Category: Events and Actions

African Elephant Conservation Scholarship Update

Published on by elephanatic
Elephanatics is proud to support Kenyan students pursuing an education in conservation through the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship distributed by Mara Elephant Project in Kenya.  February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science and we are very excited to support Janeth Jepkemboi as the first recipient of the scholarship. 
Janeth is pursuing her master’s in environmental science. She just completed her first semester, which encouraged her passion for conservation even more. 

Please consider a donation today (“note in the comments “scholarship”) to support Janeth and other Kenyans preparing for a career in conservation, buff.ly/3WNTgH8.

Keep up the great work, Janeth!

 

Just Released: Routledge Handbook of Rewilding

Published on by elephanatic
At the start of the UN #Biodiversity #COP15 taking place in Montreal from Dec 7-16, we are very excited to announce the launch of the Routledge Handbook of Rewilding!
The Handbook is edited by founding members (including Rene Beyers of Elephanatics) of the #IUCN Rewilding Thematic Group and written by more than 60 distinguished experts offering a large diversity of experiences and perspectives.
The book is an invaluable resource for conservation students, academics, rewilding practitioners, policy makers and anyone interested in the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Conservation practitioners who want to integrate rewilding principles into their conservation programs will also highly benefit from this book.
#Rewilding is a fascinating and rapidly emerging field with the goal of helping degraded ecosystems recover and become healthy, resilient, persistent and self-sustaining systems with no or minimal human interference. Rewilding also offers a transformational paradigm shift in the way we think about our relationship with nature. The four sections in the book give a comprehensive overview of key areas of rewilding including: the history of rewilding, ecological theory and practice, rewilding ethics and philosophy. The book gives a global perspective, drawing on case studies from across the world.
Buy yours today at: https://bit.ly/3uyB2ww

Summary of CITES COP19 Nov 14- 25

Published on by elephanatic

Summary of Proposal Outcomes at CITES CoP19 November 14 – 25th 2022

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), CoP19, concluded this past Friday, November 25th. Elephanatics and coalition partners wrote a letter to Canadian MP’s and Canadian CITES Scientific Authority calling for urgent action to be taken to provide elephants the highest level of protection. Below is a summary from the proposals we opposed and supported from the letter we sent.

We opposed:

a.) The proposal to CITES by Zimbabwe at the upcoming convention to amend Annotation 2 pertaining to the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe as specified here:

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP19-Prop-04_1.pdf

  • Loxodonta africana:ZIMBABWE introduced CoP19 Prop.4 to amend the annotation for the Appendix II listing of elephant populations ( africana) in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. BENIN, LIBERIA, BURKINA FASO, PANAMA, KENYA, the EU, GABON, the UK, and ETHIOPIA opposed the proposal on the grounds that it would reopen international trade in ivory. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, ESWATINI, ZAMBIA, TANZANIA, NAMIBIA, BOTSWANA, and LESOTHO supported the proposal, highlighting the relative stability of Southern African elephant populations. IUCN stressed the endangered status of the African savannah elephant.

** The proposal was rejected, with 15 in favour, 83 opposed, and 17 abstentions. Canada voted to reject proposal.

b.) The proposal by Namibia and Botswana to transfer Namibia’s population of southern white rhinos from Appendix I to Appendix II to facilitate trophy hunting and live animal trade for in-situ conservation purposes, as specified here:

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/19/prop/as_received/E-Ceratotherium_simum_simum-Namibia.pdf

  • The proposal to downgrade the status of southern white rhino from Appendix I to Appendix II was accepted at the 19th Conference of Parties (COP19). The amendment restricted the downgrading to live animals, for in situ conservation purposes only. The initial proposal also sought the export of hunting trophies. The decision does not reopen the international trade in rhino horn.

** The proposal was confirmed after it received 83 votes in favour, 31 against it and 13 abstentions. Canada voted in favour. 

We supported:

The proposal by Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, and Senegal to transfer African Elephant populations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe from Appendix ll to Appendix l.

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/19/prop/as_received/E-Loxodonta_africana-Transfer_App_I.pdf

  • L. africana: BURKINA FASO introduced CoP19 Prop.5 to include all populations of African elephants (L. africana) in Appendix I through the transfer from Appendix II to Appendix I of the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. BENIN, TOGO, KENYA, NIGER, SENEGAL, PANAMA, NIGERIA, and BURUNDI supported the proposal, calling for the single listing of all African elephants in Appendix I. CONGO, BOTSWANA, the EU, TANZANIA, ESWATINI, ZIMBABWE, JAPAN, RWANDA, ZAMBIA, NAMIBIA, INDONESIA, ERITREA, UGANDA, and MALAWI opposed the proposal.

The US highlighted Committee II discussions exploring the establishment of a fund accessible to range states upon the non-commercial disposal of their ivory stockpiles.

