Category: findings | Date: Nov 04 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Written by Rhishja Larson

Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa - particularly Kenya.

According to Tanzania’s The Citizen, both Tanzania and Zambia have prepared to appeal for the lift of the ivory trade ban at the March 2010 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Quatar. Read More

Technorati : CITES, EAC, Elephant poaching, Ivory Trade, Kenya, Tanzania

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Category: Bushmeat kenya | Date: Oct 23 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

On Thursday, I spent the better part of my afternoon with over a hundred students from the Bishop Njenga Secondary School in Challa Division outside Tsavo West National Park. I was there to raise awareness on the illegal Bushmeat trade and donate copies of old Swara magazine that EAWLS is giving out to schools in an effort to create interest on biodiversity conservation in School going youths.

On awareness rising, I showed a short film called ‘Mizoga’ - which directly translates to “carcasses”- that was written and Directed by the Born Free Foundation and presented T-shirts carrying Bushmeat messages to students and teachers.

The students, who expected to see the usual wildlife films from the Mara or Serengeti, were pleasantly surprised to see a film produced in Swahili and enacted in one of the villages around the Tsavo ecosystem. The educative film which sends the message through entertainment shows a village grappling with the effects of the illegal bushmeat trade through the thrills, drama and tragedy that surrounds this illegal activity. The photos of the attentive students below tell it all…

Iregi Mwenja

EAWLS

Technorati : Born Free, Bushmeat, Bushmeat trade, Community, Conservation, EAWLS, East African Wildlife Society, Mizoga, Poachers, Poaching, Swara, Taveta, Tsavo, Tsavo West

5 responses so far

Category: Bushmeat kenya | Date: Oct 20 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

In Kenya do we have a policy on CBNRM? Why do find it difficult to devolve natural resources management yet the goverment doesn’t have the capacity to manage it sustainably and equitably share the benefits with communities living with this resources (wildlife)? I find the CAMPFIRE example a good one to learn from. Read the article below and share your thoughts.

Community based natural resource management in Zimbabwe: the experience of CAMPFIRE

Russell Taylor

Abstract

Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is a long-term programmatic approach to rural development that uses wildlife and other natural resources as a mechanism for promoting devolved rural institutions and improved governance and livelihoods.

The cornerstone of CAMPFIRE is the right to manage, use, dispose of, and benefit from these resources. Between 1989 and 2006, CAMPFIRE income, mostly from high valued safari hunting, totalled nearly USD$ 30 million, of which 52% was allocated to sub-district wards and villages for community projects and household benefits. Whilst a number of assumptions underlying the success of CAMPFIRE as an innovative model for CBNRM have yet to be met, CAMPFIRE confirms the concept that devolving responsibility and accountability for natural resource management can be highly effective for the collective and participatory management of such resources.

Elephant numbers in CAMPFIRE areas have increased and buffalo numbers are either stable or decreased slightly during the life of the programme. However, offtake quotas for these two species have increased with a concomitant decline in trophy quality. Although the amount of wildlife habitat diminished after 1980, following the commencement of CAMPFIRE the rate of habitat loss slowed down and in some specific instances was even reversed. More recently there has been increased pressure on habitats and other natural resources as a consequence of deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country. Where devolution has been successful, promising results have been achieved and the recent acceptance and implementation of direct payments to communities is probably the most significant development since 2000.

That this has happened can be attributed to CAMPFIRE enabling communities to maximize their roles within the existing set of rules, and by so doing, allowing these rules to be challenged. Donor (73%) and government (27%) investments into the programme amounted to $35 million during the period 1989 to 2003. Since 2003 however, donor funding has been reduced to <$600,000 over the past 5 years.

Read the full article

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Category: Bushmeat kenya | Date: Oct 18 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

It is emerging that the effects of the drought on the country’s elephant population goes beyond familiar causes of mortality - death from starvation or killing arising from human wildlife conflict. The recent rise in poaching incidents in the country has been linked to the rising demand for ivory which is attributed to the influx of Chinese nationals working in Kenya.

Information coming in from the field particularly here in Tsavo blames the rise of poaching on the prolonged drought and brings in a new twist to this worrying trend -a new category of poachers and new drivers. The photos below of elephant carcasses were taken at Ziwani area, outside Tsavo West National Park where most of the Park elephants migrated to during the drought in search of food and water. I am informed that Masai herdsmen who lost most of their livestock during this spell (thereby losing their sole means of livelihood) are the new category of ‘unwilling’ poachers.

The herdsmen, faced with starvation and extreme poverty cannot resist the extra shilling that they are being enticed with by Chinese nationals working in a nearby construction project. It is evident from the crime scene and the carcass that these elephants were killed using spears in a struggle that must have required several men to execute. These are not the ivory poachers we have known for decades who mostly use automatic weapons to kill elephants and have no time for concealing the carcass with twigs as shown above. As Dr Richard Leakey puts it “..People are increasingly becoming desperate and are therefore getting more involved in poaching to put food on the table. The current drought in Kenya has made the situation even worse”

Though we have blamed drought for death of elephants, pastoralist who lost their livelihood from this drought are definitely a new threat that we will need to address seriously if they are to resist the extra shilling from the Chinese. It is the pastoralists who live in the rangelands with most of Kenya’s elephant population outside parks and they could pose a big threat to elephants. Since they are far away from the eyes of KWS Rangers, they are able to kill elephants and conceal the crime. That is why most of these cases go unreported yet we recover ivory on transit heading for export market almost every month. It imperative that the pastoralist be assisted to start new sustainable sources of livelihoods to dissuade them from falling prey to the Chinese workers who are spread across the country in remote areas where they are undertaking construction projects for the government.

