Month: June 2022

‘Voices from the Ground’

Posted on by Hannah Emde

with Wildlife Research & Training Institute Kenya: Addressing wildlife meat trade and associated health risks in Kenya.

The Alliance’s online series “Voices from the Ground” format is exclusively for Alliance members and represents the diversity of local realities. Together we will create a safe space that is trustworthy to share experiences, solutions and challenges and shall foster the exchange within the Alliance community. This new format will give you the opportunity to talk about practical challenges and solutions on the ground, such as questions deriving from economic dependence from wildlife trade, cultural and religious values and traditions and Indigenous Peoples knowledge systems. An important topics could also be the problematical implementation of policies – so that all voices will be heard! 

Join our next “Voices from the Ground Session” with WRTI Kenya 

on Thursday, July 14th 2022 at 2:00pm CEST
click here to join the meeting

About the event:

The Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) has been established with the understanding that wildlife research agenda needs to be more focused to provide reliable scientific information on emerging wildlife conservation and management challenges. The speakers from various backgrounds will share their insights and experiences about working along the wildlife meat and trade spectrum in Kenya and associated health risks.

The session will be moderated by Dr. Winnie Kiiru – chairperson of Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI), founder of Conservation Kenya, chairperson of the Wildlife Research Institute in Naivasha.

The speakers will be:

  • Dr. Francis Gakuya – about health risks associated with bushmeat harvesting, trade and consumption, Principal Scientist and Head, Veterinary Science and Laboratories, WRTI.
  • Dr. Moses Otiende – about forensics, identification of wildlife meat and challenges encountered in Kenya, Senior Forensic Analyst and Head, Forensic and Genetics Laboratory, WRTI.
  • Mr. Isaac Maina  – about the indirect relationship between snaring and wildlife off-takes and harvesting in Kenya, African Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW).
  • Naomi Wanja Njihia – about the community perspective on bushmeat consumption and trade, Rangelands Officer at Taita Taveta Wildlife Conservancies Association.
  • Mr. Maurice Omondi – about the law enforcement against illegal bushmeat harvesting, consumption and trade, principal investigation officer with Kenya Wildlife Service. 

If you and your partners are also interested in contributing to a “Voices from the Ground Session”, please let us know.

We are delighted to host this session with WRTI Kenya and are enthusiastic to have a broad exchange within the Alliance community. 

Join here

Expert Talk on how wildlife movement data could help in preventing the spread of infectious diseases with Martin Wikelski

Posted on by Hannah Emde

August 23rd at 14:00 – 15:15 CEST

About this Event

Identifying and reducing human health risks from wildlife trade within a One Health framework needs an internationally coordinated and cooperative approach. Preventing future pandemic outbreaks will need to also address health risks in dealing with wildlife trade, contact and potential spillover, and thus prevention at the source. To create a platform to foster exchange, aiming to reduce the risk of future pandemics, the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade is cordially inviting you to the upcoming

As the founding Director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and Professor in Biology at the University of Konstanz, Prof. Dr. Martin Wikelski investigates global animal movement with the goal of creating an intelligent sensor network of animals—the “Internet of Animals”—and protecting animals worldwide. He has pioneered a system for continuously tracking thousands of animals from space, ICARUS, and in doing so has opened up a frontier in harnessing animal observation as a tool for conservation and more effective management of and response to health risks. Martin Wikelski will share some of the latest data on animal movement around the planet. He will highlight how this helps us to preserve biodiversity, to secure our global food supplies, to anticipate pandemics and potentially to predict natural disasters. Previously, he worked at, among others, University of Washington, Seattle, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Princeton University.