Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest natural World Heritage site contains Africa’s second highest mountain, an ancient extinct volcano now with glacier-clad summits and forested middle slopes. The site possesses a unique afro-alpine ecology. Kenya has less than 2.5% of its land under forest cover, and the forests around Mount Kenya represent a significant percentage of this remaining figure. The vegetation on Mount Kenya is unique; savannah grasslands and acacia woodlands give way to afro-alpine flora, East African bamboo and eventually to moorland vegetation such as heather species.

The Mount Kenya forest is the largest remaining forest bloc in Kenya and has global relevance because of the biodiversity that it holds, which includes mountain bongo, colobus monkey and giant forest hog as well as other species of global interest. Its elephant population of between 2,000 and 3,000 individuals is the third largest in Kenya and the site is an important water catchment area, draining to some of Kenya’s most important rivers.

As of 15 March 2012, unusually fierce forest fires on Mount Kenya had burnt at least 58 sq km of high-altitude vegetation; a figure which was increasing but which was hard to quantity as fires were burning in largely inaccessible remote locations. Most areas affected were at relatively high altitude.

A combination of drought and deliberate fire-raising (by honey collectors and poachers) are suggested to have contributed to the problem. Deliberate fire-starting is a distraction technique as poachers know that Kenya Wildlife Service personnel will be deployed to fight fires, leaving areas of the Park unguarded. There was a separate spate of forest fires in January 2012, and these were not fully doused before flaring up again in March, which compounded their negative impact.

The RRF received an application from the Mount Kenya Trust (MKT) for support for fire-fighting, which had become a multi-stakeholder activity involving local NGOs, Kenya Wildlife Service, Park-edge communities and even the British RAF, who have a base nearby. The RRF awarded $6,238 to contribute towards MKT’s efforts.

Click here to download a Project Summary.

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The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites as well as for sites on the Tentative list. The RRF is managed jointly by Fauna & Flora International and UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US $30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit the website or send an email.

Thanks to the response from donors, this appeal reached a total of £8,218.96 (approximately $13,210). The recipient of these funds is the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who will ensure that the Okapi Wildlife Reserve can continue to rebuild and recover following the serious rebel damage that it suffered.

Okapi Wildlife Reserve Emergency Plan

As part of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve Emergency Plan, donations have ensured that several activities have been completed. These include:

-          An assessment of the reconstruction and rehabilitation needs of Reserve infrastructure destroyed during the rebel attack, and the cost of reinstalling all infrastructure;

-          Redeployment of Okapi Wildlife Reserve rangers at Reserve HQ at Epulu, as well as at Zunguluka, a patrol post to the east of the Reserve. Rangers’ families remain outside of the Reserve until it becomes safer;

-          Deployment of approximately 200 FARDC (the state military organisation) soldiers. FARDC presence is strengthening the Reserve’s patrol posts and supporting joint patrols with Reserve staff to capture rebels, recover looted materials, destroy poacher camps and break up rebel networks responsible for the attacks. So far all rebels have been removed from the south-eastern and south-western areas of the Reserve;

-          Dialogue with illegal miners who have moved in and have been asked to leave through local radio channels.

Next steps for the Reserve

The overall goal is to adapt future plans to the current context of insecurity at the Reserve in order to maintain its rich biodiversity. Donations from the RRF appeal will:

-          Contribute to the removal of rebels from the Reserve and prevent cleared areas from being reoccupied;

-          Support targeted patrols that will seek to close all illegal mining and poaching camps;

-          Reinstall guards and their families at the Reserve’s Epulu headquarters;

-          Strengthen the capacity of Reserve guards through training and provision of equipment;

-          Work with stakeholders at the local, provincial and national levels to prevent conflicts;

-          Liaise with communities to restore their confidence in the security of the Reserve;

-          Help to break the chain of information about soldiers’ movements that is being passed on by illegal gold miners and poachers to rebels.

The Wildlife Conservation Society of the DRC wishes to thank appeal donors for their timely support. Already the RRF has helped to re-establish local authority presence at Reserve HQ and key patrol posts, prepare guards to resume full scale patrols and to maintain their morale despite the atrocities they have seen, and finally to create a short-term priority plan for the Reserve to ensure the site continues to function for the benefit of its biodiversity.

You can download a pdf version of the appeal update here.

Rapid Response Facility

The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) is a unique partnership operated jointly by Fauna & Flora International and UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Contact the RRF Secretariat for more information. Separate to the appeal, the RRF awarded a grant of $30,000 to WCS in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Thank you again for your support to this appeal.