Technorati : Dr Leakey, Ivory, KWS, Kenya, Rangers, Tsavo, drought, elephant, elephant poaching, ivory trade, livelihood loss, livestock, starvation

2 responses so far

Category: Bushmeat kenya | Date: Oct 17 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Remember this?

The image above (elephant calf dying from starvation) could be the last for this drought as the much awaited rains started a few days ago in some parts of Tsavo. Yesterday, as I drove through Tsavo West National Park on Voi-Taveta Rd, I counted dozens on zebras, impalas, gazelle, buffaloes (I thought all had died in the drought from the number of I carcasses that I counted the last few months) and a family of elephants with five calves! While we lost millions of livestock, wildlife have proved be resilient enough to survive in our troubled rangelands. Why should we invest heavily on livestock only to lose them all during drought, which is becoming a permanent phenomenon in the semi-arid areas these days? A good reason why we need to rethink about wildlife husbandry so that Kenyans can get direct economic benefits from raising and/or protecting wildlife.

Iregi Mwenja

One response so far

Category: findings | Date: Oct 17 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

I received this comment on a blog post I published regarding the rapid growth of the human population and the dire effects this could have on the planets resource particularly on protected areas which may give way to agriculture to feed the growing population. The comment raises the controversial issue of GMOs. Would you rather die from eating genetically modified foods than die from starvation? Is starvation a technological problem not a population one? Read the comment below and let me know your answer to my question.

Iregi Mwenja

Wildlife Biologist

The dire predictions assume one thing - that technology and/or agricultural efficiency remain about the same as they are now.

Does anyone need reminding about the poor agricultural prospects of southern California and Israel, if it weren’t for technology? Yet both have become breadbaskets for their areas, if not other areas as well.

In fact, improved efficiency and productivity in agriculture are responsible for a large amount of the increased agricultural output over the last several decades. I don’t know exactly how much, but it’s got to be at least 50%.

As I read in a newspaper recently, one man said (paraphrasing): “I’d rather die from eating genetically modified foods than die from starvation.”

Starvation is primarily a technological problem, not a populational one.

Technorati : Agricaulture, GMOs, food, human overpopulation, land, starvation

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Category: findings | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Finally, the long awaited rains are here! No one seems to care whether it is El nino or normal rains. But if my experience today is anything to go by, we will soon forget the ravages of drought and start wishing away the rains!!

I left Nairobi as usual for my monthly fieldwork in Taveta. As I approached Manyani, I noticed that the clouds were gathering, a sign that it would rain. This was confirmed a few kilometers ahead where I encountered a heavy downpour. Finally, the rains had arrived!! It was a great feeling watching the clouds, the drizzles and seeing the dry earth soak up the rainwater as if to quench its thirst after the prolonged drought. As I drove further along I realized that the downpour was getting heavier and what seemed normal rains soon began to change into what the Meteorological department predicted to be the long awaited El Nino rains.

It got worse as I approached Voi where small streams of raging flood water had formed along Mombasa road and at one point the road was completely flooded causing a heavy traffic snarl-up at the Mombasa road Voi railway crossing. Here, we thought that we may spend the night on the road as traffic come to a complete standstill for about an hour. Luckily, my 4X4 vehicle managed to meander through the two feet of flood water crossing the road and we safely arrived in Voi albeit late. At the Voi junction some shops were submerged in 1 foot of muddy water as you can see in the photos below. Finally, the long awaited El nino had announced to coming in a very big way here in Tsavo. The hippos of Tsavo River can now swim again!

Driving towards Voi at Kibwezi where the first sign of rains started showing

Signs of the rain coming in past Manyani

Flooding caused by the heavy downpour at Mbololo

The traffic jam at the Voi Mombasa Junction at the railway crossing

Building under water in Voi

Livestock caught unaware by the raging water

Technorati : El nino, Iregi Mwenja, Tsavo, Voi, flooding, heavy downpour

6 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

With the population of the world at 9 billion in 2050, we may have 370m people facing famine worldwide. FAO says more land is needed to increase food production by 70% 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 60m 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.

Iregi Mwenja

Food production ‘must rise 70%’

BBC NEWS Page last updated at 16:20 GMT, Monday, 12 October 2009 17:20 UK

Food production will have to increase by 70% over the next 40 years to feed the world’s growing population, the United Nations food agency predicts.

Read More

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 02 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

The East African Wild Life Society (EAWLS), the region’s widely respected champion of conservation, urged Kenyans on Thursday to look beyond the controversy over the Mau forest to see a much wider range of real and potent threats facing Kenya’s rich natural heritage through inadequate governance, inadequate collaboration and inadequate information.

“We welcome the current public debate over the very serious impact of the destruction of the Mau water tower and the public support for its
restoration. But that is just one aspect of a much broader lack of sound and sensible governance of Kenya’s natural resources which threatens to undermine its worldwide standing as an environmental treasure trove,” EAWLS said in a statement.

The Society’s new Executive Director, Nigel Hunter, urged the government, other responsible authorities and the people of Kenya to take urgent action before damage to forests, water resources, wetlands and wild life becomes irreversible. He said EAWLS, an important voice of conservation in East Africa, wanted the authorities, with the support of Kenyans, to focus on the following areas before they become yet another national crisis. “Extinction is for ever.” Read More

Technorati : Dakatcha, EAWLS, Furadan, L. Naivasha, Mau forest, Tana Delta

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Category: findings | Date: Sep 30 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Kenya’s National Parks Not Free From Wildlife Declines

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2009) - Long-term declines of elephants, giraffe, impala and other animals in Kenya are occurring at the same rates within the country’s national parks as outside of these protected areas, according to a new study.

“This is the first time we’ve taken a good look at a national park system in one country, relative to all of the wildlife populations across the whole country,” Read more..

Technorati : Drought, Elephant, National Parks, Poaching, Wildlife, wildlife decline

One response so far