KENYA LAUNCHES NATIONAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY TO BOOST RHINOS

By Leo Odera Omolo

Kisumu: Kenya yesterday unveiled a new national strategy to increase the number of the endangered rhino in the next five years.  
The 2007-2011 Conservation and Management Strategy for the Black Rhino in Kenya and Management Guidelines for the White Rhino in Kenya seeks to raise the number of black rhinos from the current 540 black rhinos to 700 by 2011.

The strategy is part of a bigger plan to raise the number of rhinos in Kenya to 2000 in the next 25 years after they were nearly wiped out by poachers in the 1970s and 80s. 

Kenya will also explore regional cooperation through a proposal seeking the establishment of an East African Rhino Management Group that will set protocols for exchanging and managing the eastern black rhinos within East Africa.

Since a Presidential decree in 1985 to establish a rhino conservation programme after a massive poaching crisis, Kenya has become a major player in Africa with the third largest black rhino population after South Africa and Namibia.

Speaking at the launch of the strategy in Nairobi, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) director Julius Kipng’etich said the target of 2000 rhinos would require extension beyond protected and fenced areas to the extensive rangelands and intact habitats in Meru, Tsavo and semi-arid Northern Kenya.

The resources to realize the ambitious plan would come from KWS internal revenue, government and development partners.

Among Kenya’s wildlife species, the rhino had suffered most from poaching and habitat destruction. The populations are still small that if they were hit by a major calamity like disease outbreak, they would be wiped out.

“The poaching threat has largely been managed but it has not gone; it’s surveillance that is at its highest ever,” Mr Kipng’etich said.

He added that the survival of the rhino in the longer term would depend on good science, intensified protection, sustained monitoring and community engagement and learning from previous lessons.

In addition, the private, community and county council lands will continue playing their important role in adding to the national park and private ranches’ populations. They provide an opportunity to increase rhino numbers.

“The model of community sanctuaries has worked well and offers an additional frontier in growing our rhino numbers,” Mr Kipng’etich said.   

KWS also recognises the role that southern white rhino imported from South Africa play in Kenya’s wildlife tourism and education and its importance to the conservation of the indigenous eastern black rhino. White rhinos would be introduced in community areas to boost tourism because they are easier to see than the black rhino.

For this reason, KWS and its conservation partners have developed guidelines to improve the management of this species of white rhino introduced in Kenya.   The southern white rhino will also contribute to the conservation of this species globally but also and perhaps more importantly, serves as a possible reservoir of white rhino for Northern Africa.

The state agency has already bought surveillance equipment, vehicles, and recruited rangers to implement the ambitious plan and is considering introducing rhinos in former range lands.

Kenya Wildlife Service is operating on a yearly budget of Sh4. 04 billion (US$60.4 million), for all the conservation operations and seeks to have a Sh 7 billion (US$104.6 million) budget by 2010. 

The launch of the rhino strategy comes ahead of others next year for the elephant, Grevy zebra, lion, spotted hyena and wild dog which are in preparation.

Kenya Wildlife Service calls upon the donors and conservation partners and all stakeholders to support the conservation of rhinos in Kenya.
 
ENDS

Contacts
Paul Udoto,
Kenya Wildlife Service,
Corporate Communications Manager,
Tel +254-20-600800 ext 2233 or 2036
Cellphone +254-721-453-981
Emails: pudoto@kws.org
kws_cc@yahoo.com
communications@kws.org
www.kws.org

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS ) is a state corporation established by the Act of Parliament, CAP 376, with a mandate for wildlife conservation and management in Kenya. It also has a sole jurisdiction over 26 national parks and oversight role in the management of 33 national reserves and private sanctuaries.

Background

Black rhino suffered a catastrophic decline across Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, both in numbers and in the extent of its range. Numbers plummeted from an estimated 65,000 in 1970 to fewer than 2,500 by 1992.
The decline in the eastern black rhino in East Africa was particularly severe.
The black rhino dropped in numbers in Kenya from an estimated 20,000 in 1970 to under 350 animals by 1990. Illegal demand for rhino horn resulting in poaching was, and continues to be, the major threat. All remaining subspecies of black rhino are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The black rhino is also listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species.

Currently Kenya holds 540 black rhinos while the world’s total black rhino population is estimated at 3,725.

Increasing changes in the operating environment, and emerging new challenges in rhino conservation and management, require continued updating of strategic approaches to ensure sustainable growth of the Kenyan black rhino population.

KWS recognises this dynamism and has, therefore, continuously kept its rhino conservation and management strategies under review to ensure the most appropriate strategic approach to management, decision making and resource utilization.

