Amboseli-Tsavo grass-root elephant campaign walk

IVORY BELONGS TO ELEPHANTS CAMPAIGN : Feb 14th 2015 

Kenya continues to face enormous challenges in conservation. To satisfy the desire for illegal trophies of the developed countries African resources are poached through funded criminal cartels. The killing of the African Elephant by organised gangs has defied the efforts of our security organisations to crush this serious vice, with the result that our remaining Elephant population could become extinct within the next decade.

Jim Nyamu walking along Loitoktok road

Elephant poaching and the exploitation of Ivory trade continue to pose a major threat to elephant populations in Kenya. From 1979 to 1989, 151,100 elephants were killed in Kenya. Over 300 elephants were killed last year and at least 15 have died already this year due to poaching, natural death and also due to Population Control within National Parks. Kenya currently has26,000 elephants, from a population of 35,000 in 2011; at least 4 elephants are killed every day through poaching and community retaliation.

Jim Nyamu being flag off from Amboseli National Park with him is Evans Mkala of IFAW, Norah Njiraini of ATE .

African elephants are the largest land mammals on earth these majestic giants maintain many of Africa’s diverse habitats rendering them a keystone species on which many plants and animals depend. Most forests in Africa depend on elephants for seed dispersal and to create open spaces through which seedlings can grow. These forests impound carbon and release water and oxygen, playing a key role in global climate control. Living alongside these animals has always been a challenge for humans. Man has long killed elephants for their ivory and persecuted them for raiding crops, But alongside this uneasy relationship a link is slowly being created through community education and participation in community conservation programs. Amara Conservation has been doing just that work in the Tsavo Conservation Area since 2004.

We encountered this big bulls in the Amboseli National Park.

Awareness of who actually owns the wildlife, and existing data on their status, sheds light on the need for conservation. The continued and systematic elimination of our elephants is a concern for every Kenyan. It is our collective duty to protect the elephants.

Elephant Neighbors Centre under the Leadership of Mr. Jim Justus Nyamu hopes to educate communities on the values and benefits of wildlife, creating awareness of the massive elephant poaching taking place in Kenya. They have done this through walking and talking to communities on the atrocities and the irreversible damage associated with killing of elephants. The campaign dubbed ‘Ivory Belongs to Elephants’ started in 2013. The Campaign has reached out to many people including 326 learning institutions and over 350 community meetings in 29 counties. Jim has walked for over 4,400 km now, including 950 km in the USA (Boston to Washington D.C.) carrying this vital message: IVORY BELONGS TO ELEPHANTS.

Jim Nyamu and his team received by Deputy County Commissioner in Loitoktok

Elephant Neighbors Center under the ‘Ivory Belongs to Elephants’ campaign will embark on its (without apostrophe) first walk this year on the 6^th of February to the 14^th of March, 2015 in the Tsavo Amboseli Ecosystem. This walk will be flagged offat Emali in MakueniCounty, and traverse Amboseli,Loitoktok,Taveta, through Wundanyi,Tsavo and finish inVoiTown on 14^th March with a big celebration. Big Life Foundation and the Kenya Wildlife Service have set the route from Emali to Amboseli. The route and communities to be visited in the Tsavo areas have been organized and planned by, Wildlife Works, KWS and Amara Conservation among other organizations. Other partners of note include Wildlife Works, Born Free Foundation, Taita Taveta County Government, Mbulia Conservancy,  Tsavo Pride, ANAW, Voi BodabodaDrivers Association, Tsavo East Stakeholders Association.

The Amboseli and Tsavo ecosystems are home to the largest number of tuskers ever recorded in Kenyan history. The elephant population in both parks is currently approximately 11,087 and 1, 2000 respectively. Land outside these parks is crucial to wildlife since they serve as dispersal areas and seasonal habitats. These areas are threatened with increasing ‘land sub-division, agricultural Expansion and major new construction projects (e.g. The Standard Gauge Railway from Nairobi to Mombasa, the Taveta/Mwakitau Highway renovation).‘THE IVORY BELONGS TO ELEPHANTS’ team will hold community meetings, walks around the villages and market places educating people on the importance of living in harmony with wildlife.

These walks are not only designed to create awareness but also to create a platform to share  details of the new Wildlife Conservation Act that was signed into effect in January 2014. These include higher penalties for wildlife crimes, and better compensation for wildlife damage to human settlements. To win this war on poaching we call on all Kenyans to take a moment and reflect on the state of our resources in the coming years.

Jim welcomes on board all willing participants and vows to walk until the world knows that indeed, IVORY BELONGS TO ELEPHANTS.