Have you heard about Jim Justus Nyamu’s cross-continental walks? Read about Ivory Belongs to Elephants’ East-Central Africa campaign walk
An amazing feat! 🐘 (Or should I say feet?) 👣
Jim campaigns tirelessly to protect elephants. He’s walked 1000s of miles / km and this is his 16th Campaign Walk for Elephants. His aim: to encourage African nations to work closely to protect this species that knows no borders.
Jim Justus Nyamu, *OGW, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Elephant Neighbors Center, a non-profit whose mission is “to protect the African Elephant and secure landscapes for elephants outside protected areas.” The brand Ivory Belongs to Elephants™ focuses on raising awareness locally, nationally, and internationally of the plight of African Elephants, primarily through their advocacy walks.
The East-Central Africa walk started in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 29th and passed through Nakuru, Mau Forest, Tinderet, Kakamega and Malaba (Mount Elgon). In Uganda, Jim walked through Mabira Forest, Kampala, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mbarara, Lake Mburo and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest; now in Rwanda, Jim will visit Kigali, and Akagera National Park; and onto Goma, Virunga National Park, Okapi Wildlife Reserve, and Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This four-month walk will cover approximately 3,200 km. The walks offer solutions to mitigating human-wildlife conflict and highlight the direct importance of wildlife to affected communities.
This most iconic of African species is being pushed towards extinction – slaughtered by poachers to supply a worldwide ivory trade worth up to US$20 billion a year. Despite a ban in many countries, the killing is only getting worse. There are now estimated to be only 350,000 elephants left in Africa, with approximately 20,000 being killed every year. African elephants will be extinct in our lifetime if this rate of loss continues.
Ivory belongs to elephants press release
Elephants are crucial in:
- dispersing seeds +
- keeping the habitat open for grazing animals +
- fighting climate change by contributing to natural carbon capture +
- attracting millions of tourists who make substantial contributions to sub-Saharan Africa’s economies +
- so much more!
Jim and his team have been walking to raise awareness since 2013. By the end of the current campaign, they will have walked almost 20,000 km across Africa, the United States, and the UK, connecting with over 16,000 schools, and holding over 900 community meetings along the the campaign walks.
Jim also walks in the US and Europe to raise awareness in international communities that are still trading in ivory. For example, despite the 2018 announcement of the UK government’s plans to ban sale and export of most ivory items, the trade in ivory and live elephants is still legal in several countries.
If you see Jim, why not join the walk for an hour or even a day? 👣
Better still, you can support the team on the ground by making a donation. (I know how grim it is to try and sleep in a soggy tent!)
You can send directly to Jim Justus Nyamu via Momo +256 784755115 or Mpesa +254 713353060 or donate on the Ivory belongs to elephants gofundme page. Find out more on the Ivory belongs to elephants on Facebook.
(*OGW is the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya is an award presented to individuals in recognition of an outstanding service rendered to the country).
Today October 15th is Jim’s birthday.
He has just crossed from Rwanda into the DR Congo. We wish him all the best today and in the weeks ahead.
Although there have been years of promises (in Uganda, at least) a critical issue is how to get local communities to not see elephants as enemies. When elephants destroy crops, families are damaged. They starve and their children are lost from school because if you cannot afford food you cannot pay school fees. The promise of tourist dollars and all the good elephants do is not enough for the poor farmer whose whole crop is destroyed by one visit of elephants. Game park rangers I talked to are aware that to fairly protect the elephants you must protect the poor people including a financial safety net for the people most directly impacted by elephants being elephants. Maybe this should be part of Mr. Nyamu walk if not already included, or at least part of posts about his efforts.
Significant efforts are underway across Africa to do precisely as you say: find different ways to protect farmers and villagers from elephants (and other wildlife). Of course, without some kind of incentive, humans will not appreciate wildlife.
In 2022, Uganda updated the Wildlife Act to provide compensation for damage to crops and/or farmers but the process does take a while. At the same time, we have a lot more interventions in place, although more are needed. Some are more effective than others. I live on the edge of Kibale National Park. At the end of Sunbird Hill land, we have an elephant trench. Either side of this, there is a wooden “elephant boardwalk” another physical barrier. However, elephants usually find a way round or across. The “beehive fence” is another innovation. Did you know elephants are scared of bees?
In Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls National Parks, we have several kilometres of electric fence that seem to be effective, but again more is needed.
Other challenges we have are farmers continuing to plant palatable crops right next to the park boundary and millennials from Kampala who want to feed bananas to baboons and post the pics on social media!
An integral part of Jim’s walks are meetings with schools and community groups across Africa. He is very aware of the reality of living with wildlife. You can read more of his posts on his Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
I came to Uganda to work with the Uganda Conservation Foundation to address human wildlife conflict. Here are a few stories you may enjoy:
Why I love elephant dung https://www.muzungubloguganda.com/conservation/community-tourism-ishasha-uganda/
How do you deal with an elephant in your garden? https://www.muzungubloguganda.com/conservation/how-do-you-deal-with-an-elephant-in-your-garden/
[Sorry for slow reply. My spam filter is on overdrive!]