The 2007-2011 Conservation and Management Strategy for the Black Rhino in Kenya and Management Guidelines for the White Rhino in Kenya  is crafted to be resilient to evolving socio-political and economic changes or internal managerial changes.

The process of developing this strategy document included a review of the 2001-2005 Conservation and Management Strategy for the Black Rhino in Kenya, a Stakeholders’ Workshop, circulation to stakeholders and IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group and ratification by the KWS Board of Trustees.
 
During the next few years, Kenya will move into a new phase of conservation of black rhino with the vision of conserving in situ at least 2000 black rhinos in the wild.

The revised goals and strategic objectives for 2007-2011 have been formulated to significantly increase black rhino numbers.

The objectives include; Coordination and Support, Protection, Monitoring for Management, Biological Management, Capacity building, and Community involvement.  The target of 2000 black rhinos cannot be achieved within fenced areas alone and therefore the remaining still extensive range and intact habitat in Tsavo, Meru and the Northern Kenya needs to be secured and availed over the next five years.

Kenyan rhino stakeholders’ also recognise the need for management guidelines for the southern white rhino, particularly in relation to the appropriate level of commitment of Kenyan resources to the conservation of this  exotic species and matters related to trophy/horn handling, movements and ownership.  

Kenya has over 540 black rhinos and the population is gradually growing.
This has been the result of dedicated effort from wildlife department employees, private landholders, communities, county councils and their local and international partners. KWS chairman Daniel Ndonye called for the redoubling of these efforts as the numbers remain relatively low and the species remains critically endangered.

None of these can be achieved without money and other resources. In this regard, KWS has taken a number of steps towards self-sustainability. There is increased allocation of funds by the Government to wildlife conservation and there are a number of new initiatives by KWS to increase revenue.

The current KWS budget of Ksh. 4.04 billion represents a doubling of the
previous budget. The Government is increasing its support and has promised to improve budgetary allocation to KWS. KWS vision is to have Ksh. 7 billion budget by 2010.

KWS is also improving the financial base through revising hotel leases with operators. The board of trustees has approved new hotel leases. 
KWS pledged to not only work with other local stakeholders to conserve the eastern black rhino alone, but to also initiate regional cooperation to increase the rhino number.

The regional cooperation will be through a proposal seeking the establishment of an East African Rhino Management Group that will set protocols for exchanging and managing the eastern black rhinos within East Africa.    The document provides important statements on species management and special Kenyan species for the ongoing wildlife policy review including important contributions to legislation on the status of strictly speaking, exotic species such as the southern white rhino, to which the country is dedicating its scarce wildlife resources.

The KWS management, policies and conservation are on the move and the black rhino is one of the species which is the litmus test of our progress. We need to think big and be bold. The target of 2000 cannot be achieved within fenced areas alone so the remaining extensive range and intact habitat in Tsavo, Meru and the north of Kenya needs to be secured and made ready, over the next five years, for the surplus from sanctuaries which have reached carrying capacity. This is being achieved by opening Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary and in our increased target for growth to 6 per cent per annum in the sanctuaries. 

  Management and conservation of rhino populations in montane forest conservation areas has been very challenging as illegal hunting is still a real threat, and more effort will be directed to resolving problems in these areas in the coming years.

Poaching has been and still is a real threat. To address this challenge, necessary resources including increased manpower and reliable and rapid mobility/patrols are being put in place.
 
Reviewed security strategies are also being implemented. To keep ahead of the increasingly sophisticated poacher, newer technologies will be incorporated in monitoring and surveillance. Monitoring techniques need to be enhanced and appropriate tools for measurement of efforts devised.

These will be implemented across all rhino conservation areas. KWS is working on increasing ranger strength up to 4000 in the near future. KWS plans to achieve this by recruiting 400 rangers every two years. Taking into account the attrition rate of 100 per year, this will effectively result in a net increase of 100 rangers annually. Tsavo Conservation Area alone is envisaged to have a ranger-strength of 800 personnel. The Intensive Protection Zone in Tsavo West National Park will be strengthened with a minimum ranger-strength of 40 trained personnel and has been operational from July 2007. The Meru conservation area shall likewise be strengthened.

Without the very best people to implement the strategy we have little hope of success and to this end KWS is committed to greater capacity development for rhino conservation staff. In addition to ensuring effective field work including rhino monitoring, KWS has also pushed forward the Conservation Area concept where field wardens are required to assume more responsibilities for their areas, and where we encourage a stronger link with field scientists on rhino management. Headquarters staff, including the rhino coordinator, will be required to facilitate, coordinate and advise.

ENDS

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com