a time of reflection: key achievements in the Greater Kilimanjaro area

What a year 2019 was! From saving and rehabilitating wild cats and giraffes, to securing three key wildlife migratory routes in the Amboseli ecosystem, to increased cross-border collaboration to protect wildlife, people and the place they call home – we’ve had some great wins. 

Adapting interventions to coexist better with wildlife

Local communities play a vital role in the fight against wildlife crime, as they bear the brunt of living with wildlife. Consequently, engaging communities to support wildlife conservation activities is often challenging and takes a long time.

We are proud to share that in fertile areas of Rombo and Njukini in the southern belt of the Greater Kilimanjaro area, farmers are now adapting highly effective carbon-free, non-lethal ways of warding off wildlife from their farms. These methods include torches and blowing horns, which is translating into higher crop yields, more human and animal lives being saved, and less human-wildlife conflict.

Our community outreach officers conducted devout village stability operations that focused on listening to what people who are affected by human-wildlife conflict have to say, discussing the great need to protect indigenous wildlife species and coming to comprehensive sustainable solutions. "Community outreach bridges the gap between our work in conservation and that of community members. Together, we focus on finding lasting solutions to the issues affecting them on a daily basis while interacting with wildlife," says Amos Lemaiyan, IFAW Community Outreach Officer.

Following these operations, farmers were equipped with tools and training that help prevent conflict with wildlife from occurring and the occurrence of any conflict with wildlife as well as channels to report the occurrence of any conflict. A good example of such tools are blowing horns and bright torches which ward off wildlife without any harm. Many farmers have reported that since they started using these tools, their crop harvest has increased and there is a significant reduction in cases of human-elephant conflict. In addition, many community members have also expressed that they now feel involved in conservation efforts and can pick up the phone to report an issue as opposed to picking a spear.

Rescuing a 3-year old boy

Community wildlife rangers are men and women, who are commissioned by group ranch officials and community stakeholders with the mandate to serve as guardians and protectors of both wildlife and local communities. They play a key role in protecting community lands that are often out of reach for Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). With 70% of Kenya’s wildlife roaming outside of the formal protected areas for two-thirds of the time, community rangers are often the first point of contact in cases relating to human-wildlife conflict. They also investigate reports of sick animals or carcasses and relay information to KWS that helps counter poaching and wildlife trafficking. These men and women are often the first responders for sick or grieving community members as well.

On 8 October 2019, a father in the Olgulului-Ololarashi Group Ranch (OOGR) in Amboseli reported that his 3-year old boy had wandered away from home and was missing. The community wildlife rangers from the OOGR mobile unit responded immediately and teamed up with several members of the community to search for the lost child. After 6 hours of canvassing the area, they had to suspend the search due to darkness and continue the following morning. Thankfully, the child was found unharmed after having ventured a remarkable 8km from his home through the bush.

Cross-border collaboration

One of the biggest highlights of this past year was the reigniting of cross-border collaboration across the Kenya – Tanzania border, a key migratory route for wildlife as well as home to large human settlements. During 6 days of exercise involving joint patrols across wide-spread and high-risk parts of Amboseli and West Kilimanjaro area, community wildlife rangers from Tanzania and Kenya exchanged skills and best practices, and investigated threats such as snares and indicators of suspicious activities that could relate to poaching, human-wildlife conflict and other wildlife and environmental crimes.

The Kenya-Tanzania border is a critical area for wildlife and has often been exploited by poachers and wildlife traffickers who camouflage as pastoralists to prey on wildlife, placing both wildlife and communities who live nearby at risk. Joining efforts is therefore imperative to safeguarding wildlife, their habitat and community livelihoods.

Spatial Data Repository

A major challenge facing rangers in the line of duty is the use of advanced tools and technology by poachers and other wildlife criminals. IFAW’s goal is to be ahead of the game; to counter wildlife crime before it happens. Too often, we view events in terms of when it happened (history) or where it happened (geography). By de-coupling the “what” from the “where” means we often lose valuable context in understanding “why” it happened.

The spatial data infrastructure we use in our wildlife security method is built on varying data layers by way of maps such as topography, precipitation, population centers, land use, and events such as poaching, human-wildlife conflict and ivory seizures. By marrying time to space, we are able to identify trends and patterns that would support predictive or preemptive actions and thus are able to counter incidences before they happen.

Although still in its early stages, the spatial data infrastructure will not only help to counter wildlife crime but also offer insight into and enable impact assessment of our work in the Greater Kilimanjaro area.

A lot was achieved in 2019, but we know there is still a long way to go. With the generous support of donors and partners, we will continue to do what we can to make sure that people, animals and the place they call home are safe.

This blog was produced for the Strengthening Community Support for Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching Efforts in the Greater Kilimanjaro Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) project, which is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by IFAW in partnership with African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and Big Life Foundation. Its contents are the sole responsibility of IFAW and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.