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Beehive Fences Help Protect Farmers’ Crops
As human development continues to expand and encroach on wildlife, there has been an increase in human-wildlife interaction and conflict over the years, particularly in areas within Kenya where humans and animals directly share the local land and resources. This phenomenon is further magnified by climate change, which causes the wildlife to change their migratory patterns in search of food. One such area is Kileva, a small sub-area within the Taita-Taveta County, situated a few kilometers from Rukinga. Here, the dwellers are prone to conflicts with elephants, which frequently destroy farmers’ crops during the dry seasons. As many of these farmers rely on their crop yield to survive, this has…
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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 Embraces New Biogas Project
Here at Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, we are constantly looking for opportunities to coordinate with the next generation of young Kenyans who devote their time and intellect to developing environmentally sustainable innovations. Meet 21 year-olds Daniel Njuguna, a recent secondary school graduate, and Edward Mwakisima, a Sociology student at Catholic University. They are currently developing a system to promote alternative energy use for everyday activities, in an effort to reduce the harmful effects of charcoal production in the area. The project began when Edward informed Daniel of the water shortage problem that was being experienced in his hometown of Maungu, a small village located within Wildlife Works’ Kasigau…
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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…
