KWS concludes elephant containment activities in the Taita – Taveta area …

KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE DRIVES UP TO 1.000 ELEPHANT INTO TAITA HILLS AND TSAVO
A chance meeting with Samuel M. Rukaria, Community Warden for the Taita Hills area, allowed to get some intriguing insights of the challenges KWS and the communities living near the park boundaries of Tsavo East, Tsave West and the Taita Hills Conservancy are faced with.
Though scheduled to return a group of Kenyan journalists KWS had invited to witness the exercise back to Voi, Samuel took the time and answered some key questions on the combined air and ground operation, which was evident during the past days spent at the Sarova Taita Hills and Saltlick Lodges.

eTN Q: Why in the first place did up to 1.000 elephant escape from Tsavo West?

Samuel Rukaria A: Tsavo West is still suffering from very dry conditions after the long drought we had in Kenya. The elephant find little water and food and then try to use their old migration corridor towards Lake Jipe and across into Tanzania or up to the Taita Hills reserve to go look where they find pasture. The increase in population in former buffer zones has now caused increased human wildlife conflict when the elephant come out to search for food and water and therefore KWS was alerted to come to the assistance of the local people to drive the elephant back into safe zones.

eTN Q: How many were actually coming to the Taita Hills Conservancy and how many returned to Tsavo West, and how will that help when there is no food or water for them.

Samuel Rukaria A: First we think that as many as 800 elephant went to Taita Hills where they have water and food and space to give them enough range. About 200 went back to Tsavo West and we were quick to put immediately an electric fence up for which KWS had made preparations. We have also already started to dig for water which can then be pumped by wind or solar pumps to give the animals enough water. Now they cannot get out very easily and our patrols are monitoring them. When we are able to give enough water even during the dry periods and drought, the animals can find enough food in the end.

eTN Q: What manpower and equipment was needed for this exercise and how much did it cost KWS?

Samuel Rukaria A: KWS used one fixed wing aircraft for spotting, one helicopter to guide the elephant away from populated areas and we had 5 sections of 6 personnel each plus another 5 vehicles with staff working together. We concluded today but are still monitoring and KWS spent about 2 million Kenya Shillings here.
We think we accomplished our mission to maybe 95 percent even if the community may for some reasons have other opinions.

eTN Q: What are your biggest challenges in this area to deal with such and other problems caused by rampaging wildlife?

Samuel Rukaria A: We need to do more community sensitization on the need to also protect our wildlife because that is a resource for tourism. We are working with communities to promote changed farming methods and changing crops to for instance Alovera or beans instead of just maize which the elephant love. We have included latest research results and are helping communities with beehives which are now known to keep elephant at a safe distance and give communities income when they sell honey. We try to teach them to pool community land for wildlife conservancies and embrace eco tourism as a source of sustainable income and Kenyas Vision 2030 says it is agriculture and tourism which are the back bone of our economy. Some politicians are working with us and others just use us for negative propaganda but we are on the ground with the people and have learned what they need and relations are better when they see how KWS responds to emergency calls. We now help to protect crops, property and livestock and hope that by fencing crucial parts of the park boundaries we can achieve that.

At that stage did Mr. Rukaria have to rush off to return the local journalists to the town of Voi, excusing himself and taking his leave after having literally ambushed him on the way out of the Sarova Taita Hills Lodge. Thanks to a competent and committed conservation partner though for taking the time to talk to eTN about the challenges KWS faces in areas with growing human / wildlife conflicts.
Meanwhile did Mr. Willy Mwadilo, Sarovas General Manager for the two lodges, favourably comment on the operation and welcomed the news that as many as 800 more elephant had been driven into the 28.000+ acres Taita Hills Game Sanctuary as the conservancy is known, as in his words the added game sightings will undoubtedly enhance the safari experience of guests coming to the two lodges, on a classic Safari Inn with amenities like a Spa, swimming pool and tennis courts while the Saltlick Lodge is what can be termed a contemporary tree hotel, built on stilts and overlooking two water holes which in particular during the dry season are an assembly point for big and small game, birds and insects to the delight of visitors who are either perched in their seats up on the top level of the lodge or are at the ground floor level lounge to get a close up look of elephant, buffalo and often lions just 30 metres away. Watch this space and visit www.sarovahotels.com for more information on these two magnificent lodges and their private game reserve.

Kampala Serena goes Italian

KAMPALA SERENA SET FOR ITALIAN WEEK

The Explorer Restaurant at the Kampala Serena will be the venue for a week of Italian cuisine, wine tasting and even cookery classes with Chef Fabrizio Mercuri, who is visiting the Kampala Serena to promote his way of presenting Italian dishes. His menu creations during the week of 04th 10th June will migrate across Italy from one end of the boot to the other, highlighting the many variations of Italian cuisine, which contrary to some peoples beliefs is not just centered on pizza and pasta but involves a great variety of other dishes and ingredients.
Titled Il Giro d Italia 6 Giorni or in English a tour of Italy in six days, the Italian festival is one of a regular series of visits of guest chefs who come to thrill the Kampala Serenas clienteles palate but also at the same time show the Serena resident chefs, already on top of their profession, another trick or two from their own formbook in how to make authentic dishes with locally available ingredients, of course always using only the best extra virgin olive oil.
A fashion show evening will also be part of the weeks programme, which is available through the Kampala Serena Hotels front desk or via their website www.serenahotels.com/serenakampala/default-en.html

