The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the first lady of Kenya, Margaret Kenyatta, launched a wildlife conservancy programme to address poaching in Amboseli, an 8,000 square-kilometer natural reserve spanning the border between Kenya and Tanzania.
The project targets communities on the margins of the national park, aiming to provide them with alternatives to killing wildlife.
25 June 2014: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the first lady of Kenya, Margaret Kenyatta, launched a wildlife conservancy programme to address poaching in Amboseli, an 8,000 square-kilometer natural reserve spanning the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The project targets communities on the margins of the national park, aiming to provide them with alternatives to killing wildlife.
The project calls for investments in sustainable farming and eco-tourism. It emphasizes the creation of village councils and better processes for information-sharing between communities, park rangers and national authorities to stem poaching.
Speaking at the launch, Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, said, “Poaching pushes vulnerable and endangered species toward extinction, fuels corruption and conflict, destroys lives, and deepens poverty and inequality.” Kenyatta noted, “This horrific phenomenon must stop. It is depleting our natural heritage, destroying lives and incomes, and fueling corruption and insecurity.”
In addition to the project in the Amboseli ecosystem, UNDP is supporting a number of other initiatives through the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded Small Grants Programme (SGP). The project’s timing coincides with Margaret Kenyatta’s information campaign, #HandsOffOurElephants meant to prevent elephant poaching and reduce demand for ivory in Asian countries. [UNDP News] [UNDP Statement][SGP Kenya webpage]