Chinese community living in Kenya will rally behind initiatives implemented by local conversation agencies to conserve and protect wildlife. This was announced Saturday during the launch of China-Kenya Wildlife Cooperation Forum.
The Forum, according to organizers, will provide a platform to explore opportunities through which Chinese citizens will offer their support to institutions such as Kenya Wildlife Service, Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Kenya Primate Research Institute, National Museums of Kenya, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, and Snakebite Research Center, among others.
Chinese national Qiang Zhuo, popular as ‘Simba,’ helped set up the forum. He has lived in Kenya for more than 14 years and is already involved in wildlife conservation activities in the Maasai Mara. Qiang who works with locals to protect wildlife as well as reduce human-wildlife conflict, says he wants to get more Chinese citizens to support conservation in Kenya.
“My work is to protect wildlife habitat and save endangered species around the world, but my favourite country is Kenya and my preferred place is Maasai Mara,” he said
“This forum is very important because we have set up a platform to encourage and inspire Chinese communities living in Kenya as well as Chinese tourists who visit Kenya to join our conservation efforts,” he explained
He says the Chinese, in general, love animals and are always eager to pay a visit to Kenya’s national parks and reserves. This is what, Qiang said, they will leverage to secure solid backing for the initiative.
“Kenya is one of the most popular countries attracting Chinese tourists and we want to inspire them on the critical importance of wildlife protection and environment conservation in Kenya and in Africa,” he said
After residing in Kenya for a number of years, Qiang, who describes himself as a wildlife conservation explorer, says he came to learn, for instance, that the population of lions was diminishing at an alarming rate. He says this inspired him to act to help reverse the trend.
“I realized their number was reducing and I made a decision to save lions from extinction. My mission to inspire Kenyans to save lions and encourage more Chinese to join me in these conservations efforts,” he states while disclosing that his immediate intervention was to support patrolling capacity of warders in the Maasai Mara
“I am also assisting community-based conservation model that helps the Maasai people to implement conservation. We target anti-poaching, reduction of human-wildlife conflict, and community welfare projects,” he says
He says Kenya and Africa need support at a government and non-government levels to enhance wildlife conservation.
He spoke as the Chinese community made donations that included motorcycles and cash to support the initiative. The funds will be used to purchase equipment for use at community-based conservancies in Maasai Mara and other parts of Kenya. The motorcycles, on the other hand, will go to rangers to support their patrolling capacities against poachers.
Kenya Overseas Chinese Association Chairperson Gao Wei said the Chinese operating in Kenya have heeded Qiang’s call and will offer necessary support, especially by mobilizing needed resources.
“We are looking at how we the Chinese can do something for the society in the area of conservation to our friends in Kenya and we are looking at What Kenya is famous for, that is wildlife,” he said
Gao confirmed that in the coming days, more and more Chinese will be joining the efforts to protect the environment and wildlife in Kenya. Like Qiang, he believes the fact that more Chinese tourists visit Kenya because of their love for animals, will help push the conservation agenda.
“Kenya is an environment-great country with many national parks and animals such as in the Maasai Mara. It is known for wildlife. These treasures attract a lot of interests across the world. We believe if we can promote better conservation of wildlife in Kenya this can be good for the country,” he said
Vincent Obanda, a Principal Research Scientist at the Wildlife Research and Training Institute welcomed the gesture from the Chinese. He said activities at WRTI that are focused in conservation, management and utilization of wildlife and entire biodiversity for posterity, will receive a shot in the arm with Chinese community intervention.
“We are really happy to work with our Chinese counterparts. They are not only sending expertise or resources they are coming to collaborate with sector stakeholders and major players. This was a very important forum and a message to the Chinese and Kenyan people that we can now work together towards conversation,” he said
Stanislaus Kivai from the Kenya Institute of Primate Research holds a similar view.
“This is a great initiative. The success in wildlife conservation now lies in partnerships and collaborating with communities. This initiative is promising in saving primates in this country, given that we have to create awareness not just nationally but globally,” he said
From his area of work, Kivai says there is a need to educate people about the primates and the threats they are facing as well as the kinds of initiatives they need to get involved in to help protect them and conserve them.
“After meeting the Chinese community who have alluded to the fact that they are keen to help wildlife conservation in this country, I see this as a great opportunity where we from the Kenya Institute of Primate Research can partnership with them. They can support us in terms of creating awareness and supporting communities who are very key in the long-term survival of these wildlife,” noted Kivai
He welcomed the motorbikes donated by the community saying they will help in the collection of information and support communities at the local level.
“I look forward to us also collaborating through training. We can jointly train Kenyan and Chinese students on primatology like we have done with other international students. Since we haven’t had many students in China on primatology, this is an opportunity and this will influence conservation of primates. This is because primates are mammals that are globally threatened,” he said
China is Kenya’s sixth largest tourism source market, accounting for 5.5% of all international visitors. According to the Annual Report on Tourism Industry Performance, the number of Chinese tourists increased by 161% in 2023 to 52,000 compared to 20,260 in 2022.
This increase provides an opportunity for the Chinese business community and Kenya’s Tourism and wildlife conservation agencies to explore ways of cooperation.
Wildlife is Kenya’s most popular tourist attraction, generating an estimated $1 billion annually, which accounts for more than 13.5% of GDP.