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve natural World Heritage In Danger site is situated in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo near the borders with South Sudan and Uganda. At approximately 14,000km² it covers one-fifth of the famous Ituri Rainforest.

The Reserve is home to about 5,000 okapi, the rare giraffe-like forest creature, as well as significant populations of leopard, elephant, chimpanzee and crocodile. Its birdlife makes it one of the most important sites for bird conservation in mainland Africa and nomadic Mbuti pygmies live within the Reserve.

The site was inscribed on the World Heritage In Danger list in 1997 due to the continuing threats of deforestation, primarily caused by slash and burn agriculture, and commercial hunting for the sale of bush meat. More recently the expansion of gold mining has become problematic, and political instability has plagued this region of the country for many years.

In late June, a group of armed bandits attacked the headquarters of the Reserve at the village of Epulu, killing at least seven park staff and their family members. Others were taken hostage or are unaccounted for. All Reserve infrastructure was destroyed and the 15 okapi of the Epulu Breeding and Research Station were all killed. Epulu plays a central role in protecting the future of the okapi by serving as a reservoir for the infusion of new genetic stock into okapi populations in global conservation programmes.

The RRF received an application from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s DRC programme, which is active at the site, seeking funds to resume critical functions at Reserve headquarters. The RRF was pleased to respond in the quickest time since the Facility was created in 2006, with the decision being made to award funds on the same day that a final version of the application was received.

The funds awarded by the RRF will contribute towards evaluating the needs of the DRC’s national protected areas authority, l’Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, in the aftermath of this crisis, as well as re-instituting the most fundamental activities at Epulu in terms of site administration and Reserve protection. Lastly the funds will help to support the guards and families whose lives have been uprooted by this tragic event.

In addition to the support provided through the RRF grant, in conjunction with UNESCO the RRF has launched an appeal to raise extra public funds to support this site as it recovers from the rebel attack. WCS will receive the proceeds from this appeal.

Click here to download a Project Summary.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. The RRF is managed jointly by Fauna & Flora International and UNESCO World Heritage Centre and is financially supported by the United Nations Foundation, Halcyon Land & Sea and TripAdvisor. It aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US$ 30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit the website or send an email.

Donate now to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve Emergency Appeal

On Sunday June 24, a group of armed bandits attacked the headquarters of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Congo Basin, a UNESCO World Heritage site, killing at least 7 park staff – with extreme cruelty in some cases. Others were taken hostage or are still unaccounted for. All park infrastructure was destroyed and the 15 okapi, a rare forest animal related to the giraffe, at the Epulu Breeding and Research Station were all killed. Epulu plays a central role in protecting the future of the okapi by serving as a reservoir for the infusion of new genetic stock into the okapi populations in global conservation programmes.

The day after the destruction of the Epulu HQ, UNESCO met with the Director of Okapi Wildlife Reserve as well as the Director General of the country’s protected areas authority (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature), to assess the situation and define the immediate response needs. UNESCO’s position and networks have, and will be, effective in catalysing positive results for conservation, and UNESCO are strong supporters of this campaign.

As part of the UNESCO network, the Rapid Response Facility is calling out for support among the global community in helping quickly restore a full and stable governmental presence in the area and restart okapi breeding activities at Epulu. For this, the RRF seeks immediate support for the following: i) rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure (staff accommodations, park offices, Epulu breeding centre buildings); ii) replacing destroyed equipment; iii) and providing support to the families of murdered park staff.

Donate now to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve Emergency Appeal

Over the past 5 years, the RRF has been able to provide rapid support to 31 emergency situations in natural World Heritage sites around the world.

The RRF is an initiative of UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna & Flora International (FFI). Donations will be handled by the RRF Secretariat at FFI. FFI has longstanding partnerships with organisations operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and will ensure that donations are used as effectively as possible. 3% of the total raised will go to UNESCO for future missions and monitoring as the security situation at this site stabilises.

For more information please contact the RRF Secretariat.

Early 2011 witnessed an exacerbation of elephant crop raiding in villages around Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania. The loss of income that this caused for numerous families led to angry retaliatory killings of elephants, responses that were further inflamed by the decision to close Park boundaries to communities, who made regular use of Park resources to support their livelihoods. Eight elephants were killed, which led Ponjoli Joram of the Tanzanian National Parks Authority, acting through the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, to apply to the RRF for urgent assistance.

Recognising that the situation would worsen, the RRF supported a project to protect farms from raiding elephants, by financing the construction of barriers using chilli, oil and rope. Ongoing monitoring will continue, but initial signs are positive in that there have been significantly fewer raids on farms in the first three months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011 (38 compared to 8). 50 beehives were incorporated into new farm fencing, to act as permanent structures, requiring minimal maintenance and providing profits to farm owners through the sale of honey.

