Day 319- A Stain On Our Generation

“If we really pull together, we can reverse this horror so that there will not be a stain on our generation — and future generations can enjoy these animals.”

~ Owen Patterson, British Environment Minister

Fact:

When poachers kill elephants, they usually wait a few days to hack out the tusks. 

Fact:

Often, rangers come upon the decomposing bodies before the poachers can return to take the tusks.  

Fact:

This means that these elephants are dying for no reason whatsoever.  

Opinion:

This is a horror, and a stain on our generation.

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Futile slaughter of Kenyan elephants and how Britain is now fighting back

It is a very different scene from the House of Commons or the Whitehall office where Owen Paterson works.

Dressed in a safari jacket and cream chinos, sweat beading on his forehead, he bats away flies and tries not to inhale too deeply as he stands feet away from the hulking corpse of a slain elephant.

Its hind legs are crossed in a last defensive gesture, its swollen eyes are clamped shut, its ears have been chewed by scavengers — and its tusks have been removed.

The elephant is just one of the tens of thousands slaughtered by poachers across Africa this year to feed a growing demand in Asia for ivory.

The rhinoceros population is faring little better — one animal dies every 11 hours, and there are just 25,000 left in Africa because their horns are erroneously thought to cure cancer.

Mr Paterson, the Environment Secretary, was last week deep in the Kenyan bush because he has taken up cudgels on behalf of the British Government, which believes that poaching — and the illegal trade in ivory — must be stopped.

Last week, he announced that British paratroopers in Kenya would be seconded to give wildlife rangers extra training. A British prosecutor will also advise her Kenyan counterparts. The cost to British taxpayers will be minimal, and locals say both initiatives will fight poaching.

Mr Paterson, who is working alongside influential allies including the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, said: “We want to pull people in from right across the world. We want to come up with a clear plan of action.

“If we really pull together, we can reverse this horror so that there will not be a stain on our generation — and future generations can enjoy these animals.”

Last month The Sunday ­Telegraph published distressing pictures of groups of elephants that had been poisoned by Zimbabwean poachers.

But the problem reaches far across Africa, as Mr Paterson saw for himself in the community-run wildlife conservancies of northern Kenya.

The young bull elephant whose carcass he saw was a grim example of what happens when efforts by game rangers and locals to protect their most valuable commodity fail.

It had been shot in the shoulder by poachers as it grazed with its herd, then ran in blind panic into the bush.

Days later and many miles away, it lay down and died, alone, beneath an acacia tree. It was found by herdsmen, who alerted the Namunyak conservation trust’s wildlife rangers. They arrived to catalogue the animal and remove the ivory so that the killers made no gain, but could only leave the body in its final, flyblown resting site.

“This is absolutely shocking,” said Mr Paterson, visibly angry as he stepped carefully around the elephant. “This young animal died in agony. Those who killed him got no value because the tusks were saved by the rangers. So at 15 to 20 years old, his life before him, he died for absolutely nothing. It’s utterly tragic.”

Attitudes locally are at least changing. In the past, poachers were often seen as heroes for the crumbs of much-needed capital they dispensed. Now they are increasingly viewed as parasites, sucking life from one of the region’s few natural assets.

Instead of being shielded in the hours after gunshots ring out, poachers are now more likely to be shopped.

Mike Watson, who runs the neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and accompanied Mr Paterson to see the slain elephant, said every animal’s death was mourned by those among whom it lived.

“This elephant represents a lost opportunity for visitors and the local communities that rely on them,” he said. “It represents schools, health clinics and livelihoods for this community, and that’s destroyed.”

Africa’s previously abundant elephant population has fallen by two thirds in 30 years. As many as 20,000 were killed last year and the remaining 400,000 are vulnerable.

Now there is a further reason for alarm over the estimated $19billion (£11.8billion) generated annually by the illegal wildlife trade: the risk, spelled out earlier this year by Hillary Clinton, then US secretary of state, that some of it is funding terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked extremists blamed for killing 72 people in Nairobi’s Westgate mall.

The dual threats present Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s president, with an opportunity to burnish his reputation despite being on trial by the International Criminal Court for allegedly fomenting post-election violence in 2007. He has cracked down on poaching, and supports a new law now before the Kenyan parliament that would mean life sentences for anyone killing endangered wildlife.

In February, Britain will host an international anti-poaching conference, to be presided over by David Cameron, alongside the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, both leading figures in global wildlife charities.

Its aim is to come up with concrete proposals to cut back the demand for wildlife products, to help countries such as Kenya to steer their citizens away from the temptations of poaching and to stop those who engage in it.

Many in Kenya believe the way forward is in community-run conservancies, which will be recognised in law.

They first took root on the northern edge of Lewa, a majestic private game conservancy set up by Ian Craig, a renowned conservationist. It was at Lewa that the Duke of Cambridge spent his gap year, and it was here that he returned with Catherine Middleton when — on the slopes of nearby Mount Kenya — he asked her to marry him.

This area had been a battleground between rival tribes who fought over grazing land and scarce water. Now, warring groups are being encouraged to join forces to protect wildlife and attract tourists, generating revenue to invest in better grazing, new schools and medical clinics.

"Conservancy is probably the wrong name,” said Mr Craig, who helps oversee the scheme. “In the West, people will think it’s about saving animals, but it’s really about saving people, cutting conflict and creating livelihoods. The animals are a beneficiary of that peace.”

Today, northern Kenya’s 26 community-run reserves cover an area the size of Wales, where 212,000 people live. They include a marine conservancy, a forest trust, Kenya’s first community-run rhino sanctuary and five-star tourist lodges.

Mr Craig believes the model applied across Africa “could completely transform conservation”.

Omar Godona, chairman of Nasuulu conservancy, said there was “no comparison” between the money a few individuals once made from poaching and the money his community makes now.

“And this is sustainable,” he added. “If you poach all the elephants, there’s eventually nothing left. If you look after them, they will provide you with work, schools and clinics.”

But the battle to preserve Kenya’s wildlife goes deeper than self-preservation.

“Schoolchildren ask their parents where they can see the rhino because now they only see a picture on a matchbox,” said Isiah Epuri, manager of Nasuulu conservancy.

“What we need from your government, and from other governments around the world, is that you seal the demand.”

With a trip to China planned, it is clear Mr Paterson intends to bend some ears. “We are incredibly well-placed in the UK, with our links across the Atlantic, our links to Asia and Africa, to play a very constructive role,” he said, adding that he was sure he had his constituents’ backing.

“People in North Shropshire would be horrified if their government, their MP and their environment minister didn’t use his position to help coordinate an international effort to stop the shame of rhinoceroses and elephants becoming extinct,” he said.

~ Aislinn Laing

The Telegraph

November 10, 2013

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