Training Amboseli’s Protectors

It was an impressive affair at the Kenya Wildlife Service’s Manyani Law Enforcement Academy when 33 trainees graduated to become community rangers in November 2021. The graduation was accompanied by a rousing brass band, their impeccable uniforms and faultless marching was an impressive spectacle on a searing morning in Tsavo National Park. This graduation saw the latest cohort of trainees become community rangers from the academy.

Among the 33 graduates were 15 rangers employed by Big Life Foundation. The twelve men and three women work to conserve the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem. This ecosystem is a biodiversity hotspot in East Africa and is the beneficiary of a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project in partnership with the Department of Interior-International Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP). Most of this ecosystem lacks formal protection and wild animals roam freely on the community-owned lands that border the small national parks.

The newly graduated rangers come from the communities who live in the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem. Their intimate knowledge of the landscape makes them best placed to protect it. They are also the bridge between conservation efforts and the communities and they work just as hard to reduce human-wildlife conflict as they do poaching. Many have become local heroes as a result.

Nancy Kabete, the Deputy Director of Security for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), was a guest of honor at the graduation. Manyani Law Enforcement Academy is a one of KWS’s learning institutions. During her remarks, she emphasized the importance of community-centered conservation partners such as Big Life Foundation. She said that the service of community rangers complements KWS’s mandate of conserving and managing wildlife in Kenya. Only 8 percent of Kenya’s land mass is protected for wildlife conservation under national parks and reserves.

The rest of Kenya’s wildlife lives on a combination of rangelands, community ranches, and conservancies. The work of community rangers is essential for the preservation of wildlife, something Kabete notes is central to Kenya’s heritage. The three-month course trained the community rangers on communication skills, general law and the Kenya’s Wildlife Act of 2016, first aid, human wildlife conflict mitigation measures, conservation education, physical fitness, and field craft including survival tactics, navigation and map reading.

Two Big Life rangers were recognized for excellence. Gabriel Masaku was named Best in Academics and Papuyia Ntinina was awarded the Best in Drill and Turnout.

The training was made possible with support from the Partnership to End Wildlife Trafficking in East Africa program - a U.S. interagency agreement between USAID and DOI-ITAP. The program encourages community participation in biodiversity conservation across the region and its support for community rangers working outside of government-protected national parks helps to combat and curb the incidences of wildlife trafficking and poaching. 

In addition, the project supports the monitoring of wildlife crime court cases to ensure that due process is followed and better monitoring of wildlife protection operations through improved technologies. This comprehensive approach to protecting communities and wildlife has led to decreased poaching and increased accountability. As a result of this partnership, community rangers are better equipped for the daily challenges that they encounter and most importantly - for protecting Amboseli, one of the world’s natural treasures.