** The proposal was rejected, with 44 in favour, 59 opposed, and 13 abstentions. Canada voted to reject proposal.

Other good news for Elephants and Rhinos

  • A three-year moratorium was placed on trading live African elephants – meaning there will be no more capturing of baby African elephants from the wild and shipping them to captivity overseas at least until a decision is taken through the standing committee which could take some years. So this is good news for now!
  • There will be no rhino horn trade!
  • A 2nd reading of Henry Smith’s Private Member’s Bill, Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill passed. His bill would ban British hunters from bringing ‘trophies’ of endangered and vulnerable animals into Britain. The Bill needs to successfully go through all the UK parliamentary stages and then Royal Accent before it becomes law.

Overall, there were some good outcomes for elephants and rhinos. Many other endangered species received more protection such as birds, amphibians, turtles, glass frogs, snakes, lizards, some of which are traded heavily for the pet trade.

More work needs to be done with African and Asian communities to deal with human wildlife conflict and the role of CITES in reducing risk of future zoonotic diseases associated with international wildlife trade.

For the full summary records at CoP19 see here.

 

 

 

Giving Tuesday November 29th

Published on by elephanatic


It’s Giving Tuesday November 29th

This #GivingTuesday we are asking you to help support the work of Elephanatics to build conservation educational capacity in Kenya by donating to the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship held with Mara Elephant Project, an African conservation organization in Kenya dedicated to protecting elephants and their habitats.

The scholarship provides financial support to Kenyan nationals acquiring a technical certificate, undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters or PhD) degree in an area related to conservation and the protection of wildlife.

Janeth Jepkemboi was the first ever recipient of the scholarship.

Janeth began her master’s program at Karatina University studying environmental science. Janeth’s parents worked hard to put her through high school, and she helped by doing fundraisers. To pursue her undergraduate degree, she took out loans and worked throughout. Janeth was an exceptional candidate for this scholarship.

“My undergraduate studies in environmental studies made me passionate about conservation and I love connecting with nature. This scholarship is an opportunity for me to gain skills and academic excellence that I will use after as I envision working with a conservation organization and being at a level where I can influence policy to safeguard livelihoods while still protecting biodiversity values. This scholarship will be a great opportunity to realize my dreams and be an asset to the community.”

Janeth’s first semester consists of 7 units to include Conservation & Planning of Biological Resources, Environment & Development, among others. She is currently working on numerous assignments and term papers and will be writing her end of semester exams in January. We wish her every success and know she will do well.

The future of our wildlife depends on students, such as Janeth, to bring innovative change to conservation methods and modalities. We are all interdependent on nature for our own survival. Please consider investing in students who will provide the expertise necessary to make these changes.

 Donate Here

* Please state in the comments section under ‘Donate Now’ that you would like your money deposited to the “Fran Duthie Scholarship”.

 

 

 

Elephanatics Foundation - Free elephant conservation lesson plans, toolkits for teachers, and persuasive essay resources.

CITES CoP19 Letter to MP’s

Published on by elephanatic

October 15, 2022

Dear Member of Parliament,

We are a coalition of organizations calling for urgent action to be taken at the upcoming CITES-CoP19 taking place in Panama City, Panama, November 14-25. (https://cites.org/eng/cop19).

We oppose:

a.) The proposal to CITES by Zimbabwe at the upcoming convention to amend Annotation 2 pertaining to the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe as specified here: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP19-Prop-04_1.pdf

b.) The proposal by Namibia and Botswana to transfer Namibia’s population of southern white rhinos from Appendix I to Appendix II to facilitate trophy hunting and live animal trade for in-situ conservation purposes, as specified here: https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/19/prop/as_received/E-Ceratotherium_simum_simum-Namibia.pdf

We support:

The proposal by Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, and Senegal to transfer African Elephant populations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe from Appendix ll to Appendix l.1

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/19/prop/as_received/E-Loxodonta_africana-Transfer_App_I.pdf

Read full letter here: Dear Member of Parliament

Elephanatics Foundation - Free elephant conservation lesson plans, toolkits for teachers, and persuasive essay resources.

African Elephant Conservation Scholarship distributed by Mara Elephant Project!

Published on by elephanatic
We are very pleased to announce: Janeth Jepkemboi as the first ever recipient of the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship distributed by Mara Elephant Project!

We are excited to announce that Janeth Jepkemboi is the first ever recipient of the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship distributed by Mara Elephant Project. Janeth is beginning her master’s program at Karatina University studying environmental science. Janeth’s parents worked hard to put her through high school, and she helped by doing fundraisers. To pursue her undergraduate degree, she took out loans and worked throughout. Janeth was an exceptional candidate for this scholarship generously supported by Fran Duthie and her family.

“My undergraduate studies in environmental studies made me passionate about conservation and I love connecting with nature. This scholarship is an opportunity for me to gain skills and academic excellence that I will use after as I envision working with a conservation organization and being at a level where I can influence policy to safeguard livelihoods while still protecting biodiversity values. This scholarship will be a great opportunity to realize my dreams and be an asset to the community.”

Help Support Elephants

Published on by elephanatic

It’s #WorldElephantDay August 12th!

DONATE TODAY * Donations to Elephanatics will be sent to SEEDBALLS Kenya to purchase seedballs for @MaraElephantProject in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.

We Are Excited!

Elephanatics has recently partnered with SEEDBALLS Kenya!

