NEW CAMPAIGN TO KEEP WILDLIFE CORRIDORS FREE LAUNCHES IN NORTHERN KENYA

Save The Elephants and Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy

The Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy and Save The Elephants have joined forces to launch a bold new campaign to inspire local communities to protect wildlife and livestock corridors in Northern Kenya.

The campaign, to be unveiled at the Maralal Camel Derby on August 31, 2018, is part of a mission by the two organisations to secure a future for wildlife and traditional ways of life. Elephants use corridors as critical lifelines to find food, water and mates, and local communities need to protect the connectivity of the landscape for their livestock. Safe passage between reserves in Northern Kenya is critical for the future of elephants, but is threatened by the spread of infrastructure and of associated unplanned development.

The design for the new corridors campaign was created by Pilipili Creative and features a striking image by wildlife photographer Daryl Balfour.

The materials for the campaign – in English and Samburu – will be printed on banners, flags, t-shirts as well as reflectors for boda boda drivers in the Samburu/Laikipia area.

As part of the launch, the Mama Tembos, a group of nine women from Samburu and Turkana chosen by their communities to patrol wildlife and livestock corridors in the wider Samburu-Laikipia ecosystem, will also be attending the derby to promote the initiative and talk about their work. 

Named after the famous Mama Simbas who work with Ewaso Lions to protect the region’s lions, the Mama Tembos have been hailed as a potential key weapon in the battle to create a harmonious future for humans and wildlife.

David Lekoomet, chairman of both the Kalama Conservancy Wildlife Board and NRT’s Council of Elders says: “The Samburu community live side by side in harmony with wildlife and elephants, and these iconic creatures are incredibly important to us. I hope other communities will emulate what we are trying to do.” 

David Daballen, Head of Field Operations for Save The Elephants says: “Protecting corridors provides a solution that meets the needs of wildlife, in particular elephants, and ensures communities can live peacefully among these iconic creatures. We hope this campaign will inspire other local communities in Northern Kenya to get behind the project and protect their own wildlife and livestock corridors.”

The four key corridors at the heart of the campaign in Northern Kenya were identified after Save The Elephants analysed more than twenty years’ worth of tracking data. The tracking data has been the centre of discussions between local communities to agree which areas could be set aside and kept free of development in perpetuity.

With Kalama Conservancy fully supporting the corridors project, the hope is the initiative will secure a basis in law.  Kalama Conservancy and Save The Elephants also want other communities to be inspired by the steps taken in northern Kenya, and to protect their own wildlife and livestock corridors.

The ‘Protect Our Rights Of Passage: Keep Our Wildlife Corridors Free For Wildlife’ campaign will be launched at the Maralal Camel Derby on August 31, 2018

ENDS/

For interviews, information and images, please contact:

Tanya Onserio
Communications Assistant
Save The Elephants
Email: [email protected]
www.savetheelephants.org 

Tom Lolosoli
Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy
0721 333 524

Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy

Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy is an initiative of Gir Gir group ranch in Northern Kenya which was established to create an alternative source of income in addition to livestock keeping. The conservancy started in 2001 with 16,000 hectares set aside for conservation, of which 6,000 hectares was designated as a core conservation area. The conservancy is managed by an elected management board which draws its membership from different parts of the group ranch, and which is responsible for the day to day running of the conservancy.

About Save The Elephants (www.savetheelephants.org) 

Save The Elephants (STE) works to secure a future for elephants in Africa. Specializing in elephant research, STE provides scientific insights into elephant behaviour, intelligence, and long-distance movements and applies them to the challenges of elephant survival. To battle the current surge in ivory poaching, our Elephant Crisis Fund is identifying and supporting the most effective partners in Africa and in the ivory consuming nations to stop poaching, thwart illegal traffickers and end demand for blood-stained ivory