Memorandum submitted by the International
Fund for Animal Welfare, East Africa
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
was established in 1969 and consists of legal and political experts,
and internationally acclaimed scientists working from offices
in 13 countries around the world. IFAW opened an office in Nairobi,
Kenya, in 1999 to serve as IFAW's regional base for East Africa.
Our purpose in East Africa is to contribute to the elimination
of threats posed by the wildlife trade, protect and increase wildlife
habitats, and provide emergency support for wildlife in disaster
and crisis situations.
1. IFAW WORK
IN KENYA
Over the last three years, our East Africa office
has undertaken a number of initiatives in all three East African
countries but has had particular involvement in supporting wildlife
projects in Kenya including the rebuilding of national parks,
relocating wildlife at risk, resolving human-wildlife conflict
and funding anti-poaching patrols.
2. ACHIEVING
THE MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
We work in partnership with wildlife authorities,
government agencies and other NGOs to forge solutions that are
mutually beneficial for humans and animals in the region. From
our work on the ground in Kenya we fully support the view of the
Department for International Development (DfID) expressed in the
Draft Kenya: Country Assistance Plan about the "potential
in areas such as tourism and the export of high-value agricultural
corps and products combine to make Kenya the natural driver of
economic growth. . .in the region"[14]
It is our view that the importance of the contribution
of wildlife to tourism and environmental sustainability means
that without a recognised strategy from the Kenyan authorities
and support for donor agencies, such as DfID, it will prove increasingly
hard for Kenya to achieve environmental sustainability, the Millennium
Goal 7.
In addition, it is IFAW's view that the value
that wildlife related tourism provides to the Kenyan economy—it
is the third biggest foreign exchange earner (after tea and coffee)—means
that any strategy to achieve the first Millennium Development
Goal of eradication of extreme poverty and hunger must take into
account threats to wildlife. In short IFAW believes that Kenya
needs to develop a wildlife policy which integrates conservation
goals and development goals.
3. WILDLIFE RELATED
THREATS TO
TOURISM
It is understandable that the Kenyan Government's
priorities are the economy, education, health and unemployment.
However there are a number of specific threats to wildlife related
tourism which have the potential to hit the first and seventh
MDG. These are:
— Human/wildlife conflict: Kenya's
human population, about 33 million today, is growing rapidly and
more than 50% of the population lives on less than US$1 per day.
This is leading to increasing demand for land, with much agricultural
use of land now firmly established along animals' migratory routes
and right up to national park boundaries. As a result, wild animals
are increasingly damaging crops, killing livestock (often because
of the drastic fall in numbers of wild herbivores—predators'
natural prey) and injuring or killing people. The animals may
then be killed in revenge. This particularly affects species such
as elephants and lions. Recent research has estimated that lion
numbers in Africa have dropped from around 200,000 to 20,000 in
just 20 years and that conflict with people is one of the major
causes. The government pays a token compensation sum for the relatives
of people killed by animals (less than £300), but the new
government has promised compensation for crop and livestock damage
too. (This system was abandoned in the late 1980s due to widespread
abuse.) There is an urgent need for a clear government policy
on land use (particularly in areas around the parks) to resolve
issues of human-wildlife conflict. IFAW has been involved in discussions
with the Kenyan Ministry of the Environment which has acknowledged
this need and we are awaiting progress on this issue.
— The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS):
The KWS is responsible for the management of national parks and
protection of wildlife, under the Ministry for the Environment.
Its work is vital to wildlife conservation in Kenya. However,
lack of good governance in the past has significantly weakened
the institution and has eroded the ability of KWS to meet its
mandate over the years. Problems with meeting accountability standards
reduce the sector's ability to achieve conservation and environmental
objectives. Without an effective KWS, there is a real threat to
growth of tourism in the region and sustainable wildlife policies.
4. DECLINE IN
NUMBERS OF
LARGE MAMMALS
Numbers of most large mammals have declined
dramatically over the past decade. One reason for this is a rapidly
growing trade in the meat of wild animals ("bushmeat").
Unlike in Central Africa, Kenyans do not generally value bushmeat
in itself, and the meat is usually passed off as beef or other
farmed meat. The main driver is the lure of 100% profits as it
is "free". The trade is now out of control, in part
due to a controversial "cropping" system introduced
12 years ago as a pilot scheme to allow a few landowners to "harvest"
a limited quota of wildlife on their land. Unfortunately, it lacked
timelines for evaluation and the strict rules supposed to govern
it were never applied because of limited enforcement capacity.
There have also been allegations of corruption. There is a temporary
moratorium on the system today that IFAW believes should be made
permanent.
Illegal bushmeat hunting has particularly affected
species that are often perceived to be less threatened, such as
zebra, wildebeest, buffalo and giraffe. In Nairobi National Park,
numbers of wildebeest have fallen from around 14,000 in 1996 to
fewer than 20 today, largely due to hunting of animals when they
migrate out of the park. In Tsavo East National Park an NGO de-snaring
team removed more than 1,200 snares in just four days in September
2003. (Kenya Wildlife Service has no funds for de-snaring programmes.)
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust estimates that 1,000 snares,
with just a 5% success rate, will kill more than 18,000 animals
in one year.
Urgent and concerted action is needed to stop
illegal bushmeat hunting and trade. However, this problem is still
not well recognised by either the government or the general public.
Assessments of the status of wildlife in national parks tend to
concentrate disproportionately on elephant populations, following
the problems of the 1980s. Ironically, elephants are currently
doing reasonably well. Meanwhile, other animal populations are
plummeting. Anecdotal evidence suggests that large herbivores
in Masai Mara Park have fallen by 30-60% in the past decade. This
is clearly not environmentally sustainable.
There are also potential disease risks associated
with an unregulated trade in bushmeat.
5. SUMMARY AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
(i) IFAW is not in a position to comment
on the likelihood of Kenya achieving the Millennium Development
Goals. However, unless it is recognised that environmental sustainability
can only be achieved by developing a plan for wildlife conservation,
attempts to achieve goals 1 (eradication of poverty) and 7 (environmental
sustainability) will be severely hampered.
(ii) The deep-rooted problems of "political
and economic patronage"[15]identified
by DfID's Country Action Plan are equally relevant in the wildlife
sector of Kenya.
(iii) We agree with DfID's report that environmental
sustainability (and specifically wildlife related tourism) needs
to be addressed by the Kenyan Government through its Economic
Recovery Strategy.
IFAW would be happy to provide further information
or give oral evidence to the Committee if required.
March 2004
14 P2, Draft Kenya: Country Assistance Plan, DfID,
12 January 2004. Back
15
P2, Draft Kenya: Country Assistance Plan, DfID, 12 January 2004. Back
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