Kenya signs pan-African initiative to save elephants

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday signed the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI), an African-led conservation program to eradicate the ivory trade and stop the continued slaughter of the continent's elephants by poachers.

Kenyatta joins and becomes the patron of the Giants Club, an anti-poaching club founded by Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of British newspapers, The Independent and London Evening Standard.

The club brings together African Heads of State and those who have signed up are expected to converge in Nairobi in April next year to draw up action plans to confront illegal killing of elephants.

Speaking after signing the deal in Nairobi, Kenyatta said it was the duty of every Kenyan to preserve what nature bestowed on us not only for our future generations but also for the whole world.

He said African countries should start moving from conserving what is left of nature but should also strive to restore it to better conditions.

"We have the ability to restore endangered species to better levels that are also sustainable," he said when he met Lebedev in Nairobi.

Lebedev, a frequent visitor to Kenya, said the initiative to save elephants will benefit from having President Kenyatta as its patron.

He said Kenya has a long history of leading the way in Africa on wildlife issues and the step made by Kenyatta in joining the Giants Club, and as part of that committing Kenya to the EPI, continues that great and proud tradition.

"I would like to extend my thanks to the President for being a conservation leader for the continent, and for taking such an important step in helping end the illegal wildlife trade," Lebedev said.

Kenya became the latest member of the Giants Club. President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda have already joined. The leaders of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Sierra Leone have indicated the intention to join shortly.

The signing was one of a series of pledges made by the President on joining the Giants Club, Africa's new governmental conservation initiative that has been launched by Space for Giants, Kenya-based wildlife charity.

The Giants Club is a new wildlife forum established by Space for Giants to combat the poaching crisis by bringing together leaders of African elephant-range states, heads of major businesses operating in Africa, and elephant-protection experts to provide the political will, financial resources and technical capacity to save Africa's remaining elephant populations.

The goal is to effectively protect at least 40,000 elephants (10 percent of the continental total) by 2020.

The Giants Club will create a platform where political leaders and international corporate heads can spend time working together in support of elephant conservation.

It will also develop and implement a National Elephant Action Plan as laid out in the African Elephant Action Plan signed by all elephant-range states in African in 2010.

Max Graham, CEO of Space for Giants, said Kenya has been leading the fight against the poaching crisis and therefore it is only too appropriate for them to have joined the Giants Club.

"With Kenya's engagement we can be confident that elephants are safer in Africa. The Giants Club will protect at least 40,000 elephants by 2020 and its members will work together to end the illegal ivory trade. That is why this new initiative is not only so important but timely," Graham added.

The EPI was launched by leaders from Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania during the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014, with the support of the British Government and the UK-registered charity Stop Ivory. Uganda, Malawi and the Gambia have since also joined.

In the last three years 100,000 elephants have been killed to supply ivory to illegal markets across the world. Endit