GVI Kenya

Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: gvikenya

East African coastal forests are some of the most critical habitats for wildlife conservation in the world. Once upon a time they were a continuous belt that stretched from Somalia down to Mozambique, and were home to some of Africa’s most diverse and unique wildlife. Unfortunately today, what remains are small, isolated and fragmented patches, in which the wildlife is becoming more and more vulnerable.

 One of the many new roads scarring the forest

GVI has been conducting disturbance surveys in Shimoni forest for over three years now, and have a solid and robust set of data, which highlight the plight of this beautiful area. The main aim for our research in the forest, is to be able to hand it over to Friends of Shimoni Forest (a community-based organisation), which will empower them to lobby, apply or petition for things like land allocation or protective status for the forest.

The work of illegal loggers

We have been very encouraged recently however, as government organisations and the local administration have actively approached us for our data and results, as they too are very concerned with the level of destruction. Off the back of this, we have spent a lot of time putting together a disturbance report, which summarises our results over the years. This report has been written on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and has been submitted to Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, the Chairman of the County Council, the District Commissioner, the East African Wildlife Society and the IUCN.

A charcoal pit in action

It is massively encouraging to know that our results are being looked at by so many people, and that the number and range of people concerned with this destruction is ever increasing. We cannot wait to work with everyone in the future, so that together we can put a stop to it.

Tags: , administration, Chairman of the County Council, Charcoal Pit, critical habitat, data, destruction, District Commissioner, disturbance, diverse, East African coastal forest, East African Wildlife Society, fragmanted patches, Friends of Shimoni Forest, government organisations, illegal loggers, isolated, IUCN, Kenya Forest Service, Mozambique, results, robust, Somalia, surveys, unique wildlife, vulnerable, wildlife conservation

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Mangroves, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 12 2009 | By: gvikenya

I write to you all today with very tired legs, blistered hands and an aching arm, but with good news!  Today we headed out into Shimoni east to help the members of Friends of Shimoni Forest (the community based organisation we work with) plan, cut and tag the trail through the forest that they will soon be taking tourists on!

Friends of Shimoni Forest have been planning these guided tours though the forest for a while now, and are finally almost ready to go.  The idea is to take tourists on walks through the forest to visit the sacred Kaya’s (traditional religious sites), and to experience the amazing wildlife that exists.

 A view of the mangroves from the trail

There were times of sadness and frustration, as we confirmed our fears that it simply was not possible to get up to the Kaya’s (which are a couple of kilometers past our normal survey transects) without passing through vast swathes of destruction.  The areas of pristine, mature forest are becoming more and more fragmented and patchy.  This was expected though, and maneuvering the tourists through only untouched forest would have been a falsehood (as well as difficult!).  This way they will see both sides – the results of overexploitation and illegal activities, and the amazing coastal forest as it should be.

Some of the stunning forest the trail passes through

Raising awareness of this forest, and the issues that it faces is the single most important thing we can do.  Not only will these guided walks show tourists what is happening, we believe it will raise awareness amongst the local community as well.  Not only this, but it will bring Friends of Shimoni Forest valuable revenue which it can use to fund activities like forest patrols, tree planting, school scholarships, and perhaps will aide in finding alternative livelihoods for some of the people charcoal burning and logging. 

 A charcoal pit ready to burn

The main issue with ideas such as forest patrols, is that the people of these communities simply cannot afford to sacrifice a day earning money for their families, for patrolling as volunteers.  And many of the charcoal burners we have spoken to said they would happily give it up if they could earn money in other ways.  These problems are not easily solved, but there are many avenues to explore.

Tags: Charcoal Burning, Community Conservation, community initiatives, deforestation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, guided tours, Logging, Shimoni Forest, tourist trails, tourist walks

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest | Date: Apr 22 2009 | By: gvikenya

