to an emerging appetite of rhinos horns for an estimated population of 1,036 in the country. However, there is a decline of elephant poaching numbers from 384 in 2012 to 302 elephants in 2013. 

 KWS has laid out strategies to counter the runaway poaching for these species and general protection of all wildlife landscapes. KWS has created and equipped a Rapid Deployment Unit to provide support to ranger teams in areas thought to be highly vulnerable including conservancies that host endangered species. This team will join the inter-agency anti-poaching crack unit that was deployed in Narok, Tsavo and Isiolo.

KWS is continuing to build capacity of rangers to address emerging poaching methods. The training academy in Manyani has developed relevant curriculum in relation to emerging challenges.

KWS has heightened collaboration with other law enforcement agencies in the country and beyond as well as more robust intelligence gathering. The collaboration includes follow-ups on suspected poaching gangs, surveillance in all port of entry and exits and overt operations in wildlife areas. It has also roped in the Judiciary and the Office of Director of Public Prosecution in view of securing convictions for arrested perpetrators of wildlife crimes.

KWS partnership with communities living in wildlife-inhabited areas has enabled the organisation to foil numerous poaching incidents at the planning stage as members of the public volunteered information.   

In retrospect, in cases where poachers committed crime, prompt and sustained follow-ups were undertaken leading to arrest of 1,549 offenders last year. KWS law enforcement units were involved in active operations that led to active engagements with poachers leading to recovery of 68 fire arms and 2,630 rounds of ammunitions. 

KWS also recovered 13.5 tonnes of contraband ivory at the port of Mombasa and 10,106kg of bush meat last year. Majority of these smuggled contraband ivory had entered Kenya from neighbouring countries.There has been a decline in the desire by smugglers to use Kenyan ports to smuggle contraband ivory since we heightened surveillance there.

Sharon C

www.soinafricasafaris.com

Good news as East Africa joint single tourist visa goes live in Berlin, Germany

Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda recenly presented their joint single tourist visa to the world during the just-ended International Tourism Bourse (ITB)  in  Berlin, Germany.  Heads of delegations from the three East Africa Community nations that are part of a tripartite agreement praised the move on the visa, launched three weeks ago by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda as a bold move that will boost regional integration and ease the movement of tourists across the region. http://www.kws.org/info/news/2014/13march2014.html

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East Africa Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Ms Phyllis Kandie said whereas in the past tourists visiting the three countries had to seek separate visas in a cumbersome and costly process, all they needed now was to acquire one visa at  100 US dollars and visit the three states as many times as they wished for  three months.“This will harmonize immigration procedures, help curb cross-border insecurity, enable tourists have a one-stop border check point and generally open the region for more visitors,” she said. 

In a speech read on her behalf by Kenya’s Ambassador to Germany Mr Ken Osinde, Mrs Kandie said by introducing a single Visa, the three countries are signaling their intention to jointly promote the landscapes, wildlife and experiences they are endowed with.“Through this initiative, which we hope will eventually involve all the five partner state of the EAC, we will be highlighting the unique attractions to be found in each country," she added.

 Mrs Kandie  said  the tripartite arrangement will see the countries have joint stands in international travel and trade fairs. “We ask the world to take notice of this key joint initiative that will see the East African region transform into a destination of choice for many travelers whether for pleasure or business” she said

Uganda’s Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and  Antiquities  Ms Agnes Akiror Egunyu said the single Visa represented the most cost effective offer to tourists in terms of time, money and the variety of attractions to see.

She said tourists will be lodging their applications for the single Visa at embassies, consulates or diplomatic representation and once issued, the holder of an EAC tourist Visa will enter the country that issued it and subsequently move within the other two  countries without applying or paying for Visa.

Rwanda’s charge de affairs in Berlin, Mr Felix Sangano said Rwanda was experiencing  a tourism boom fueled mainly by regional visitors and hoped that with the entry of the single visa, more international visitors will throng the country.“We are extremely excited by this move, count as us to fully support it," he said.

 Mr Muriithi Ndegwa, the managing Director of the Kenya Tourism Board, said the  region will now be expected to  benefit from an increase in tourists arrivals. “The region is bound to harvest a much larger share of the  over 50 million visitors who come to Africa annually” he said. 

Earlier in the day, Kenya Wildlife Service acting Director General Mr William Kiprono paid a courtesy call on NABU, the German conservation organisation that started a fund to support survivors of Kenyan rangers killed in the course of active duty. He was accompanied by Mr Edwin Wanyonyi the KWS Deputy Director for Strategy and Change and Mr Paul Udoto, the Corporate Communications Manager. 

The delegation was hosted by the NABU Vice President and CEO Mr Thomas Tennhardt who said: "We cannot protect wildlife without rangers yet most support doesn't focus on their welfare and that of their defendants. We wanted to highlight the plight of rangers and help tell the stories behind their experiences in the field protecting wildlife. 

Mr Kiprono said the initiative was the first of its kind to support frontline staff like rangers and would greatly motivate those who risk their lives protecting wildlife.He thanked NABU for the initiative noting that 10,000 Euros had been disbursed to KWS and would soon be distributed to families to support education of departed rangers. 

Sharon C

www.soinafricasafaris.com

Kenya commemorates the first ever World Wildlife day

Kenya recently joined the rest of the world in marking the first ever world wildlife day at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) headquarters in Nairobi.

http://www.kws.org/info/news/2014/11january2014wildlifeday.html

The United Nations General Assembly designated March 3rd as the World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.

 In Kenya, the day was marked with pomp and colour as various leading conservationists, government officials and representatives from NGOs across the country gathered at the KWS headquarters to reflect and celebrate Kenya’s well endowed wildlife.

In a speech read on her behalf by the Principal Secretary State Department for Environment and Natural Resources Dr. Richard Lesiyampe, Cabinet Secretary Prof. Judi Wakhungu noted that Kenya’s long conservation journey has been marked by tremendous successes since independence.

“The country today boasts of more than 50 parks and reserves managed by the government through KWS,” Prof Wakhungu said.With over 25,000 species of wildlife, and 7000 species of plants, Kenya ranks highly as one of the biodiversity rich countries in Africa.

The hallmark of the country’s conservation history however is the enactment of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013 which became operational at the start of this year that provides stiffer penalties for wildlife related crimes.

In addition to this, the new law provides for the establishment of County Wildlife Conservation and Compensation committees, community wildlife associations and wildlife managers, in each county.

This provision encourages more involvement of communities in the conservation and management of terrestrial wildlife and marine resources thereby distributing some of the benefits accrued from wildlife conservation in line with the new law.

However, the Cabinet Secretary noted that poaching still remains the greatest challenge to wildlife conservation, not just in Kenya but the entire world in general.She reaffirmed her ministry will continue to provide all the necessary support to KWS in order to stem out the crime.

At the same time, the KWS Acting Director General Mr William Kiprono appealed to all Kenyans and the entire international community to support the implementation of the new law with a view to securing the country’s wildlife for posterity. The day was also marked with entertainment from the International Youth Fellowship, poems and dances from various schools as well as a number of different wildlife exhibitions.

Background                                                                                                

On  20^th December , 2013, the Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 3 March, the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as World Wildlife Day, to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.

In its resolution, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed the intrinsic value of wildlife and its various contributions, including ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic, to sustainable development and human well-being, and recognized the important role of CITES in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species’ survival.

Sharon C

www.soinafricasafari.com