DSWT Community Outreach Report April 2015

COMMUNITY OUTREACH MONTHLY REPORT APRIL 2015 SUMMARY: Kenya’s wildlife faces a myriad problems ranging from poaching, habitat destruction and other human-wildlife related factors. In a country where people’s livelihoods depend directly on natural resources, having the community on your side in wildlife protection is vital. The DSWT is working hand in hand with the communities living in the greater Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) though projects which aim to increase environmental conservation awareness and improve their living standards. These projects include fully sponsored field trips for school children, provision of learning materials for schools and other support to environmentally friendly projects.

In April, the DSWT carried out eight school trips, donated sports equipment to schools, and sponsored intensive honey harvesting training for the Mtito Andei Community Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution Group.

APRIL 2015 SCHOOL FIELD TRIPS

In April, the DSWT hosted eight fully sponsored school trips to Tsavo West National Park.

These school trips offer a unique opportunity for school children to learn about wildlife.

With the guidance of a DSWT community officer, kids are introduced to the economic importance of wildlife to our country, at the same time highlighting the ecological importance of wildlife and environmental conservation.

Tsavo West National Park is rich in wildlife, in April some of the interesting sightings included a pack of wild dogs, a single herd of 14 elephants, a crocodile snaring fish in Mzima springs, several bird species and many more.

SCHOOL TRIPS

DATE

STUDENTS TEACHERS

Nthange primary (1) Nthange primary (2) Ilatu Primary (1) Ilatu Primary (2) Ilatu Secondry(1) Nthunguni Primary (2) Ilatu Secondry (2) Chandulu Primary (1)

8th April, 2015 9th April, 2015 13th April, 2015 14th April, 2015 16th April, 2015 21st April, 2015 24th April, 2015 27th April, 2015

25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

200

24

TOTAL

APRIL 2015 BEE-HIVE FENCES

For two years the DSWT has been working closely with the MACHWCRG to control humanelephant conflict along the North western border Tsavo East National park, along the Mtito Andei River. This area was initially a national game reserve but human settlement was allowed some 30 years ago. Community farms established in this important wildlife corridor suffer elephant invasions regularly, and this has negatively affected the community’s attitude towards wildlife.

Through sustainable methods such as beehive fences, the DSWT is helping to control elephant incursion by protecting the first row of farms bordering the Tsavo East National Park. In April, the DSWT sponsored intensive beekeeping training for the farm owners benefiting from this initiative, arming them with the skills they need to be successful beekeepers. This training was carried out in three days and encompassed hive management, honey harvesting, honey handling, bee identification, bee catching, record keeping and much more.

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is reliant on your kind support in order to keep our community outreach projects running.

For more information about these projects please visit www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.com/community or email info@dswt.org