What is the best way to have your voice herd? How do you convince the people in charge that your cause is important? When it’s the health of our rare coastal forest, how to you get the politicians on your side? Answer: Take it to their door step. And that’s what Friends of Shimoni Forest is doing. Last week we told you guys about our meeting with the Area Chief and the four Assistant Area Chiefs. This meeting really encouraged us to keep moving our cause forward with the local administration. The area chief recommended that we speak with the District commissioner and Chairman of the County Counsel. These two men are very influential here in Shimoni and the surrounding area. We immediately scheduled the two meetings for the begging of this week. The meetings were a great success and could be a huge turning point for our group and local conservation in general.
Our first meeting was with the Chairman of county counsel. The county counsel is in charge of the three major districts in the area. They are also in charge of allocating government land. We wanted to discus land ownership and the possibility of allocating a large plot of the forest to our group. We feared this may have been kind of a long shot so we took all necessary measures before raising the subject. We explained that we had the support from our Village Chairmen, Area chiefs and Kenya Wildlife Services. We talked about all the previous work we had done with youth education, patrolling of the forest, and creating sustainable alternative sources of income for the community. This last point really struck a chord with the Chairman. It is part of their mission to help communities grow and create jobs to raise the standard of living within their area. We explained that it was our goal to create sustainable work within the community to deter people from illegal and unsustainable practices such as logging and charcoal burning. Creating jobs and conservation are two very important issues to the counsel and the Chairman assured us we had his full support. He recommended that our group write a proposal for the land and that there is a high probability of placing a large piece of the forest under our protection.  Amazing!!!

Our meeting with the District Commissioner was just as rewarding. Our goal for these meetings was to bring our groups intentions to the higher authorities. We want support from the authorities in obtaining this land. Getting the forest protected is a long term goal and will not happen overnight. We realized that as a CBO (community based organization) it can sometimes be difficult to move our projects forward. If this land is allocated to Friends of Shimoni Forest and placed in our protection it will make our group a major share holder and give us a lot more influence in policies written. This will be a huge step towards protecting the entire forest. We are very excited! This will not solve all our problems, illegal practices will not just stop, nor will we.  This will show everyone that our community is ready to take major actions to protect this beautiful coastal forest and the animals that live there. We will continue fight for our causes and the further we look the more we realize that we can build the support and make this work.  We appreciate everyone’s support and can’t wait to tell you what happens next.
Until then this is Drew and thanks for your support and time.             

Tags: , Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenyan Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Forest fire, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest | Date: Apr 14 2009 | By: gvikenya

Drew here with more information on the fire and what’s happening with Friends of Shimoni Forest. Recently a meeting was held with community members and government officials about the destruction in Shimoni forest. This meeting was lead by KWS and involved many members of the community including Friends of Shimoni Forest. We had a major victory when the community decided to ban all power saws from the Shimoni area. And for a while we were seeing a real decline in logging which showed promise.
Unfortunately the recent fire which burned a large portion of the coastal forest reminds us that there is still a lot of work to be done. Matt, working with GVI who discovered the fire, recently wrote about the fire in our blog. Yesterday Matt and I were called to have a meeting with the Area Chief Rashid Kassim Mklinynyihti and assistant Area Chiefs from the surrounding Kawle district. They were very concerned when word reached them about the fire and they had people soon on the scene. It is known that the fire was started by illegal charcoal pits and logging practices. During the meeting we discussed ways in which we could work together more efficiently to prevent these crimes. GVI and Friends of Shimoni Forest have always worked very closely with local community members and officials. The officers present at this meeting represent a greater area and have more influence in creating polices. Conservation starts at grass root levels and Friends of Shimoni forest is a perfect example of this.
We were very excited when the Mr. Kassim invited us to attend the weekly meeting held at the chief office is in Pongikie/ kidimu. He would like us to report to him personally anytime we have a concern or new plan of action. This is a great sign that the importance of conserving the forest is shared by both the community and elected officials from the greater area. Plans have been made to begin involving more influential politicians in our organization and this is a great step. We are setting an appointment with the district commissioner to discuss our concerns and raise money for saplings. FSF would like to sponsor a forest day festival. The Mr. Kassim is already on board and promises a lot of support. With the district commissioner’s help we think this event could be a huge success. We plan to invite local schools and other community groups and members to come and plant trees and learn more about the forest.
This just one more step towards reaching our goals. Every victory is important to our cause. Conservation is everyone’s responsibility. When communities join together to battle issues like global warming and protection of their environment amazing things can happen. We realize that the task at hand is immense and appreciate every step made forward. With the help of GVI and government officials, Friends of Shimoni forest and the community at large remain determined to put an end to the destruction of our coastal forest.

Tags: Charcoal Pit, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, conservation, Enviornmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Elephant Shrew, Forest fire, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest | Date: Apr 09 2009 | By: gvikenya

Hello again all,

This blog is not a happy one I’m afraid, as I bring you all news of an enormous fire in Shimoni East Forest.  About three weeks ago, we were on Wasini Island - the location of our base - and we noticed an ominous orange glow on the horizon.  It was in the direction of the forest, but we saw no signs of a fire in the subsequent weeks as we were conducting our surveys on the southern most transects, the ones nearest the coast.

