By Bisola Adeyemo
A Non-Governmental Organization, Elephants’ Neighbours Center, in Narok County in Kenya seeks to sensitize residents on the need to conserve the environment and protect the wildlife.
Narok County Commissioner, Evans Achoki, flagged off the awareness campaign with Jim Justus Nyamu, the founder and director of Elephants’ Neighbours Center has so far walked 17,000 Kilometers and is in his 14th edition targeting to walk across 11 counties, from Nairobi to Trans Nzoia County sensitizing people on the need to conserve environment.
According to him, the 14th edition was launched on November 16, in Nairobi whereby Nyamu passed through Ngong in Kajiado County. He will finish on December 19th, 2021 in Mt’ Elgon- Trans Nzoia County.
“The ecosystem at the Mara has changed and if we are not careful we will lose the wild animals to the Serengeti- Tanzania side. That is why I have to walk to sensitize the residents on the importance of conserving the environment.
“The Mara we used to know, he said, has changed because people are focusing more on tourism other than spending time looking at conservation.
“The future of Maasai Mara is not in tourism but in wildlife. Statistics show that the wildebeest have declined in number in the last few years. If we are not careful in protecting the animals, we will lose the eighth wonder of the world,” he said.
During the walk, Kenya news agency reported that the environmentalist targets to plant 10, 000 tree seedlings in various schools and institutions, to serve as an example and motivate the young learners to conserve the environment. “We need to mitigate the climate change, by planting the right trees. We are the generation that has tampered with our environment, so we need to prepare the future generation on how to cope with the environment,” he said.
Elephants’ Neighbors Center is a Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to raise awareness about conservation especially to communities adjacent to national parks through two pillars; conservation and research and community-based conservation programme.