Forest Communities
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Getting to Know our Female Rangers: Grace
One of Grace Manga’s favorite activities as a wildlife ranger is tracking the footprints of poachers. She tells us that the team of rangers is almost always able to catch up with the culprits, regardless of the distance they have covered. When footprints or bicycle tracks are discovered, the rangers jump into their car and head in the direction of the tracks. In most cases, the poachers initially try to outrun the rangers, but eventually give in and surrender their weapons. She finds this process very exciting, explaining that “It always looks like a bush movie!” Grace, 21, was born and raised in Kasigau, where her mother, grandmother, and 3-year-old…
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Growing Responsibly Through the Use of Sustainable Material and Means
The battle between development and environmental conservation can often be a fierce one. With the natural progression towards growth, the environment is often left tattered in the wake. Wildlife Works at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has certainly grown in the last few years, and will hopefully continue to do so. We’ve increased the number of jobs in the local area twofold from a year ago. We are very aware of the effects of development on the environment, which is why we’ve opted to use simple, eco-friendly architecture wherever we can. The newest sector in the company requires a base from which they can run their field operations. The concept…
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Scholarship Beneficiaries Give Back to Wildlife Works
Wildlife Works sponsors a scholarship program called the Kelimu Trust, a fund that aims to uplift education standards for underprivileged students in Kenya. As the school term closes, many beneficiaries of these scholarships spend their vacation time volunteering at the Wildlife Works greenhouse as a means of giving back to the community and of showing their gratitude. We interviewed 17-year-old Emmanuel Mulewa, a 12th grader at Ribe Boys High School in northern Kenya. Emmanuel applied to the Kelimu Trust after completing 8th grade when he lacked the money necessary to pay for secondary school. Due to his impressive academic performance (among other various aspects of the application process), he was…
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Meet Willy Kanyeki: Greenhouse Supervisor
Willy Kanyeki is a young and energetic employee who has been with Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project for seven years, and our permanent greenhouse supervisor for four. During his childhood, Kanyeki was passionate about planting and watering trees, and hoped to study Environmental Science as a career. Though he could not proceed with his education due to lack of funds, he did not let go of his passion, and was optimistic that he could do something for the environment irrespective of his academic background. Inspired by what Wildlife Works does to conserve the environment in his home area of Kasigau, Kanyeki decided to volunteer at the our greenhouse back…
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Occupational First Aid Training Program at Wildlife Works
With the increasing number of employees at Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, we decided to host a first aid training program for employees from various departments, with the help of The Kenya Red Cross. At Wildlife Works, one of our main goals is to protect wild animals and conserve the environment, and during this process, the safety of our employees is a top priority. While patrolling the protected area for poachers, our rangers are faced with various dangers; for instance, poachers who are armed either with guns or bow-and-arrows frequently threaten to attack our rangers, who are usually unarmed. In addition, the wildlife itself poses certain risks, including snakebites. Given…
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Getting to Know our Female Rangers: Constance
Last week, we introduced a series on getting to know our four female conservation rangers currently working in the Kasigau corridor, in celebration of Wildlife Works’ first-ever hiring of female rangers in the spring of 2011. We sat down and talked to each woman about her experience working in the project area over the past year, and gained some pretty interesting insight into daily life on the job, which we’d like to share with you. Constance Mwandaa, a 22 year-old native of Sagalla, begins her day at 5:30 am with a shower and some breakfast, and then heads out into the bush to begin her duties patrolling the protected area…
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Wildlife Works Welcomes its First Female Rangers
In March of 2011, Wildlife Works welcomed its first-ever female rangers to the team of 75 rangers currently working at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project area to protect the local wildlife from poachers and other threats. At Wildlife Works, we believe vigorously in equal opportunity employment, and are excited that for the first time in our fifteen-year history, we have been able to welcome a total of four female rangers to the WW family. This is a very important milestone for us, and we’d like to take a moment to share the unique stories of these recent additions to our team in a series of posts featuring each woman and…
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Kasigau Corridor Community Education Programs
The most crucial element to Wildlife Work’s conservation success is our community outreach and education programs. Theatre education is the most recent addition to our community outreach activities. The Talent Nurtures Troupe (TNT), a theatre group from Voi, a town 30 minutes west of our project area has partnered with Wildlife Works to spread awareness of conservation and the REDD project. TNT have much experience in entertaining and educational skits and have received a great deal of attention for their excellent work. In November, the 8 actors (3 ladies and 5 men) came to Rukinga Ranch for an orientation day, in which they gathered material for the WW skit. Following…
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Update on Ijema, Our Injured Ranger
Thank you to all who donated to the families of Ijema, our injured ranger, and Abdi, our ranger who suffered a fatal gunshot wound. We received an outpouring of heartfelt messages from all over the world as well as generous donations that totaled $6781, which has been passed on to both families on your behalf. Abdi’s family will also benefit from Wildlife Works hiring one of their family members, Ali Adoww, who is currently being trained as a ranger. Wildlife Works has put Ijema up in a comfortable home in town and is supporting him through his recovery, including the surgeries to repair his shoulder. The titanium shoulder was donated…
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Wildlife Works’ First Nursery
As the number of our employees grows, so do the families we support through their employment with Wildlife Works at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya. In January 2012, we opened our first onsite children’s nursery for our young parents, so they would have a place for their children to continue to grow and learn while they work to help support their family. Twenty parents are bringing their children to the nursery on a daily basis, and it is wonderful to see all the smiling faces every morning as they arrive. There are currently twenty-one kids, ranging in ages from 2 to 5, attending the nursery. With that many…