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Cambridge award recognises conservation work in Africa

April 03, 2003

A student at the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) has been awarded a top prize for his efforts to conserve wildlife in Africa. Noah Sitati, a Kenyan PhD, has studied the interactions between elephants and people around the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve, where the BBC's Big Cat Diary is filmed. At last week's Student Conference on Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge, Noah was awarded the prize for the best presentation, beating off stiff competition from around the world.

'This is a huge accolade', says Professor Nigel Leader-Williams, Director of DICE and Noah's PhD supervisor. 'Each year this international conference brings together some of the sharpest young minds in conservation science from around the world. This year, six current and former DICE students gave hugely interesting presentations of their work, ranging from tiger conservation to snake charming. Noah's award recognises that academic research can yield practical results for wildlife and people.'

A particular theme of Noah's work has been to find ways for rural Africans to protect their crops from marauding elephants. He worked with local farmers to test and develop cheap and simple practical methods, and the project is having real impact. 'If farmers can defend their crops then their tolerance of elephants increases, and fewer are killed in retribution,' says Noah. 'Since some 80% of Africa's elephants live outside parks and reserves, it is vital to find ways for them to coexist with people. Our work in Kenya is contributing to the search for appropriate solutions.'

Noah's research on elephants is part of an ongoing programme implemented by DICE in and around the Masai Mara since 1998. With funding from the British Government's Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species, DICE has trained Kenyan students, park staff and community members to monitor interactions with wildlife and identify solutions to conflicts such as crop raiding, livestock predation, and tourism disturbance of wildlife.

Dr Matt Walpole, co-ordinator of the Masai Mara programme at DICE, believes that such capacity building is critical. 'With the support of the Darwin Initiative, we have provided training to three Masai community members to MSc level, whilst some 35 other community members have received field training and employment with the programme. As a result, local attitudes towards wildlife are improving, and populations of some endangered species are stabilising. Other donors such as WWF have seen the value of our work and have stepped in to provide additional support'.

The scientific credentials of DICE's work are central to its success. Noah has recently passed his PhD viva, alongside a fellow Kenyan who worked on tourism impacts in the Masai Mara. The key results of this programme have already been repatriated to Kenya through workshops that have been published recently by the International Institute for Environment and Development. An early report of some of the scientific work has already appeared in the leading international science journal, Nature. Noah has also been appointed to the African Elephant Specialist Group, an international consortium of elephant experts that meets under the auspices of the World Conservation Union to advise governments and donors on elephant conservation and management. He is currently in Canterbury planning the next phase of his work.

Kent, University of

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