Today however, we headed up to transect 6 (our northern most transect) for the first time in at least a month and a half.  What we found was crushing, to say the least. 

Some of the fire damage

A massive area just south of transect 6 had been burned, with most of the damage at the base of large trees.  This is a method used to weaken the base of the tree and make it easier to fell.  By our estimations, that area stretched for at least 150 X 150 metres.  This was shocking enough, but the worst was yet to come.

The damage done to the ground

We managed to find the start of our transect (the north/south spine we use for access was obliterated by the fire), and headed east conducting a primate community survey.  Around section 3 (150 metres from the start) we started seeing more evidence of fire damage.  The further down the transect we went, the worse it got.  Everywhere, there were big trees burnt at the base, and the entire ground was scorched black.  Nothing on the ground seemed to have been spared; all the leaf litter, ground shrubs and saplings were gone, and any dead wood or old logs were piles of ash.  The fire damage stretched up to section 17, which is 850 metres from where we started. 

We don’t know how far the damage stretches in the other direction, but for a forest that has an area no more than 3 square kilometres, it is a scary size.  We spent most of the day in stunned silence, not quite believing what we were seeing.

What we must be grateful for however, is that it was only a ground level fire that must have moved fairly quickly, the dry leaf litter being the fuel.  The majority of the trees and the larger bushes, thickets and scrubs survived. 

We’re not sure to what extent the fire stretched north or south, as we were walking east only.  When we start surveying on transect 5, which is 200 metres south of where we were, we will see how far it stretches.  All we can hope for is that it is a thin strip, and that other areas of the forest were spared.

Standing speechless…

One can only guess as to what happened, but my hunch is that people conducting illegal logging in the forest, set fires to weaken the trees.  Then either the fires got out of control or were just left to burn away. 

Our spirits were lifted throughout the day though, as we sighted three troops of Colobus monkeys, a zanj elephant shrew and a harvey’s duiker.  There were also plenty of the usual butterflies, insects and spiders around, so it appears the damage was not as catastrophic as it could have been.

We contacted the assistant warden of the Kenya Wildlife Service and the members of the community policing unit and informed them of what has happened.  Let us hope that this filters through to the community, and helps to highlight the fragility and vulnerability of this small, but ecologically critical coastal forest habitat.

Tags: , Forest fire, harvey's duiker, illegal logging, slash and burn, zanj elephant shrew

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest | Date: Mar 26 2009 | By: gvikenya

Hello again everyone,

Today I’m going to write the first of what I hope will be an ongoing story about a particular troop of Colobus that inhabit Shimoni Forest (east).  It’s a troop that we at GVI are beginning to know quite well, and are becoming rather fond of. 

 One member of the Angola troop

There is an area of forest, where our north / south spine runs through our third transect.  The area is made up mainly of a fairly large clearing, which is surrounded on two sides by tall, mature forest.  To the west of the clearing (the negative sections of our transect) the forest becomes dense with lots of thickets and low canopy, whereas to the east the clearing continues for a fair distance.

We’d always noticed there were a high number of Colobus sightings in and around that area, but because of the distances between the sightings (often up to 400 metres) it was assumed they were different troops.  But recently, we have been attempting to conduct behaviour surveys in the late afternoon and early evening (the times in which our data set is falling behind in). 

What we’ve noticed is that all the smaller groups we’d been seeing scattered around during the day, are actually subgroups of a much larger troop that come together in the early evening, and presumably sleep together as a large group.  Colobus troops are known to do this; sleep together in larger groups, and then separate during the day to feed in smaller subgroups. 

We’ve named the troop the ‘Angola’ troop.  So far, we have conducted 4 hours and 10 minutes worth of behaviour surveys on different individuals in the Angola troop, but still haven’t got a complete set of demographics.  The largest count we have is 14 individuals, with 3 males, 2 females, 1 sub-adult and 1 infant.  I have no doubt there are others hiding away in the canopy that we haven’t seen, and that our total count isn’t spot on yet, but I intend on making it a goal in the coming weeks to try and identify every individual in the troop and successfully age and sex all of them.

This troop is becoming special to us, firstly because of the hours we’ve spent quietly observing them in the canopy , and secondly because the spot they inhabit is a man-made clearing, and illegal logging and charcoal burning continues to plague the entire area.  All it would take would be for a few of the larger, key trees to be felled, and that entire troop would be displaced.

I will continue to keep you all updated on the Angola troop, and we will hopefully have a much more detailed picture of all the individuals for you all soon.