SEEDBALLS Kenya is an African based organization that has pioneered a method of mass producing seedballs for low cost and efficient reintroduction of trees and grass species into degraded areas in Africa.

What is a seedball? A Seedball is simply that – a seed inside of a ball of charcoal dust mixed with some nutritious binders. SEEDBALLS Kenya focuses on helping reduce the cost of planting various useful indigenous plant species (mostly trees and grass) in Kenya. The biochar coating of the ball helps protect the seed within from predators such as birds, rodents and insects and extremes of temperature until the rains arrive! Once soaked, the seedball helps retain and prolong a moist environment around the seed to encourage germination. Seedballs are a nature-based solution to biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

Human activity is degrading ecosystems and driving biodiversity loss faster than ever before. The speed at which species are disappearing is at least 100 times higher than the natural rate of extinction. If we don’t stop this, at the current rate it will take millions of years for diversity to be restored to pre industrial levels. Africa is suffering from an unprecedented decline in biodiversity due to extensive agricultural practices, population growth, illicit wildlife trafficking, development, and more. In the last forty years, elephant habitat has decreased by nearly two thirds largely due to human activities.

We are happy to promote the outstanding work SEEDBALLS Kenya does in assisting with restoring and reforesting areas of Africa hardest hit by habitat destruction.

Please join us this World Elephant Day and Donate to Propagate! 

For more information on SEEDBALLS Kenya go to: https://www.seedballskenya.com/seedballs

DONATE TODAY * Donations to Elephanatics will be sent to SEEDBALLS Kenya to purchase seedballs for @MaraElephantProject in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.

 

Mara Elephant Project Scholarship!

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The Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship

Building a Legacy of Conservation in Kenya. The Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship, administered by the Mara Elephant Project (MEP), is a powerful partnership between MEP and Elephanatics, a Canadian elephant advocacy organization co-founded by Fran Duthie. This scholarship is designed to build local capacity by providing financial support and practical experience to the next generation of Kenyan conservation leaders.

Scholarship Details This scholarship provides financial support to Kenyan nationals pursuing a technical certificate, undergraduate, or postgraduate degree in a field related to conservation and wildlife protection. Scholars also receive valuable hands-on experience through a required one-month internship with a Kenyan conservation organization.

See the Impact Since its launch, this scholarship has changed lives and helped secure a future for elephants. Our inaugural recipient, Janeth Jepkemboi, is currently completing her Master’s thesis with a research internship at MEP. We are also proud to support amazing students like Leshan, Mark, Mary, and Sumaiyah, who are all making a tangible impact in the field.

 

 

 

 

 

Support the Scholarship Please consider supporting these amazing students and their work. Your contribution directly funds the education of Kenyans preparing for a career in conservation, helping to ensure a thriving future for elephants, wildlife, and their habitats.

  • Application dates will be determined by Mara Elephant Project. Contact them for more information at: maraelephantproject.org

  • Please consider making a donation today (Note in the comments: “scholarship”) to support Kenyans preparing for a career in conservation.

 Updates of Current Recipients to the Fran Duthie African Elephant Scholarship

🔸 Leshan proactively pursued independent studies, utilizing online reading materials and peer discussions to advance his coursework.
🔸 Mark had the privilege of participating in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research event held at the United Nations in Nairobi, where he participated in global discussions on sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, and biodiversity.
🔸 Mary participated in the International Women’s Day Celebration at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi and connected with a lot of other impactful women working in conservation and beyond.
🔸 Sumaiyah participated in a wildlife census hosted by the Athi Kapiti Wildlife Conservancies Association and supported the draft report based on their findings.
 
The scholarship supports these amazing Kenyan students as they pursue a career in conservation. #MaraElephants #Elephanatics
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephant Conservation Presentation with Dr Rene Beyers

Published on by elephanatic
Be inspired by Dr Rene Beyers as he explains why elephants are so important to the environment and the ecosystems in which they live, AND the need for our own survival!
"Elephanatics Foundation - Free elephant conservation lesson plans, toolkits for teachers, and persuasive essay resources."

Mandate For Elephant and Rhinoceros Ivory Tusk Trade To End

Published on by elephanatic
Great news in today! A time to celebrate the work of so many wonderful people who have made this happen.
Prime Minister Trudeau has mandated that our new Minister of Environment, Steven Guilbeault:
  • Work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade and end elephant and rhinoceros tusk trade in Canada.
  •  Introduce legislation to protect animals in captivity.
We thank the Canadian government for making these issues an integral part of the Environment Minister’s mandate.
It goes without saying that we are extremely pleased, but realize we could not have accomplished this without the help of all of you.
Our deepest thanks to all our supporters, domestically and globally, our #IvoryFreeCanada coalition partners, the hundreds of scientists, politicians, conservationists, and NGO’s who signed our letter, our petition, and the Canadian consultation requesting for a ban on the domestic trade of elephant ivory in Canada.
It’s a time to rejoice and be grateful for steps taken! The future of elephants and wildlife depends on getting regulations done. We look forward to making sure it does.
🐘 Way To Go Team Elephants! 🐘
Read full mandate letter here