February 2019
 NOTES FROM THE FIELD - HAPPY WORLD WILDLIFE DAY!

Greetings from Nairobi!

Every year on March 3rd, the world makes a special point of celebrating and recognizing the importance of our planet's global biodiversity assets and in particular our global wildlife heritage. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have worked in East Africa for over nine years, leading the U.S. government's wildlife conservation programming to support the priorities of bilateral governments, civil society and communities. What is taking place in East Africa is no less than a conservation revolution, spurred by incredibly talented African environmental activities, researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

USAID is proud to support their work, as well as a global mind shift regarding the role of conservation assets as a global public good that demands the attention and concern of everyone on this planet. Over the past forty years, we’ve seen a tremendous loss of wildlife populations in Africa. But, the most recent data from countries like Kenya is encouraging, showing a reduction in poaching and stabilizing populations. With innovative policies and supportive local leadership, we can create a future where wildlife is recognized for not just its intrinsic value, but for the critical role it plays toward broader and sustainable economic development.

We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter and take the opportunity to learn more about how East Africa is transforming.

Enjoy! And as always, please share this newsletter with partners in your network. We welcome your feedback.
Juniper Neill
Environment Office Chief
USAID Kenya and East Africa
Rare African black leopard captured by camera trap's...

Images were taken by British wildlife photographer, Will Burrard-Lucas, in Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya

Read more
www.theguardian.com
PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS
WILDLIFE WARRIORS -- EXCLUSIVE PROMO!
Under USAID’s new regional program to improve management of natural capital in East Africa, we’ve dedicated a portion of our strategy to the important role media plays in outreach and education. For conservation, we believe that wildlife documentaries and programming, made by Africans for Africans, is a critical step in helping to build broad public awareness on the value of living wildlife.

In the inaugural season of Wildlife Warriors , Wildlife Direct CEO Dr. Paul Kahumbu travels Kenya’s wild places to explore its incredible biodiversity and tell the story of Kenyan wildlife heroes who are stepping up to make a difference in the survival of endangered species. Watch an exclusive first peak at the new season by clicking on the Saving Turtle promo to the right.

Wildlife Warriors is a collaboration between USAID, National Geographic and the Wild Lives Foundation and will premiere on Citizen TV across East Africa in April.

You can explore Wildlife Direct’s previous series called NTV Wild , also supported by USAID, by subscribing to the  NTV Wild YouTube channel .
SAVING TURTLES PROMO
Wildlife Warriors Season 01 coming soon. Filmed in Watamu, Kenya. Hosted by Dr. Paula Kahumbu.
COASTAL KENYANS EMBRACE COMMUNITY CONSERVANCY MODEL FOR LIVELIHOOD AND BIODIVERSITY GAINS
The northern coast of Kenya is a biodiversity hotspot, with dozens of globally endangered animals and plants, one of the most intact forest ecosystems still remaining in East Africa, 60% of Kenya’s mangroves, as well as coastal wetlands, coral reefs and beaches. Despite its biodiversity importance, the region has received little conservation investment and the role of local communities in managing and protecting coastal resources has been overlooked, until now. With USAID support, the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, is taking its successful community conservancy model to the coast.

Hand-in-hand with the local communities, NRT is building sustainable coastal conservancies. Through community governance approaches and the development of livelihood and enterprise opportunities, the community will be able to sustainably manage the natural resources and wildlife.

Click on the videos to meet some of the coastal Kenyans who are making a difference, with the support of USAID.

Find out more about the USAID-supported NRT program here .
Firdhaus Athman is a radio operator for Pate Marine Community Conservancy in Lamu. She recently returned from a coastal conservation-learning trip to Madagascar, supported by The Nature Conservancy. She's inspired... WATCH
Meet Mahathi Bwana, fisherman turned marine ranger. He now works to promote sustainable fishing methods and marine conservation... WATCH
TECHNICAL RESOURCES
Official website of UN World Wildlife Day

Check out the official World Wildlife Day website to learn more about the importance of the day, and world wildlife events and partners. This year's World Wildlife Day focuses on "life below water."

