Kenya: Wildlife Service recruits local people for 3-month course to become para-rangers
The Kenya Wildlife Service has embarked on an ambitious initiative that will involve local communities to promote wildlife conservation in the country. Currently, Kenyan wildlife is faced with a myriad of challenges that are threatening their survival in and outside the protected areas. Consequently KWS has embarked on a long-term programme to train game scouts from a number of wildlife conservancies in a bid to involve communities in conservation programmes.
According to KWS assistant director in charge of community enterprises, Munira Bashir, there is a need to involve the communities in conservation in a bid to encourage viable land use. Speaking at Manyani recently when the 77 community rangers were reporting for training, Bashir said the training is important for the needed sustainable wildlife conservation and management outside protected areas as KWS seeks to increase its efforts in engaging communities to secure more space for wildlife. “Community co-operation is very essential for the success of conservation activities as the majority of these lands are used in ways that are in conflict with wildlife conservation,” she said. She called on the communities living adjacent to parks to support conservation by giving out their land for wildlife conservation.