EALA’s Transboundary Ecosystems Bill to be opposed by Tanzania

TANZANIA OPPOSES EAST AFRICAN LAW ON TRANSBOUNDARY ECO SYSTEMS
Another showdown with fellow EAC countries appears to be on the horizon, as it became known over the weekend that Tanzania intends to block the EALA passed law on transboundary eco systems, fearing that it would lead to being compelled to drop some of the most controversial projects ever designed under which a massive assault on bio diversity hotspots is foreseen. Passed in January this year by a large majority vote at the East African Legislative Assembly the bill now needs to be sanctioned by the next Head of State Summit to become law, but usually well informed sources from Dar es Salaam and Arusha have clearly indicated that Tanzania will object to it, claiming it touches on issues of land and which is not provided for under the EAC treaty. This bill does not directly impact on land issues but indirectly would compel Tanzania to have controversial projects like the Serengeti highway or the Lake Natron soda ash plant, or mining and logging in forest systems along borders with EAC member subject to a peer review about sustainability, and they do not like that one bit. They already blame Kenyans for the woes over the highway which is now in the East African court after ANEW, a Nairobi based NGO Africa Network for Endangered Wildlife has sued them. And our minister for EAC has all but conceded that it is the regional environmental controls and possible enforcement which scares them, saying it could impact on the way Tanzania intends to use their land. But that is the issue here, environmental issues affect many more portfolios and the claiming an impact on their right to land usage is really a weak attempt to escape reviews and promote best practice and sustainability. Here in Tanzania this has been brushed aside by this government in favour of what they call progress and development said an Arusha based regular contributor to this correspondents articles. Conservation sources are now reportedly using their lobbying mechanism to prevail upon the other EAC partners, in particular Rwanda which has an outstanding record on environmental protection, to lean on President Kikwete to drop the objections and agree to the bill becoming law, though knowing Tanzanias past stubborn refusal to remove non tariff barriers like inequitable treatment of airlines registered in the region or the imposition a few months ago of an unsanctioned fee on Kenyan vehicles entering Tanzania on business, would suggest that this will be just one more contentious issue, raising the overall questions few dare to ask in public just how deep Tanzania is truly part of the East African Community or if their archaic issues with neighbour Kenya will continue to dominate their agenda. Watch this space to learn what decisions the next Head of State Summit will take on this position, or if the decision as usual would be deferred to allow for continued consultations.

MTPA does ‘Copy and Paste’ job on Seychelles’ Carnival success

STEALING SEYCHELLES CARNIVAL CONCEPT THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF KARL?

Mauritius Tourism is bracing for stormy times following the formal announcement by MTPAs desperate man Karl Mootoosamy, that he will copy the Seychelles carnival concept as a last ditch effort to show some action, already termed sneaky by sections of the ever more critical private sector on the island which is getting increasingly frustrated with their own official tourism marketing office. The copy cat event is due to feature between June 29th and July 01st,, totally out of tune with the global carnival calendar, and information comes from both Seychelles and La Reunion, which both successfully staged the Carnival International de Victoria in March, that they have to this moment not received an invitation, which if true would reflect fully on the mindset and lager mentality at MTPA at this moment in time, exposing what Mr. Mootoosamys organization truly thinks of fellow Vanilla Island members.
As reported a few days ago here, a tip off from a regular and usually well informed source from Port Louis had predicted this would happen as MTPA had run out of vision and ideas of how to cope with the Seychelles and La Reunion marketing and PR juggernaut which left Mauritius trailing in their wake and has senior staff at MTPA reportedly worried for their jobs. The media in Mauritius who in large numbers accepted the invite to Victoria smelled a rat already when in early March MTPA turned a cold shoulder to an invitation by Seychelles Tourism to attend the 2nd Carnival International de Victoria, but the intended snub turned counterproductive as La Reunion as co-host and Seychelles stole the show in all subsequent tourism events and in an ongoing media blitz. Copycatting such a concept after the way Karl and his merry men behaved when they were AWOL from the Seychelles in March will give Mauritius media coverage but of the worst sort the source added when communicating the decision to this correspondent. Others raised the issue of cost comparison pointing at the two Creole Festivals in Seychelles and Mauritius, where the latter is reportedly using large amounts of tax payer money to equally try rival Seychelles, where this festival has been hosted for nearly a quarter of a century already, with growing global acceptance and as a result of the unique partnerships STB forged with little expense to the tax payers.
Others are equally pointing at the ethnic separations on Mauritius, an issue which time and again appears to be coming up in mails and messages from the island, which have been suggested to be at the roots of socio economic divides on the island unlike the rainbow islands of Seychelles and La Reunion. Another source swiftly pointed to other issues like the Mauritius governments stubborn insistence to reform and reorganize Air Mauritius, which too has been burdening the tax payers with bearing the significant losses the airline has piled up in the recent past. There are many tourism stakeholders who feel that the time if up for Karl and there has to be major reform at MTPA if tourism growth is to return. Mauritius has a big potential for tourism but it takes a vision and equitable participation of all groups on the island to achieve that. And we need genuine partnership with our neighbours in the Indian Ocean and not giving the impression that we cannot be trusted and are back stabbers
The question is now being asked across the Vanilla Island cooperation how to respond to this unilateral departure from a jointly mapped out path and way forward from which all island could have benefitted. To await changes in the tourism marketing direction of Mauritius first before re-engaging with them, attempt the impossible and talk to what appears to be a hostile MTPA administration or accept their self declared departure from commonly agreed positions and move ahead without Mauritius. Fodder for thought and without a shred of a doubt good for La Reunion and the Seychelles which are treading the moral high ground while Mr. Karl has moved his organizations path into the domain of copy / paste jobs, elsewhere known as plagiarism. Watch this space.