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Where are the Gaps in Conservation Finance?
The rate of magnificent biodiversity loss and rampant destruction of our natural forests that accelerate climate change are now too severe to ignore. If we have any chance of saving ourselves from the most devastating effects of climate change, financing the protection of our natural places needs to scale up quickly. Wildlife Works’ founder Mike Korchinsky spoke on a panel to discuss the gaps and opportunities in conservation finance at Stanford’s Natural Capital Symposium. This panel reviewed the evolution of conservation finance, explored what’s not working and more importantly, what is working and what other innovative models have potential to reverse the negative trend. The panelists: – Marilyn Waite Program Officer,…
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Boosting Reforestation Efforts in the Kasigau Corridor
By Jane Okoth In a tiny village, Juliana Karisa stood beside her house in anticipation as she watched a canter truck accompanied by Wildlife Works’ greenhouse team make its way through her compound. After a courteous greeting, she proceeds to direct the team to where the tree seedlings are located. The greenhouse team then loads the seedlings one by one into the truck under the close supervision of Greenhouse Supervisor Willy Kanyeki. Juliana and her family is one of hundreds of beneficiaries from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project who have received cash in exchange for tree seedlings. In an effort to boost reforestation efforts in the region, Wildlife Works regularly…
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Ground Breaking Ceremony Marks Construction of Classrooms for New School
By Jane Okoth Wildlife Works Kasigau REDD+ project has benefited thousands of members of communities in rural Kenya through the distribution of carbon revenue. Local people in the Kasigau project area face a lot of challenges, ranging from marginalization to poverty and illiteracy. The intervention of Wildlife Works’ projects has brought a lot of positive change into the lives of these communities, especially in education. For example, the construction of classrooms for schools has ensured that vulnerable children in our project area have a chance to fight the inequalities that stand in their way. In the month of November 2018, Wildlife Works was invited to officiate a groundbreaking ceremony held…
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Public Participation Key to Implementing Community Projects
By Jane Okoth For over 20 years, Wildlife Works has been in the forest conservation and climate change mitigation business by funding wildlife and environment conservation efforts. We have been working with communities in the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project to improve their standard of living through job creation and increasing access to social amenities such as water, health and education. This has impacted the lives of over 100,000 people in our project area, helping them transition from the destruction of forest to its protection. Early January this year, Wildlife Works received 447,000 USD from the carbon revenue to allocate to each of the six locations in our project area namely…
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Education; Meet Some of Wildlife Works Bursary Recipients
This week, we wanted to introduce you to a few students who got the chance to receive Wildlife Works bursaries and what it means to them. This is Joseph Mboya, an 18 year old student at Moi Boys High School in Kasigau, located in one of our project area. Joseph comes from a single parent family and is the second born in a family of four. His mother works as a farmer and cannot cater for his tuition and his siblings forcing him to stay at home because of lack of school fees. Now at form four, Joseph has been receiving wildlife works bursaries since form one. “Thanks to Wildlife…
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Education matters; Thousands Benefit from Wildlife Works Bursaries
In a remote village in Southeastern Kenya called Marungu, Zanira Kasyoka, a Wildlife Works employee, stands with pride as she gives an inspiring speech to hundreds of attentive local community members seated in a social hall. Present are different stakeholders including Environmental Officers, local Chiefs and Bursary Committee Members, all who have come to witness Wildlife Works’ bursary presentation ceremony. Zanira is giving a speech on how Wildlife Works’ educational scholarships helped transform her life. “Thanks to Wildlife Works’ bursaries, I was able to complete my secondary education. I am living proof that the REDD+ project can positively impact lives,” she says. Zanira’s case is similar to thousands of students…
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Meet the Female Rangers Protecting the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project
By Jane Okoth In 2011, Wildlife Works opened its doors to its first female rangers who are now part of the 100+ ranger team currently working at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project to protect wildlife and the environment from poachers and other illegal activities. Since joining Wildlife Works, these conservation rangers have gained valuable insight and experience on how to deal with poachers and other threats. This is their story. Constance Mwandaa “Before I joined Wildlife Works, I was not sure whether I would do what is traditionally seen as a man’s job,” says Constance Mwandaa. Growing up as a child, she enjoyed going on wildlife tours in school. This…
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Wildlife Works Rangers Undergo Refresher Training
By Jane Okoth On a daily basis, Wildlife Works rangers go out on patrols to survey the area for anything suspicious such as snares, poachers and charcoal burners. The teams also collect data for the biodiversity monitoring team on any wildlife sightings. This kind of dedication is what it has taken to keep the 500,000 acres of the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project protected. Despite these efforts, the rangers have to live with the fact they might come face to face with armed poachers, an inevitable threat that stresses the need for a well-trained team. In January 2018, Wildlife Works rangers with the support of Ranger Campus Foundation and Kenya Wildlife…
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Carbon Credit Sales Fund New Desks to Two Schools In the Kasigau Corridor
Education matters! Wildlife Works is constantly trying to tackle barriers hundreds of children face when accessing education in our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. Many pupils at schools in our project area struggled to learn, often because they didn’t have desks and were forced to write on their laps or on the floor during their lessons. This is Meli Kubwa Primary School and Mgalani Primary school, located in a remote location of our project area. When we arrived, the pupils and school administration from Meli Kubwa Primary School welcomed us with songs and dance from the vibrant maasai community which forms majority of the school’s population. In a school that is…
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My Trip to the Kasigau Corridor: Seeing a REDD+ Project in Action
Guest blog written by Vibeka Mair, a Senior Reporter for Responsible Investor who visited our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in February 2018. Jacob Kazungu has been disabled since birth. Now 72, he walks with a stick and has shakes when he stands up. But he insists he will stand as he presents the work of his community group in rural Kenya. The Buguta Disabled Group supports the disabled and parents of the disabled with a place to come to every day, conversation and most importantly a form of income through the making of toys, jewelry and baskets sold in places including popular fashion website ASOS. “We want to be self-reliant and not begging,” he says. Buguta Disabled…