The year is 2030 and Tembo, a 40 year old elephant is
commemorating 10 years in the council of once endangered wildlife. Tembo is a resident of the expansive
Amboseli National Game Reserve. Among his peers, Tembo is considered one of the
most knowledgeable historians. Especially in regard to human-wildlife conflict
and to a large extent human’s efforts in wildlife conservation. So every year
at a time like this, in partnership with his long time friend and fellow
historian Kifaru, they gather the
rest of once endangered wildlife in this rite of passage. Celebrated by passing
down to the younger generation the tenets of wildlife conservation that has
kept them alive to this day and continues to do so.
As Tembo clears his throat, Kifaru
paces restlessly in front of the gathered youngsters as a sign that everyone
should settle down to listen to the proceedings. As is customary, Tembo would always start these events by
a chilling account of the dangerous times the older generation once lived in. A
time of terror and indiscriminate genocide of their kind by the same people
they were meant to grace with their presence. Tembo would recount in a harrowing
voice how they were hunted down in their grazing and hunting fields, watering
holes and night stands. How at one end of the park they would be surrounded
with vehicles and excited humans taking pictures of them and at the other end
of the park would be shadowy figures pointing rusted guns and shooting poisonous
arrows at them.
At this point the youthful
generation listening to Tembo would
be so silent that one could hear the thinnest of twigs break. Tembo would see the questioning looks on
their faces, as they could not imagine that the humans that they now peacefully
co-existed with could have been so cruel to their kind. But Tembo would be quick to point out that
not all humans were terrorists to their kind, even at the worst time of
insecurity in their past. That among them were a special breed of humans called
conservationists and activists. It is this special breed of humans who did not
rest at having an exclusive club amongst themselves but rather succeeded in turning
the whole nation, to a man, into conservationists. So much so, that a three
year old would regard a chameleon as sacred. So much so, my young ones, that
children turned against their parents and wives turned against their husbands all
in the name of wildlife conservation.
At this point Kifaru would take
over, and start by posing the question, “how in the name of already extinct
species did humans pull off this sensitization of the masses, this
transformation of attitudes and recruitment of activist’s en-mass”? “It might
have as well begun with the inspiration of government”, Kifaru says. Governments taking up their rightful role in the
protection of wildlife. It’s sad that it took some convincing to reconcile the
efforts of governments and non-governmental conservationists. The government
had to realize that wildlife conservation activism was not idle chatter and
empty apocalyptic concerns of busy bodies. But were well founded, genuine and
sincere selfless sacrifices of time and energy for the preservation of an
integral lifeline to humans own existence. Today in 2030, governments need not
be lobbied to appreciate and participate in full force in the conservation of
wildlife but it is a deliberate effort educated by the preservation of
government itself. For example an activist need not camp at the office of a government
official to petition them to take some requisite action but rather the government
would be reaching out to the activists for any new action the government can
take to reinforce gains in wildlife conservation.
Human communities living in and
around wildlife were next to tow the line in the accelerated push for the preservation
of our kind. It was common knowledge that no one travels a thousand miles to
come to a strange land to poach. But it’s the immediate communities who were
responsible in the actual massacre of wildlife and formed the first conduit in
the chain of smuggling that ended at the port of exit from the country. Winning
over communities living around wildlife did not stop at educating them on the
importance of wildlife. Or how to keep wildlife in protected areas to mitigate
against human-wildlife conflict and keeping external threats from infiltrating our
parks. But was followed up by bringing these communities into organized and
manageable groups, both youth and women based. These groups were to directly
benefit from the wildlife they encompass both financially and through targeted
sponsored capacity building programs that allowed them to better their lot
especially economically.
Using the same organized community
groups as fertile grounds to recruit intelligence gathering networks spanning
the whole perimeter of national parks and game reserves. These community
intelligence gatherers (CIG’s) were not founded on suggestion box type of intelligence
gathering but were a sophisticated network of continuously trained spies. They
were such a vital component of the whole struggle that in recognition of their
contribution, they were privileged to have none other than the tourism secretary
in the ministry of tourism as their patron. CIG’s leaders in the Kenyan case reported
directly to the director of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). This arrangement allowed
even the use of former poachers as confidential informants in unmasking the
kingpins behind the poaching cartels. Trained and managed by National Security Intelligence
organs, these CIG’s were professionals in their own right living in the immediate
communities around wildlife.
Ports were not left behind in
this elaborate scheme to save our kind, Kifaru continued. For the first time security systems at the
port were extended to cover the concerns of non-governmental conservationists.
In all ports of entry/exit independent non-governmental parties were allowed to
attach themselves in the clearing and forwarding processes for transparency and
as a deterrent to corrupt port officials. Smugglers had to now contend with automated
security systems, overly transparent custom processes, highly supervised
government officers and incorruptible independent non-governmental attaches.
Special courts and binary law enforcement
instruments were the last nail in the coffin of wildlife terrorism. Half
hearted approaches by the justice system to our cries for mercy were frowned
upon. All this change of heart begun when finally poaching was recognized as terrorism
and poachers were considered and handled as terrorists. For poaching had for a
long time been used to finance civil unrest in countries, fuel civil wars and
was indeed a threat to the economic security of a nation. In the Kenyan case,
the mandate of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and their rangers was extended to
cover not only armed protection of wildlife, which included arrest of suspects.
But they were also trained as special prosecutors against poachers in a court
of law and in a revolutionary move, as magistrates in poaching related cases.
This accelerated the hunt of suspected poachers, their prosecution and
sentencing of wildlife terrorists. It also alleviated the burden on the unitary
police force and justice system who were naturally overwhelmed by traditional
law and justice issues.
So was the ceremony conducted and
ended in sighs of relief, for the safety of wildlife was assured.
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