COVID-19 is not the only health crisis Africa is facing. According to new data from the United Nations, while the world’s population is projected to nearly stop growing by the end of the century, Africa’s population is predicted to triple.

In order to achieve long-term protection of wildlife and habitat, it is essential that local communities within Big Life’s area of operation are able to prosper in a stable and peaceful environment, including through reliable access to healthcare, education, and the empowerment of women and girls.

Big Life Foundation tackles all three goals across the 1.6 million acres of the Greater Amboseli ecosystem we protect, based upon the belief that if conservation supports the people, then people will support conservation. As such, we’ve been expanding our Community Health Volunteer (CHV) program to improve the health of local communities, promote sustainable family planning, and advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

This past spring, the CHVs conducted a baseline health survey comprising 200 men and 200 women, which included questions about family planning. We learned that the average number of children per household is about 5, and additionally:

• 38% of mothers and 26% of fathers surveyed stated that their most recent pregnancy was unwanted at that time, highlighting an unmet need for family planning services.
• Over 80% of both men and women are misinformed to believe there are long-term negative side effects to modern contraception, with nearly 50% believing they will cause permanent infertility.
• On average, only 40% of men and women knew where they could go to seek family planning services, if wanted.
• 84% of men did not approve of their wives using a modern family planning method.

With our healthcare initiatives – including mobile health clinics, CHVs, and health education – we’re hoping to make positive changes for overall health as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights across the local Maasai community.

With human populations continually on the rise and no corresponding increase in available land or resources for people or wildlife, the timing is critical to educate and empower both men and women, enabling them to make informed choices that may lead to a brighter future for all.

We couldn’t do this critical work without the help of CHASE Africa, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Foundation, Health Yetu Foundation, or our individual donors worldwide. We are grateful for your support.

Photo: Jeremy Goss

What do a crocodile, a leopard, and a pangolin have in common?

They’re all on the wanted list, sought after by those involved in the dark world of the illegal wildlife trade. It’s a huge business worldwide, valued at billions of dollars, and run by organized crime networks (some of which deal in other illicit products such as guns and drugs).

Big Life is working with the Kenya Wildlife Service to dismantle wildlife trade networks, from poachers in the bush to traders higher up the value chain. Our undercover intelligence network now covers most of southeastern Kenya, far beyond the area patrolled by our rangers.

Thousands of species are targeted each year, and in the last month our intelligence work has led to busts in which 21 traffickers were arrested, with species including ELEPHANT (for ivory), PYTHON (for skin), LEOPARD (for skin), PANGOLIN (for scales), OWL species (for eggs), and CROCODILE (for skin).

There is no good reason for these animals to die. Their parts end up either as tacky decor in someone’s home, or as an ingredient in bogus traditional medicines.

Please support Big Life in our efforts to catch those involved at the source of the trade.

But we are helping to put them out. With the rains long-since gone, it’s dry as a tinder box here in southeastern Kenya and the past month has seen near constant bushfires in Big Life’s area of operation.

In remote areas rangers are the first, and only, line of defense against fires, and Big Life ranger units have joined forces with the Kenya Wildlife Service and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to tackle the devastating blazes.

Fires here get started for a variety of reasons. Sometimes accidentally, by honey hunters, trespassers, or farmers clearing farms improperly. But they’re also started on purpose: by herders (both legal and illegal) wanting to stimulate fresh grass growth for their livestock, or poachers doing the same to attract wildlife closer to their snares.

Through July and August, a total of 115 Big Life rangers from 16 units were involved in responding to 29 fire incidents, which consumed in excess of 10,000 acres, mainly in the Chyulu Hills.

Our efforts have been greatly helped by funding for fire-fighting equipment from the Chyulu Hills REDD+ project, and fire-fighting training provided to rangers by LEADRanger.

We know our supporters in the US are facing massive forest fires, and the horrendous air quality that comes with it. We hope the rains return and the skies clear soon, for all of our sakes. In the meantime, thank you for sending your support as we battle this threat to the habitats of the Greater Amboseli ecosystem.

Photo: Jeremy Goss

As the world grapples with how and when to send kids back to schools in the wake of COVID-19, Kenya’s government has decided that schools will not reopen until 2021. The reopening process will hinge on how the coronavirus pandemic plays out. 

While we applaud the focus on the health and safety of Kenya’s children, the length of the lockdown is worrying, especially with regard to remote communities and the impact this has had on the education of the children living in these areas. There is a very real risk of students experiencing serious, potentially irrecoverable, setbacks academically in remote areas where there is no electricity, television, newspapers nor libraries. Places like Big Life’s area of operation where there is only the bush, livestock, and wildlife.

In addition to learning, education is directly linked to a myriad of social and economic issues. For example, there are also very real worries that there could be a spike in unwanted pregnancies, forced marriages, and female genital mutilation resulting from girls being out of school. According to statistics from the Kenyan ministry of Education released in June, County (where the Amboseli-Tsavo-Kilimanjaro ecosystem is based) was fifth nationally for unwanted student girls’ pregnancies - 5,038 pregnancies from January-June 2020.

Big Life is trying to fill the gaps where we can.

Given school closures, Big Life did not pay any school fees for the second term, and will instead reserve and honor any donations for school sponsorships next year when classes resume. Tertiary level students may be able to take their courses remotely where internet is available. Big Life also employs 17 primary school teachers and has continued to cover their salaries during the shutdown.

In the interim, the local education committee has been assessing options for supporting students in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem while we wait for schools to reopen. A plan for distributing face masks, hand soap, and reusable menstrual pads to women is being developed, among other options for distance learning in the areas where such a thing is possible. The committee is also working to identify women across the ecosystem who can act as a point of contact for young girls in crisis and needing assistance.

While things may be starting to return to a new normal around the world, educators are wading through uncharted territory, including in Kenya. Thank you all for your support as we navigate this process.

Photo: Mattie Simas