Tuesday 5 April 2016

The future of wildlife is in our hands…



The future of wildlife is in our hands…
No beating about the bush, today I start with exactly what I want to pass. The take home message is: ‘the future of wildlife is in my hands’ tell yourself that. Recite it as a mantra if you want, but keep it in mind.
I borrowed this line from IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and I completely agree with it. Because conservation efforts are collective, both you and I need to take part. We cannot afford to be spoilers… and yes by ‘spoilers’ I mean actually spoiling. We do not want to spoil what we’ve had for years, we do not want to spoil for ourselves, and neither do we want to spoil it for our children… think about that!
Last week Kenya lost one of its most famous lions, Mohawk, who had wandered off the Nairobi National Park into Isinya, Kajiado. Mohawk had been spotted strolling in the morning hours when residents triggered and agitated him forcing him to do what was best- protect himself. Unfortunately Mohawk attacked and injured a 27 year old man who had ignited his motorcycle commonly known as “boda boda” hoping to flee from the raging animal. According to reports, the KWS team that first arrived to the site had no tranquilizers, and since Mohawk was hostile after being extremely agitated by the residents, he was left with no option but to attack, prompting the KWS officials to shoot him down, at least 9 times. Apparently, the second team from the KWS was only 3km away, and with them were the tranquilizer shots, however the damage had been executed and the Mohawk’s life terminated brutally. Only a few weeks ago did a lion named Cheru also find his way out of the Nairobi National Park and strolled on Mombasa road, injuring an elderly man. Also it’s within this same year, in February, when a group of stray lions commonly nicknamed as the “Langata 6”  believed to have wandered off the same national park were seen strolling leisurely in Langata/Kibera area. However, the KWS team arrived on site with materials in hand ready to safely return them back to their habitat. Unfortunately for Mohawk, this was not the case as he met an excruciating death, betrayed by those meant to be his protector. The manner in which Mohawk died*, was extremely repugnant. I strongly detested the manner in which he was killed as I believe better ways could have been employed to address the situation. Just a few days after his killing, Lemek a younger lion was found dead, speared behind a bush in Kitengela. Animal lovers, conservationists and environmentalists (me included) have brought this grave matter to the Kenyan and global headlines as we are envisioning destruction of communities and species due to human-wildlife conflict, if necessary action is not taken. As for Mohawk and Lamek, we organized a peaceful memorial for them, last Sunday, 3rd April 2016, just outside the KWS Headquarters in Langata, Nairobi, whereby we paid our tributes and expressed opinions on promoting conservation efforts. We also took that chance to accentuate that the entire environment needs to be conserved and protected, and highlighted the lack of awareness on animal behavior including the lack of sensitization on conservation. It is also alarming that the number of lions in the Nairobi National Park now remains as 34, according to some reports on the state of the park. Other than that, lion population in Africa is greatly declining, and the king of the jungle is now listed as an endangered and vulnerable specie according to the Born Free Foundation, and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Personally, I think that since 8% of Kenya’s total landmass is covered by sanctuaries, national parks and reserves, conservation awareness is key for every citizen, as these are the habitats to wildlife as well as major income-generators. And since it is stated in the Kenya Constitution in Article 69 that every person has a duty to cooperate in the protection and conservation of the environment, why don’t we all take responsibility? How many of us recited the Loyalty Pledge? Who remembers this line, ‘My life and strength in the task of our nation’s building’? Isn’t conservation part of the nation’s building? Honestly when I was in primary school I saw no sense in reciting this, I mean, it did not even make sense, it’s something I did just for the sake. Something to sing or recite to during parade and assembly. But for sure these words now make sense, this is a symbol to pledge my loyalty as a Kenyan citizen, a patriot, and I can only do that if I live to those words. There are many tasks that we get involved in during our lifetime, but have you ever thought to yourself, how these tasks affect others? Do these tasks contribute to the nation’s building? What have I really done for my country? Many times I can’t answer myself. Good thing is I can now take part in one task to redeem myself, and this one thing is promoting conservation. I have been labelled ‘too emotional’ about this of late, but oh well, this is what I call passion, and yes it is emotional if we are losing our biodiversity, so I will hung in there, and stand for what I believe in. I can help to protect the nation’s heritage… and so can you.
As we sing passionately to the national anthem… justice be our shield and defender, let us mean these words… and “Firm may we stand to defend” Build this our nation together, because Kenyans need you as a fellow Kenyan, conservationists need you, environmentalists need you… we all need each other, let’s practice what we sing, hard as it may be, it is possible.
God Bless Kenya

PS: You can watch the clip to Mohawk’s killing on the below link:

 #JusticeForMohawk
#JusticeForMohawk Memorial
A picture of Mohawk (borrowed from the Internet)

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Green light at the end of the tunnel...

Happy New Year People!
It is my wish and hope that the year has started out well for everyone...
It is a difficult task to write at times, especially if you are a fan of Biko Zulu's posts and you feel like your writing skills may be worse than his new born son. Anyway that aside, I have been really wanting to post soon, but I just did not have any idea of what exactly to write about, or if it would be captivating, if people would read... so I decided to read through other blogs and most that I follow have been focusing on the New Year, resolutions and how 2015 was. I think its good to have a recap of last year, because it is what will set motion for 2016. But as for me I will first start with the journey... how it all begun and why I will focus on 2015.
Some of you may not know that it is in 2012 when I created TLC4Environment as just a Facebook group, with a few of my classmates and friends as members. How I came up with that name I don't know, my mum just said it was a mouthful. Others shorten it to TLC but anyway I stuck to it because it is what I started with and it is exactly what I want it to mean, so yes... TLC4Environment it is!
Personally, 2015 is the year I felt most inspired to do what I do. In 2015, I got the courage to be more pro-active and into making more profound impacts with this initiative. I begun the year with a trip to Switzerland for a short course on sustainable practices and tools, thanks to the YES* course, which I call the eye-opener for realizing my potential. I mean, there are a lot of resources right in front of us that we do not utilize, resources that can make us achieve what we fear venturing into. Anyway, Switzerland was a splendid expedition, came back with multiple stories and... chocolates.... and most importantly I returned with skills and the zeal to accomplish more in environmental conservation. The good thing about these forums, conferences, workshops, courses and what have you, is that you meet people with the same vision as you and learn from them too. Its called networking. I now had friends not only from within but from far and wide who felt the dire need to promote environmental awareness, and we could chat for hours about this. Opportunities started surfacing and all of a sudden I felt I had an army of supporters rallying behind me, encouraging and appreciating my little efforts. 
So back to TLC4Environment, thinking of what next and how I could foster environmental awareness and what projects I could roll out, I got busy with planning, organizing and facilitating grass-root campaigns and especially targeted environmental days' events. After these events I tried my very best to document each and every one, highlighting the significance and why it is beneficial. And this is how my 2015 was, tree planting activities, river clean-up, environmental talks, forums and marches...
I am now to my cousin Tunu, an environmental activist, this she coined when another cousin asked what I do for a living. Well I like the sound of that, I am an activist by choice, which I had not realized and I am delighted to be one. I remember on the First Sunday of this year when the senior pastor at my church said that animal rights should not exceed human rights, I was not amused, actually I felt like taking over that sermon and using it as a means to reach out to people that we cannot rely on human rights as we obliterate everything else that is around us. Anyway that is a story for another day...
This post as I said earlier is to encourage you, to be the best you can be with the resources at your feet... So my wish is that I continue to influence and inspire others in this journey, fighting for what we stand on... just as I did in 2015. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, for me its a green light... a clean go ahead...