Training was delivered to villagers in the techniques of honey harvesting and 5 community-based organisations (5 groups of 10 people each) were set up to collaborate over honey processing and sale.

As a protected area employee, Joram managed to strengthen relationships between the Park and surrounding communities, by demonstrating that farm protection measures were working for the benefit of people and wildlife. Only two elephant killings have been recorded since August 2011.

The future looks promising for those involved in this project. The work gained national recognition when the Ministry for Regional Administration sent 20 leaders from villages nationally to Udzungwa to learn about this project’s successes. Similarly, villagers participating in the RRF-funded project were invited to Dar es Salaam to participate in entrepreneurship training to build their project management skills.

The RRF Secretariat will keep in touch with the grantee to be kept informed of the long-term impacts of this work, in terms of boosts to local income through honey sales and how successful farm protection measures continue to be. This was a successful rapid response that has limited the number of revenge killings of elephants at the same time as fostering good relationships through support to communities and boosting the livelihoods of 50 farm owners and their families.

Images: Consultation with forest-edge communities over conflict mitigation / Farm defence mechanisms using oil and chilli / Beehives placed to protect farms from raiding elephants

Credit Ponjoli Joram (TANAPA)

Lisel’s appointment reflects the impact that she has had in conservation in Belize throughout her career. Since Lisel joined Ya’axché as Executive Director in 2008, the team has been working towards the integrated, sustainable management of the Maya Golden Landscape in southern Belize - working with local communities, NGOs, private landowners and businesses, academic institutions and government across a broad range of economic, political and social issues.

The RRF Secretariat, who visited Belize as part of a grant monitoring and evaluation mission in 2011, warmly congratulates Lisel on her achievement.

Read the full story on the Fauna & Flora International website.

The Retezat Massif tentative natural World Heritage site in Romania, known for its plant diversity, endemism and rich mammal fauna, has received a Rapid Response Facility (RRF) grant to undertake urgent snow-tracking surveys in response to a road-building threat through the Carpathian Mountains.

The tentative site contains Romania’s oldest protected area, Retezat National Park, established in 1935, and where can be found half of the country’s bird species and a third of its plants. The site maintains connectivity with other forested mountain areas solely through a narrow corridor, thanks to much forest conversion in surrounding lowland areas.

A motorway-building project currently underway through the corridor will cut off the tentative site from the wider Carpathian Mountains, which will affect many of Retezat’s occupants, in particular the highly mobile large mammals such as grey wolves, European lynx and brown bears that rely heavily on the forest corridor.

It has been recognised that the current environmental mitigation measures proposed for the new motorway are not adequate enough to safeguard wildlife and will lead to isolation and mortality. Zarand, an NGO local to Retezat, applied for RRF funding and was successful in its proposal for $23,946 to carry out a series of snow-tracking surveys to collect baseline mammal data, which will be fed into a revised environmental mitigation plan for the development.

The RRF noted the timely nature of the proposal with regard to current snow cover, and the fact that snow-tracking is a cost-effective and reliable method of gathering information. Verified records of mammal activity in the Retezat area will be used by the recently established motorway Supervisory Group to design appropriate measures to protect the forest corridor that is so vital for environmental integrity in this area.

RRF funding will help to ensure that the road does not become a barrier for wildlife and that information on wildlife in Retezat is constantly taken into consideration as the impact of the motorway is monitored into the future.

Click here to download a Project Summary.

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The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. The RRF is managed jointly by Fauna & Flora International and UNESCO World Heritage Centre and is financially supported by the United Nations Foundation, Halcyon Land & Sea and TripAdvisor. It aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US$ 30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit the website or send an email.

*This particular award was financed solely by Halcyon Land & Sea, using the proven RRF model.

Photo credits:

1 and 3: Cassie Bradley / FFI

2: George Sirbu

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a natural World Heritage In Danger site, has been awarded a Rapid Response Facility (RRF) small grant to repair and re-equip vital park protection infrastructure following the end of conflict in western Côte d’Ivoire.

This site has a unique geography, rising above the surrounding savannah and consisting of dense forest and mountain pastures. Important fauna here includes endemic viviparous toad species and tool-using chimpanzees. For many years Nimba has been under threat from bushmeat poaching and removal of medicinal plants. Following the Ivorian political crisis that began in 2002, Nimba was also subject to massive infiltration and exploitation.

