Why protect King'wal Swamp

Jim Justus Nyamu today led tree planting in Kingwal swamp found in Nandi County, he was accompanied by Nandi County Commissioner Mr Herman Shambi,KWS and KFS.  

Kingwal wetland is one of the important wetlands  that used to host otters, African Cranes among other birds of prey,  the swamp is commonly known for its endemic Sitatunga antelope.

The since documented survey shows that Kingwal has 200 , their number is decreasing due to habitat degradation and attack by farmers whose crops are damaged by the animals and since they are rare animals and are currently threatened, they are almost driven to extinction. To arrest this, there is a need to determine the swamp boundaries for the sustainable conservation approaches, I use elephants as point for conservation in view of profiling all endemic species and raise their conservation need ~ Jim Justus Nyamu.  

I want to assure you Mr. Nyamu that I will ensure this swamp and the wildlife found therein are protected says Mr Herman .There is a need for a joint efforts in securing this important habitat, its within our mandates to protect such areas and I will spearhead this projects says Mr Herman .

Jim Justus Nyamu is on a campaign walk dubbed Ivory Belongs to Elephants from Nairobi to Mt Elgon, Tourism and wildlife PS Prof Segor flagged Jim and his team from St Georges Girls Secondary on Nov 16th 2021 .During this 14th walk edition he has planted 4,890 indegenous trees in 29 schools from 7 counties targeting 10,000 seedlings in 11 counties, Jim Justus Nyamu is expected to finish this walk in Mt Elgon on Dec 19th after covering 621km in 31 days .

Since 2013, Mr Nyamu has walked 17,560km in US,UK and in Africa creating awareness on the plight of elephants, he is quoted saying that he shall walk until the world know Ivory Belongs to Elephants .

Cde' Jim Justus Nyamu walks and marks World Elephant Day in Amboseli

Ivory Belongs to Elephant Campaign Walk

The Ivory Belongs to Elephant Campaign Walk started 11 days ago

on 4th August, 2021. The walk ended today, 12th August on World Elephant Day. The walk was led by Mr. Jim

Nyamu, The Executive Director, Elephant Neighbors Center.

At the flag-off of the 320km walk, the First Lady of Kenya in a statement read on her behalf by Ms Eva Maina

Director of Administration, The Office of the First Lady applauded Jim Nyamu for his commitment. She noted

that the campaign dubbed ‘ivory belongs to elephants” has helped to sensitize communities on the need to

protect the endangered animals. She pointed out that Nyamu’s elephant protection efforts complement the

‘Hands Off Our Elephants” initiative, a Kenyan anti-poaching campaign where she is patron.

The walk started at the Kenya Wildlife Service Headquarters in Nairobi and headed towards Kitengela town,

onwards to Kajiado town, Bisil, Emotoroki, Isinet, Kimana market and finally Amboseli National Park.

Jim Nyamu, an elephant research scientist turned elephant advocate has walked 17,776km since the

campaign started in 2013. He has walked extensively in Kenya and across Africa to Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi

and Botswana. He has also walked in the United Kingdom and the United States.

“There are an estimated 350,000 elephants in Africa today. We have lost close to a million

elephants in the last 4 decades. Illegal killing of elephants contributed to the loss of a large

percentage of these elephants. It is estimated that Africa loses close to 20,000 elephants every year

to poaching. African elephants will be extinct in our lifetime if this rate of loss continues. We must

let the global community know that African elephants are in danger. Extinction is forever and we

cannot imagine Africa without elephants.” Jim Nyamu-Elephant Neighbors Center.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service database, there were an estimated 34,354 elephants in Kenya in

2020. The country has just completed the first ever national wildlife census and the results are eagerly

awaited. The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Honorable Najib Balala, during the launch

of the national wildlife census, informed the country that Kenya is now losing more elephants to human-elephant

conflict than to illegal killing for ivory.

“The Maasai have traditionally lived in harmony with elephants and other wildlife, but Maasai land is

changing drastically. The expansion of agriculture in the range lands, the continuing subdivision of group

ranches and climate change have resulted in loss of grazing lands for cattle and shrinking space for wildlife.

Finding ways to encourage harmonious coexistence between people and elephants is now emerging as the

most important strategy in elephant.

conservation. ” Dr. Winnie Kiiru-Elephant Protection Initiative.

The Elephant Neighbors Center is a non profit organization whose mission is to protect the African elephants

and secure landscapes for elephants outside protected areas . 

Kindly visit www.elephantcenter.org for

Cde ' Jim Justus Nyamu talks on Human -Wildlife Conflict

 I had asked people's opinion towards the best and sustainable ways in mitigating Human -Wildlife Conflict in Kenyan Wildlife zones , I have summarized and added my opinions . I am sure if we execute some of these options we can mitigate if not control Human -Wildlife Conflict/ Wildlife-Human Conflict. 

In my view , we have been dealing with symptoms instead of tacking the route course , this over time has escalated the animosity between people and wildlife. 

One simple obligation  that all players should know and acknowledge is to be Be proactive when you see Wildlife.  Since most animals are naturally afraid of humans, conflicts often arise when animals become habituated to humans or associate them with food. This to me is basic or common sense,  if we ignore this from the beginning then we are doomed to suffer. 

Most of these areas characterised as Wildlife zones have no land -use plan and if its exists has no good will in execution.  The moment we shall understand and embrace wildlife conservation as a land use we shall win this war , there has been been efforts to arrest this but disjointly and absence of policy and political goodwill that resulted in frustrating the efforts . Examples are known to many ,how Maasai Mara, Samburu /Laikipia - Amboseli among others have made wise strides that ended up being frustrated .This is denominator and require players to be sincere , serious, committed and implement the process collectively. I am sure the agencie has clear mandate and know their strength as well as weakness ( SWOTS) and vice versa who frustrates this process . This is where the agencies should acquire more space for wildlife instead of putting all our effort/ strength to compensation as the last option .

Once the above is applied we can start the process of payment for Environmental Services (PES)  concept. This concept recognises the environmental gains within the ecosystem and how it can be utilized ( finacialy). The most popular of these is financial reward for the sequestering of carbon, but it is also seen as a potential solution for human-wildlife conflict respectively..

Last but not ! There should be compensation or insurance to the affected out of animal-induced damage . I know this has been there for sometimes now but the mere question is what is the future of this program; sustainability and governance?   There are different ways this can be done for example, community-based insurance systems exist for damage done to livestock & injury with a transparent governance.

This topic is a thorn in my fresh , I will continue collecting views from mass, expert until we get close to the reality .