In 2014, The Stimson Center, in partnership with local and global partners and the Kenyan government, committed to designing and implementing a gold standard integrated wildlife protection technology system that provides appropriate detection and communication technologies to assist enforcement teams mitigating poaching in the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in Kenya. In the past two years, about 60,000 elephants and more than 1,600 rhinos have been killed by poachers. Sharply declining wildlife populations have significant economic consequences for these countries in addition to the impact on species population viability. Approximately 13 percent of Kenya’s GDP comes from the tourism sector, where elephants and rhinos are star attractions, making their disappearance an economic threat. Poaching and wildlife crime is no longer only conservation challenge; it is also a serious socio-economic and security issue. This multi-stakeholder commitment will bring more robust protection measures to wildlife conservation in Kenya and the technology capacity-building and training will be locally driven and designed from the bottom-up. This pilot project will bring conservation, development, and security communities together to collectively combat the challenge of poaching and wildlife crime.
Technology and Innovation to End Poaching and Wildlife Crime
In Resilience & Sustainability
Commitment by the Stimson Center:
In 2014, The Stimson Center, in partnership with local and global partners and the Kenyan government, committed to designing and implementing a gold standard integrated wildlife protection technology system that provides appropriate detection and communication technologies to assist enforcement teams mitigating poaching in the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in Kenya. In the past two years, about 60,000 elephants and more than 1,600 rhinos have been killed by poachers. Sharply declining wildlife populations have significant economic consequences for these countries in addition to the impact on species population viability. Approximately 13 percent of Kenya’s GDP comes from the tourism sector, where elephants and rhinos are star attractions, making their disappearance an economic threat. Poaching and wildlife crime is no longer only conservation challenge; it is also a serious socio-economic and security issue. This multi-stakeholder commitment will bring more robust protection measures to wildlife conservation in Kenya and the technology capacity-building and training will be locally driven and designed from the bottom-up. This pilot project will bring conservation, development, and security communities together to collectively combat the challenge of poaching and wildlife crime.
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