Interview: Kenya urged to integrate conservation objectives in development: conservationist

Targets to minimize harmful activities against wildlife and forests in Kenya can be achieved if conservation objectives are integrated in every development agenda, a conservationist said Wednesday.

David Kuria, director of Kijabe Environment Volunteers Organization (KENVO) whose work for conserving the Aberdares Forest's flora and fauna in central Kenya has been recognized globally, said preventing poaching of wildlife and destruction of forests require comprehensive strategies implemented in all sectors of development.

"We have a problem in converging conservation objectives with development objectives but if we need development, conservation (of natural resources) has to be a matter of priority," he said in an interview with Xinhua.

Conservation, he said is a complex issue that requires inclusive structures and planning as well as involvement of the communities since they determine success of mitigation approaches.

Kuria who has won an Equator Initiative Award supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among other partners, said communities can prevent at least 80 percent of the illegal activities in the wildlife and forestry sector.

"If communities are well equipped, they can stop poaching of our wildlife, illegal logging and charcoal burning in the forests by 80 percent," he said.

"Communities are helpful in monitoring illegal activities and reporting them to the relevant authorities for action," he added.

Poaching of elephants and rhinos is still a stinging problem not only in Kenya but countries in the Central and West Africa.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)'s latest report indicates that since 2006 there has been unceasing bulge in cases of elephant poaching in Africa.

This trend gravely threatens the African elephant population since the killing is higher than the rate of their births.

Worryingly, elephant numbers are not so many in Africa. World Wildlife Fund estimates that only 470,000 are alive.

But this population is highly endangered as more than 24,000 elephants of them were killed in 2015 alone ,according to Born Free, an international wildlife charity.

At least 60 percent of tourism earnings in Kenya are drawn from wildlife related activities including tourist visits to the parks and conservancies, thus the poaching equally threatens livelihoods of many Kenyans.

In the last decade, Kenya has progressively engaged in conservation activities targeting to increase the forest cover from one to 10 percent.

Kenya Forest Service has reported some achievements such as a 70 percent rehabilitation of the Mau Forest, in the Rift Valley which had adversely been subjected to massive degradation. Endit