Recognising the urgency of the threats facing Nimba and following an increase in political stability, the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR) applied for funding from the RRF and will receive $25,282 to rehabilitate guardrooms at Kouan-Houlé and Yéalé, the closest bases for active management of Nimba. The RRF will ensure that basic equipment, facilities and motorbikes are available quickly for OIPR staff to conduct regular patrols and establish a presence in the World Heritage site.

OIPR will continue to use central government funds to restore managerial capacity in the wider region, which will ensure that the RRF’s contribution is supported in the long term.

Nimba has been inscribed on the natural World Heritage site In Danger list longer than any other natural site, with the exception of Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves in Niger, which was inscribed at the same time. Nimba has been retained on the In Danger list because of a mining concession that falls within the World Heritage site boundaries and pressure from the surrounding areas as a result of refugee movements in both Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.

This is not the first RRF award for OIPR. In 2010 funding was awarded to Comoé National Park, another World Heritage In Danger site, for a stabilisation mission following a period of conflict.

Click here to download  Project Summary.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. The RRF is managed jointly by Fauna & Flora International and UNESCO World Heritage Centre and is financially supported by the United Nations Foundation, Halcyon Land & Sea and TripAdvisor. It aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US $30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit the website or send an email.

Korup National Park, on Cameroon’s tentative list for eventual World Heritage nomination, has received a Rapid Response Facility (RRF) small grant to fund vital on-going anti-poaching activities during an unexpected break between previous support, and the implementation of a longer term programme, expected to start up at the end of 2011.

The Park is characterised by high humidity, rainfall and temperatures. Low altitude ancient tropical rainforest covers the Park and it is one of only two sites in Africa that has forest surviving from the Pleistocene era. Besides hosting over 400 species of bird and 1,700 species of plant, levels of endemism are very high and a quarter of the total primate species in Africa are found in the Park.

This diversity of life and the Park’s position on the Nigeria-Cameroon border make it an attractive proposition for poachers. Conservation and development activities have been funded for several years by the Government of Cameroon and KfW, the German development bank. The last funding agreement expired in December 2010 and funds were urgently needed for a continuation of the anti-poaching programme. This need was confirmed by anecdotal evidence of increasing presence of bushmeat in markets surrounding the Park.

Korup Rainforest Ecotourism Organisation, working alongside WWF’s Coastal Forest Programme, applied for RRF funding to re-establish an anti-poaching presence on the ground. The RRF agreed to provide a bridging grant before the next phase of long-term funding becomes available later this year.

RRF funds will cover essential transport and subsistence costs associated with guard patrols and maintain patrol vehicles and equipment.

Click here to download a Project Summary.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. The RRF is financially supported by the United Nations Foundation, Halcyon Land & Sea and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.  It aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US $30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit www.rapid-response.org, or send an email to rrf@fauna-flora.org.

Taï National Park, in Côte d’Ivoire, which became a World Heritage site in 1982, has received a Rapid Response Facility (RRF) grant to reinstate vital monitoring and protection equipment lost during the country’s recent civil turmoil.

As one of the last major remnants of the tropical primary rainforest of West Africa, Taï is of great value and its rich natural flora and fauna species, such as the pygmy hippopotamus and 11 species of monkey, are of great scientific interest. The post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, beginning in 2010, resulted in a civil war. The south-western part of the country, where Taï is situated, was particularly badly affected, with local authority workers forced to abandon their posts, to which they are now slowly returning.

During the unrest, the resources of Taï were utilised by surrounding communities who lacked other livelihoods opportunities. There are now many reports of an increase in the bushmeat trade in markets.

A further major problem faced by the returning workers is looting over the previous months, leading to a severe shortage of basic equipment needed to re-establish a presence in the national park.

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) applied to the RRF for funding for a stabilisation mission for Taï National Park and the RRF agreed to award $15,764 for replacement of looted equipment such as compasses, backpacks and tents. These will enable park staff from l’Office Ivorien des Parcs et Reserves (OIPR), the national protected areas authority, to resume patrols of areas of the park most at risk from poaching and resource exploitation.

The WCF continues to seek further funding to work with park-edge communities to create alternative livelihoods and to support the protection and monitoring work of OIPR within Taï National Park.

Click here to download a Project Summary.

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The RRF is an emergency small grant programme that provides rapid support to allow immediate responses to major threats to wildlife conservation, primarily in UNESCO designated natural World Heritage sites. The RRF is financially supported by the United Nations Foundation, Halcyon Land & Sea and Jet Tours, and aims to process emergency funding requests of up to US $30,000 in just eight working days.

For more information about the RRF visit www.rapid-response.org, or send an email to rrf@fauna-flora.org.