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Brown Kimonge Makes a Living from Screen Printing
Brown Kimonge, father of five and screen printer at the Wildlife Works Kasigau REDD+ Project screen printing facility, is the subject of our latest who’s who post. “I started work at Wildlife Works in January 2012,” Brown recalls. Born into a polygamous family in 1962, Brown was the fourth of twelve children. For as long as he’s able to recall, life has been a consistent struggle for survival. Like most children in rural Kenya, Brown walked to school barefoot and undertook menial jobs, including fishing at the local dam, to supplement his family’s income. Fortunately, Brown was able to progress up to his ‘O’ levels (standardized tests for high school-aged…
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African Wild Dogs in Rukinga
To effectively protect the wildlife in our project area, the Wildlife Works biodiversity monitoring team and rangers employ several strategies to ensure all species present are safely maintained and to record data for referencing purposes. Some ways used to monitor the wildlife include ranger patrols, road transects and camera traps, which are set by the biodiversity team. Wildlife Works rangers, on the other hand, document data of the wildlife they encounter on the ranches whilst on security patrols. Combined, these methods of supervising the wellbeing of our wildlife, has proven effective at uncovering important information on some of the most rare wildlife in the world. Recently, one of the cameras…
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Kileva uses carbon credits to construct new classroom
Kileva Eastfield Primary School is thrilled to announce the construction of its new classroom, thanks to proceeds from their conservation efforts. The stone and iron structure is able to accommodate 40 students, and was built using funds from the sale of carbon credits in the Kasigau REDD+ Project. The new construction is especially welcomed by school-going children, who previously walked up to 6 km to access neighboring primary schools. This long trek was through wildlife-dense landscape and made even more treacherous by the early morning hours in which the children were traveling. Apart from being dangerous for pupils, the frequent journey between villages was a source of constant conflict between…
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Welcoming Mai Ndombe in the DRC to the Wildlife Works REDD+ Portfolio
As the largest Sub-Saharan country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has a vast array of environments, peoples, wildlife, and politics. The province of Bandundu, located on the west of the country, is the most densely forested province and is highly coveted by the lumber industry. It is currently home to many animal species such as man’s closest relative (and cousin to the Chimpanzee), the endangered Bonobo. The region is also home to many other animals such as forest elephants and leopards, as well as an abundance of diverse and rare native plant species. These animals and forests, not to mention the local peoples, are under threat…
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Getting to know Daniel Munyao: Wildlife Works EPZ Factory Manager
In our latest who’s who profile series, we caught up with Daniel Munyao, production and quality control manager at the Wildlife Works EPZ factory as part of our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. Daniel was born in Machakos County and recalls his early life as a constant struggle for survival. He frequently went to school hungry and without shoes on his feet. At a young age, Daniel was forced to stop attending due to the high financial stress it put on his parents. Fortunately soon after, a humanitarian organization called World Vision that had begun to form a presence in the area, was sponsoring young people to study vocational courses in…
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Kenyans tell poachers to keep their “Hands off Our Elephants”
On the 24th of August, after enjoying a period of relative peace, armed poachers struck Rukinga Ranch part of our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, slaying a male elephant for its valuable tusks. Within days, our rangers made another gruesome discovery at Amaka Ranch: two more elephants amid rifle cartridges. A short time later, when two additional elephants were killed for their tusks at Washumbu Ranch, the entire camp was left shaken. Conservationists and Kenyans alike are infuriated by the ruthless massacre of endangered wildlife, such as the estimated 2,500 elephants that call the Kasigau corridor home. Recently, Kenyans participated in a sensitization campaign on twitter and other media outlets urging poachers…
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African Buffalo Rescue
African buffaloes, which are known to be among the most vicious and ruthless species in the animal kingdom, can be highly unpredictable. While few would risk their lives to get close to one of these beasts, the wildlife rangers at Rukinga Ranch were recently left with little choice when a female African Buffalo was discovered trapped in a water tank. Those who assisted in her rescue assume the unfortunate buffalo was accidently knocked off balance while its herd was drinking from the tank. With help from our team in the office, Wildlife Works rangers agreed that the most effective way to rescue the ill-fated buffalo was to fill the water…
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Ijema Returns to Work after an Incredible Recovery
On July 10th, Ijema was welcomed back into the Wildlife Works ranks after a nearly 18-month recovery following a gruesome poaching-related incident in which he received a bullet wound to his shoulder. The catastrophe, which was the first time in Wildlife Works’ 15 years of operation that an employee was lost to a poaching-related incident, also lead to the death of ranger, Abdullahi Mohammed. Ijema and his family are happy to report tremendous improvements to his health after undergoing an operation to have a replacement titanium plate fitted to increase the mobility in his shoulder. Those working close with him report a jubilant Ijema who has come back with renewed vigor. “Ijema is…
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Wildlife Works Offsets Volcom Fiji Pro 2013
Wildlife Works is ecstatic to be the official carbon offset provider of Sustainable Surf, at the Volcom Fiji Pro – Deep Blue Surfing Event! Sustainable Surf is a non-profit charity organization that helps major surf contests reduce their impact with a comprehensive approach to reducing waste, using renewable energy and supporting local communities. Utilizing our Kasigau REDD+ project we were able to offset 100% of the carbon from the Volcom FIjji Pro event that took place in June 2013! The following information has been copied directly from sustainablesurf.org: What is a Deep Blue Surfing Event anyway? A Deep Blue Surfing Event is a more “Ocean Friendly” event, which has been endorsed by the…
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Mwemba Primary School: Carbon credits create classrooms!
The community improvement teams at Wildlife Works are on a roll! Recently, we celebrated the grand opening of the Mwatate Secondary School funded by carbon credits as part of Wildlife Works’ brand of REDD, but we didn’t stop there! Wildlife Works is happy to announce the completion of the Mwemba Primary School building. The goal for the new Mwemba school, which is currently comprised of a preschool class, a staffroom and a toilet, is to eventually add 10 more classrooms, a library, an electricity connection and a kitchen among other utilities. Fortunately, several stakeholders were present during the official school opening and have promised to continue the progress that Wildlife Works has started. Schools are needed more…