Скачать или смотреть Restoring Kenya's Meru National Park | Wild Africa

Rebuilding and restoring 🇰🇪 Kenya’s Meru National Park.🌳

A park once famous for its conservationists and lion rehabilitation stories was on the brink of collapse in the 1990s. Poachers destroyed the park’s populations of endangered white and black rhinos and elephants that once stood at 3000 individuals, plummeted to only 300. 💔

🦏🐘 But there was still hope! A decade later, Kenya Wildlife Service and IFAW set out to restore the national park. The project included repair of everything from the park’s infrastructure to ranger capacity, as well as the reintroduction of over 1,300 animals. A key aspect of the restoration was fostering community relations by building elephant-proof fences to protect farmers and mitigate human-wildlife conflict. 🦒

“The Meru Project was a significant win for biodiversity conservation. It helped protect people and endangered wildlife from armed criminals, safeguarded a critical migratory ecosystem for elephants, restored tourism, and earned KWS revenue for conservation work,” - James Isiche, IFAW Africa Director.

Reflecting on the project, Azzedine Downes, President and CEO of IFAW, emphasises that conservation efforts prioritising community engagement are vital in protecting wildlife and wild spaces, stating: "Nature will heal itself, if we let it." Today, Meru National Park stands as proof of this, with a thriving ecosystem, growing wildlife populations and returning tourists.💚🐾

#WildAfrica #IFAW #MeruNationalPark #Kenya #WildlifeConservation