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Hundreds Join Campaign To Keep Rukanga Town Litter Free
By Jane Okoth On a chilly Saturday morning, residents at Rukanga town situated in Kasigau location were going about their normal duties. But Saturday was a special day because Rukanga was going to witness the largest ever clean-up campaign that targeted the whole town. First in line to take part in the activity were school children aged 6-12 years from Rukanga, Jora and Kiteghe primary schools accompanied by their respective teachers. Also joining in the occasion were Wildlife Works Rangers, employees, the County Assembly representative and members of the community. Wildlife Works Assistant Community Relations Officer Protus Mghendi began by highlighting the importance of keeping the environment clean to the…
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Meet Protus Mghendi, Wildlife Works Environment Conservation Ambassador
It’s a scorching hot day in Mwatate, in Wildlife Works’ project area, and the region continues to suffer from the current drought. A group of youth and women known as Malezi Bora sit quietly and attentively on the benches in the open air for a discussion about environment conservation. It is just another working day for Protus Tetweni Mghendi, an Assistant Community Relations Officer at Wildlife Works. The 35-year-old husband and father of one is very passionate about the environment. Mwatate area is similar to many other rural places in Kenya where residents are dependent on charcoal production, bush meat poaching and unsustainable agricultural methods to meet their survival. Deforestation…
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Keeping the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Litter Free
The Rukinga wildlife corridor is a pivotal crossing point for several different types of wildlife, from elephants to baboons. Unfortunately, it is located next to the A109, also known as the Mombasa Highway. Thousands of cars and commercial truck drivers pass through this area on their way from the coast to Nairobi. It isn’t uncommon to see someone chucking a plastic drink bottle out the window. This practice has led to an area cluttered with colorful drink bottles and discarded tire rubber. The wildlife and domestic animals living in the animal are susceptible to ingesting these pieces of plastic and risk dying. Not to mention, how much of an eyesore…
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Greater Good and Soles 4 Souls Donate Boots to Rangers
Greater Good, a charity organization that is based in the United States working to protect people, pets and the planet, partners with Wildlife Works on a variety of projects, including producing apparel at our eco-factory in Kenya and raising money for our projects through activities in the U.S. Last year, Greater Good paid a visit to the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya and saw a need for our rangers to have new boots. The effectiveness of our patrolling ranger staff is critical to protecting the 500,000 acres of the project area from poaching of wildlife and deforestation. Head Ranger Erick Sagwe distributing shoes. Greater Good worked with…
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George of the Jungle: Growing our Tree Seedling and Agriculture Business
“If you put me in an office, it will be the end of me!” is the first thing George Thumbi tells us on a tour of his life. George, a father of three from Central Kenya, was brought up in a family of 10 children on a farm that grew coffee, maize, fruit and other plants. It was here that he developed an interest in agriculture which led him to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Agroforesty at Egerton University, Kenya, among other qualifications such as a Diploma in Sales and Marketing and Business Management. George, who is now in charge of the agribusiness and forestry program at…
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Rangers Free a Snared Buffalo
On 10 May the Wildlife Works team at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, Kenya, witnessed a conservation success story; our rangers led the rescue of a young wild buffalo from a poaching snare and set it free to join his herd. The 500,000 acres of land that make up the Wildlife Works project area are patrolled by 85 Wildlife Works Rangers, led by Head Ranger Eric Sagwe. During a routine daily morning patrol, a Special Operations ranger group discovered some unusual tracks and followed them deep into the bush. The team found a young buffalo snared in trap set by poachers for bush meat. The bush meat trade is illegal…
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Multi-Story Farming Conserves Land and Water
Wildlife Works uses Multi-Story Farming as a Conservation Method Wildlife Works is located in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, a hot and dry coastal region where the average annual rainfall is less than 16 inches per year. These arid conditions are very unfriendly for agriculture, and in an rural area where there is no substantial industry and high poverty rates, these communities have to exploit their surrounding natural resources to survive. With just over 400 employees, we are the second largest employer in the area. Harmful yet income generating activities that many people resort to include cutting down trees for the illegal charcoal industry and poaching wildlife for bush meat and…
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Three Baby Cheetahs Abandoned by Mother in Bush Fire
On Sept 19th, a team of our rangers responded quickly to black smoke they saw rising from the bush far from their stations on our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya. They arrived at the fire in the lorry with everyone who was available. Fortunately the wind was blowing softly and the fire was easy to beat out with branches. The smoke blacked the sky and the front of the fire was over 2 miles long and took almost 8 hours to put out. This is the first cheetah cub we found hiding in the grass near the front of the fire. Cheetahs have a white ridge so that they are…
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Wildlife Works Sponsors Conservation Education and Safari for Kasigau Corridor School Kids
This is a shocking fact: most rural communities that live their entire lives bordering Tsavo National Park (adjacent to Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project) have never seen an elephant before. More likely than not, they have a contentious relationship with large wildlife, who destroy their farms and eat their livestock. Meanwhile, thousands or tourists come from all around the world and pay a lot of money each year to gaze at wildlife that share the same territory as these local communities. Most rural schools in Kenya cannot afford to take their students on educational field trips due to harsh conditions in the area. Most families are subsistence farmers who don’t…
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Wildlife Works to Participate in Cap COP21 Events in Paris
COP21 in December 2015 will be a unique opportunity to bring climate change to the main stage. EcoAct, a partner of Wildlife Works in climate change mitigation, has organized Cap COP21, a unique year-long cycle of conferences and workshops, which aims to foster the emergence of concrete, innovative and collaborative solutions for climate. Wildlife Works is proud to be a speaker and sponsor of these events events. Joseph Mwakima, Wildlife Works Community Relations Officer and resident of the Kasigau Corridor project region, will be speaking at the Climate Innovation Day event on June 23, 2015 during the “Climate Talks” presentations. Joseph spoke on behalf of Wildlife Works at the One Young World Summit last year and…