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The Japanese government demonstrated their support for Kenya’s conservation efforts through a donation to the Kenya Wildlife Service at the Service’s headquarters Monday, 27th March, 2023.
Handing over an assortment of equipment valued at approximately 100M shillings, His Excellency Ambassador Ken Okaniwa from the Embassy of Japan in Kenya, said that the equipment donated will enable KWS’s Conservation Education and Extension Services Department, to promote awareness about the necessity of wildlife conservation for future generations. “The Japanese assistance to Kenya in the area of wildlife conservation, is supporting the KWS through training and provision of equipment. Japan has also provided Japanese volunteers to be working in the field,” Ambassador Okaniwa said, adding that the two facilities adjacent to the Nairobi National Park, namely, Nairobi Safari Walk and Animal Orphanage are an extremely important indicator of how well humans and wildlife can co-exist. His Excellency stated that Japanese researchers have been conducting research in Kenya, covering myriad aspects of environmental protection and wildlife conservation, such as the coexistence of leopards and humans. He commended the 60-year-old strong bilateral ties between Kenya and Japan, adding that the friendship went beyond government to government, as it involved helping each other overcome various challenges. Ambassador Okaniwa looked forward to seeing the donations being used for the promotion of KWS activities.
KWS acting Director General Dr. Erustus Kanga expressed his sincere gratitude on behalf of the Service, to the Japanese Government and the people of Japan for their continued support to KWS to accomplish the Service’s core mandate of wildlife conservation. “The Japanese Government has over the years directly supported KWS in Conservation Education programs, and also through Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This has been accomplished through technical experts and volunteers, procurement of multimedia equipment, and support for KWS motor vehicle workshops,” Dr. Kanga stated.
Dr. Kanga lauded the Japanese Government’s consistent support for outreach programmes that have helped in inculcating conservation education to Kenyans, particularly the youth, over the years. KWS CEO thanked the Japanese Government for extending KSh. 100 million grant to KWS, used in a plethora of programs such as to implement the Nairobi Safari Walk Development and Education Outreach Programme, among several others. “Moving forward, KWS would be glad to enter into new partnerships with the Japanese Government in environment and capacity building fields. With regard to environment, the key areas are climate change, drought mitigation and water resources management. For capacity building, we will be grateful for support in areas of maritime security, illegal wildlife trade and technology exchange among others,” Dr. Kanga averred, further assuring His Excellency the Ambassador, of total prudence and accountability for the grants extended to KWS.
The donations included 12 laptops, four LCD Smart UPS, two 32-inch Smart TVs, 10 external drives, 10 portable projectors, 10 generators, a 65-inch 4K Smart TV, two desktop computers, two 27-inch display monitors, one video editing and DTP desktop, eight monochrome printers, cameras, motor vehicles and several others.