Take care, and I shall be back soon
Matt

Tags: Angola troop, angolan black and white colobus, Charcoal Burning, Logging, man-made clearing, primate behaviour, troop demographics

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging | Date: Mar 02 2009 | By: gvikenya

Jambo!

Drew here back again and there’s more great news happening with Friends of Shimoni Forest. One thing that we as a group have strived for is support from both governmental and NGO in the area. We have been very successful in making friends with many local community based organizations who have been willing to support our causes, including Anzwani Women Group and Shimoni Mkwiro Dhow Tours. We are very proud to announce our support now from Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS). We have always worked with KWS and they have been willing to help us from day one, coming to meetings and supporting our projects, but now they have made the next step in helping us protect our coastal forest. Until recently KWS concern was for the welfare of the animals and not protecting the forest itself. This was largely due to the fact they had little authority in matters of conversation of our costal forest. They always helped us any way possible but, fortunately, there is little to no poaching happening in Shimoni forest so there was not much for them to do.

We have no forestry department in Shimoni and the local police station has limited man power making them unable to accomplish what needs to be done in order stop illegal charcoal burning and logging. KWS has always been very busy managing the Kisiti Mpunguti National marine park, located about one kilometer from Shimoni, and has had limited resources to do much else. This has really left no one able to apply pressure on the people committing these crimes and one of the reasons our group was established in 2007. Fortunately, with the growing support from not just our village, Shimoni, but others now as well including Anzwani things are starting to change. We are very proud of the local communities who have been increasing their support for protecting their forest. We have talked about the local area assistant chief who has started his own patrol group brining in charcoal burners. Community members have been putting pressure on police to prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law. And village elders and chairmen have been encouraging the community to no longer allow these people access through their villages in order to reach the forest to begin with. KWS has seen the support for conservation and are now stepping up their game. They are really not responsible for controlling destruction, however they do realize that the wildlife they protect depend on the forest. Yesterday, for the first time, KWS could here power saws coming from the forest and decided it was their turn. Two rangers headed off into the forest in search of the source. They came upon two men logging without permits and immediately made arrests. The men knew they were in trouble, being arrested by KWS; they would not get a slap on the wrist for this one, they will be in court today. We are very happy to have KWS making a stance with us today. The community sees that their voices are being herd and that large government offices are listing to their concerns. Illegal charcoal burners and loggers will think twice about their next move, knowing that KWS is on the case as well. We will be keeping you informed on all upcoming events and as always thanks for your time. See you soon. Friends of Shimoni Forest

Tags: , Charcoal burnung, Coastal Forest, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging

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Category: Birds, Butterflies, Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest, Small mammals, Spotted Ground Thrush, chameleon | Date: Feb 13 2009 | By: gvikenya

Yesterday we sent three teams in to the forest in an attempt to catch up on delays caused by having to re-cut transect 6, and a shorter week as some our research team prepare to take a long weekend break. 

Tess took ‘team 1′ up to transect 6 to finish off maintenance… re-clearing the paths we use to survey the forest following a combination of natural tree falls and sadly even more ‘unnatural’ tree falls as illegal timber extraction and charcoal burning continue. It is the hottest and hardest work so it was a mixture of relief and pride to hear they finished it. The excitement was reserved something else however - the team recorded another spotted ground thrush, our 2nd in as many weeks of this critically endangered bird species. Critically endangered due to habitat loss, something only too evident in the forest we survey; the presence of such a conservation important species however could provide an invaluable stimulus to raising awareness of the plight of Shimoni’s forests. Alongside the Angolan black and white colobus it represents a ‘flagship’ species - a focus for conservation that would benefit the wider habitat and species assemblage. 

Matt and I joined forces with our two teams to check the small mammal traps… empty… but on the way to transect 4, following our group from the back I noticed something on the ground, inconspicuous enough for the others to have walked by. A new born colobus monkey, sadly lying dead on the ground. A genuine mix of emotions; upsetting for everyone to see such a beautiful, vulnerable creature that didn’t quite make it - a species that we are committed to conserving, and acutely aware that every individual counts when habitat destruction is sending the species in to increasingly rapid decline in Kenya. But the scientist in me was also excited; when you study animals so intently, each day raises new questions, sometimes more than it brings answers. An opportunity to examine a new born so closely is a privilege. Pure white, thin silky fur, the face still pink, the dried skin of the umbilical cord still present. The hands clenched with the characteristic colobus trait of it’s reduced, almost non-existent thumb. Perfectly formed, but lifeless.