Read more
www.wildlifeday.org
TRACK KENYAN BIODIVERSITY WITH RCMRD WEB SPECIES APP
The SERVIR Biodiversity Map Viewer provides access to high-quality information on species distribution in Kenya and its neighboring environs, revealing the areas that need concentrated conservation efforts. Museums of Kenya provided the data.

USAID supports SERVIR and the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) to help countries in eastern and southern Africa region to use information provided by Earth observing satellites and geospatial technologies to improve environmental management and resilience to climate change.

Click on the right to access the RCMRD Apps Portal. You'll find the Biodiversity Map Viewer and more.
RCMRD Apps Portal - Biodiversity Map Viewer

The apps portal acts as a "dashboard" to accessing and download RCMRD's Geo-Information services that are shared via tools, geoportals, maps, data, web map services and metadata.

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apps.rcmrd.org
THE FUTURE OF LIONS IN AFRICA
Habitat loss — from development, overgrazing, and conversion of land to agriculture — is the biggest threat people pose to lions. Matt Brown, the Nature Conservancy Africa Director, explains why in "When Lion Habitat Disappears".

He cites a recent study by Panthera, which found that lion numbers have dropped 43 percent over the last 20 years to as few as 20,000 individuals living in the wild.

Lions are extinct in 26 African countries and have vanished from over 90 percent of their historic range.  

Read the Panthera report here

Read the Nature Conservancy blog by clicking to the right.
When Lion Habitat Disappears

TNC Africa Director Matt Brown shares the story of Livingstone, a lion in northern Kenya who ran out of space ... and ran out of options.

Read more
www.nature.org
THE PREDATOR COMPENSATION FUND
In 2003, in response to an imminent – and virtually certain – threat of local lion extinction, Maasailand Preservation Trust (MPT), in close collaboration with the local community, conceived a first-of-its-kind predator compensation program. The intention was to better balance the costs and benefits of living with wildlife and thereby replace conflict and retaliation with tolerance and cohabitation.

This conservation strategy remains one of the most far-reaching and effective projects yet conceived by MPT, the first project of its kind implemented in Maasailand. Predator compensation, due to its unmatched success, now operates on two neighboring group ranches.

One of many key aspects of the Predator Compensation Fund is that it acts as an umbrella of protection – not only preventing lion extinction but also providing coverage for other persecuted species, such as hyena, cheetah, leopard, wild dog and jackal.

Big Life & The Lions of Kilimanjaro

Find out more about solutions that have worked in community wildlife conflict hotspots. Discover the Predator Compensation Fund.

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vimeo.com
ENVIRONMENT NEWS ROUNDUP

Today is the United Nations General Assembly's 6th Annual  World Wildlife Day , which commemorates the establishment of the  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) . The theme for 2019, "Life below water: for people and planet", is inspired by the  14th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal , which aims to conserve the oceans while also sustainably extracting resources from within them. Source: Forbes. Read more


World Wildlife Day is not just a celebration of our natural habitats and inhabitants - it is a day tainted with grim realities. Many conservationists and scientists will take to the #WorldWildlifeDay hashtag to highlight the problems that the marine ecosystems and marine wildlife are facing. So how are sharks doing today? Souce: Forbes. Read more


February 14, 2019: This year’s Valentine day was marked on Thursday with special African flavour that saw the launch of the first-ever Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) at Nairobi National Park’s historic Ivory Burning Site. Source: Kenya Wildlife Service website. Read more


When A flock of African Grey Parrots flew overhead in Kakamega Rainforest in western Kenya, we were elated. The population of the African Grey Parrot has crashed by between 90 and 99 per cent between 1990 and 2010. Sour ce: The East African. Read more


Pangolins, a group of unique African and Asian scaly mammals, are considered to be one of the most heavily trafficked wild mammals in the world. They are hunted and traded for their meat, scales, and other body parts, and used as traditional medicines in parts of Africa and Asia. Source: The Conversation. Read more


Technology has made a tremendous difference in the world, in areas as diverse as  health  and  education , and pretty much everything in between. But is technology the weapon that will ultimately eradicate animal poaching and save various species from eradication? It’s not a silver bullet, but it certainly has potential.
Sour ce: The Conversation. Read more
USAID Kenya and East Africa Environment | www.usaid.gov/east-africa-regional/environment