Outreach in amboseli schools

Recently, we conducted an outreach mission in different schools around Amboseli National Park aimed at educating the children on wildlife and environmental conservation and more specifically on lion conservation in Amboseli/ West Kili ecosystem. We met students from five different primary schools – Olmoti, Enkongu- Narok, Esiteti, Naor Enkare and Risa.

We targeted specific times of the day such as lunch breaks and afternoons after classes to avoid disrupting their learning sessions. Besides having an interactive session on conservation, we also administered questionnaires to test how knowledgeable they are on these issues.

Education outreach for conservation purposes is crucial as people need to be informed to enable them make wise decisions and take action. Although children are not the major threat in the ritual killing of lions and forests destruction, they are the future generation and sharing information with them will help in safeguarding wildlife and the environment in future.

In addition to the outreach in schools, we attended a traditional event held at Marlal Village in Kuku Group Ranch. It was the graduation ceremony for the Ilkiponi age set of warriors transiting to young elders. The event was attended by morans (young warriors) from all camps – Ilaitayiok, Ilaiser, Kuku and Rombo. Besides the festivities, we also had one-on-one talks with the new young elders on lions, wildlife and environmental conservation. In the Amboseli ecosystem, thousands of these morans have now become junior elders.   

Engaging and sharing of information with all stakeholders is key for the conservation of wildlife into the future.