Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ELEPHANT IN KENYA 37
training of KWS and private sector armed and non-armed personnel, and the growing numbers of community game
scouts, in all aspects of elephant security. A community engagement process should be initiated to reinforce the
image of KWS armed wing as a positive force for law and order, helping to ensure a secure environment for both
communities and animals. This would enable the establishment of more extensive and reliable informer networks
and flow of intelligence information on poaching, illegal activities and trade. Game Scout Associations and private
sector/NGO game scout groups are active in a number of areas in the country, working in the context of Group
Ranches, community conservancies, research programmes, private sector conservancies and tourism operations.
Partnerships should be developed and strengthened between KWS security staff and such groups, with the
possibility of the latter receiving honorary ranger status. Operational units should be strengthened and modernised
at the required standard including equipping patrol units with adequate monitoring and surveillance systems to
provide information feeding into a well developed database reporting system for guiding more effective and
efficient coverage of their areas. Weak law and low conviction rates have been seen as a problem undermining the
credibility of anti-poaching efforts. Stiffer penalties have been introduced in the revised Wildlife Policy, which is
awaiting parliament approval. Efforts must be made to achieve effective cooperation with the judiciary, police, local
authorities, provincial administration and community leaders on the capture and prosecution of illegal hunters of
elephants (and other wildlife). Cross-border collaboration (Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan) needs to be
improved through establishment of formal operational structures as given in the African Elephant Action Plan. The
customs authorities are key in this aspect and need to be integrated more fully and be made aware of the strategy
and necessary actions.
To support this there must be necessary policy and legislative changes (strengthened law against poaching and
illegal trade; effective land use planning and environment impact assessment - EIA); security management of ivory
stocks to prevent trophies leaking into illegal market and enhanced monitoring of elephants using appropriate
technologies (fitting satellite collars to vulnerable elephant groups including cross-border populations).
Consideration needs to be given to the creation of secure corridors and dispersal areas (with community support)
and strengthening law enforcement (use of search dogs etc.) at entry and exit points. International dialogue on trade
control through a coordinated approach with other countries that have similar policies, and continued discussion
with countries having pro-trade policies, are essential for finding a solution to the uncontrolled hunting of elephants.
Coordination and cooperation on enforcement and monitoring of illegal hunting and trade in ivory with
neighbouring countries, through instruments such as the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) and INTERPOL, are
important for maintaining national protection in the face of globalised trade pressures.
If applied, all this will lead to greater deterrence and reduced poaching with reoccupation of former rangelands by
elephants. However, there are challenges to achieving this including; proliferation of firearms and general insecurity
(KWS cannot deal with this issue alone: it must be dealt with by the government as a whole), HEC, habitat loss and
fragmentation through inappropriate land-use planning and weak wildlife policy and legislation.