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.
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 20th 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
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