The infant had died probably at the end of the day before. A small gap in the tree canopy directly above suggested it may simply have fallen as its mother leaped between trees but this is obviously conjecture. It was curled in the foetal position so hadn’t died immediately, but likely had died as a result of a fall. We buried it, marked with stones… partly an emotive, collective mark of respect but the scientist still lurks - an complete, clean skeleton of an infant by the end of the rainy season will be of major interest. 

On transect 4 we conducted a bird survey - many were heard and crowned and trumpeter hornbills, green wood hoopoe, plain-backed sunbird and a pair of woodpeckers. Another exciting ’second’ of this expedition was spotted in the leaf-litter by Asha; a bearded pygmy chameleon.  

I took my team on to transect 5, to survey canopy height and coverage; straightforward, slow-paced work, but the panga needed swinging to clear the path of branches and vines, and the heat and humidity were taking their toll on all of us. Back at section 0, we mustered our remaining collective energies for butterfly sweep netting. There wasn’t quite enough energy left in reserve to chase down the few high and fast flying butterflies flitting through the sunny spots until Tom stepped up to the challenge at the end - a beautiful swordtail butterfly. 

And those were the highs and lows, but as with every day in Shimoni’s coastal forest the small, these daily rewards keep us coming back. Until next time… Corti

Tags: angolan black and white colobus, butterfly research, pygmy chameleon, Spotted Ground Thrush

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 03 2009 | By: gvikenya

Friends of Shimoni Forest held a meeting this week, and were beginning to put a lot of our plans into action. With the help of Mr. Adini Mgeni, Assistant area chief, our forest patrols are on their way to being a regular scheduled event. One of the problems we have been facing has been a lack of man power. Our members are committed to conserving the forest; however, they also have their own well beings and those of their families to be concerned with. We are unable to compensate them for the day’s work they miss while patrolling. We are working currently on a schedule that will work with member’s availabilities and still leave sufficient time to patrol until we can find funding to help pay them.

 Some of our members.

Another topic we discussed, which is really exciting, is the training classes we have set up for some of our members and locals from the community. With the help of Corti, GVI country director and Friends of Shimoni Forest secretary, and Rachel, a previous GVI expedition manger, who raised the money, we will be sending people learn how to make soap from the Neem tree. Out of the people being trained some of them are charcoal burners so we are really excited to be getting them into a new sustainable field of work. Those who are being trained have also agreed to bring the skills they learn back and train more community members. This is going to be a great way to get the community involved in conserving the forest where these trees grow.

 Chairman Matta on patrol.

Our guided nature walks are also well on their way starting, which is another way we plan to help people into sustainable work. Training started this week and the guys are really anxious to get started. Mr. Athumani Omari and Madme Mwanamkuu saidi are our fist to tourist guides, their knowledge of the local communities uses and history with the forest is going to be a great asset. I started teaching them a little more about the wildlife in our forest, particularly about the Colobus monkey. They already knew a lot of the animals in the forest and were really interested in learning more about them. As a group we are always trying to stay busy. Coming up on Saturday we have a meeting with the local village elders. They’re going to speak with us about using the Kayas, sacred areas, in our forest walks. We are still looking for funding to get some people training in bee keeping, the woman of Anzwani are ready to go. Soon Mr. Corti, Athumani, and Matta, Friends of Shimoni Forest Chairman, will be heading to a bank in Ukunda. We are going set up a bank account in our groups name. This is going to be a great help with our fundraising. Other meetings with the district commissioner, local teachers, and village chairmen are being planned as well and proposal for community toilets and conservation are being written left and right. I’m really pleased with all the hard work these guys are doing and were going to be making some big changes soon. I’ll let you all know how it goes. See you later. Drew.

Tags: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Shimoni Forest

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 26 2009 | By: gvikenya

Friends of Shimoni Forest here again and still were working hard on our goals. I mentioned once that the local assistant area chief, Mr. Adini Mgeni, was devoted to helping us in our efforts to conserve the coastal forest. Well, for the first time in history a local politician has personally patrolled the forest in search of charcoal burners and illegal logging.

Athumani and I had a meeting with Mr. Mgeni the other day and talked to him about his efforts and plans for the future. Mr. Mgeni has been into the forest twice since coming into office, this month, and has had a firsthand look at the destruction in the forest. As he is very busy, he created a volunteer community policing group, mostly youth, to do patrols more frequently. Twice now this group has brought in charcoal burners. After talking with the charcoal burners, Mr. Mgeni discovered some interesting things. The charcoal burners are fully aware what they’re doing is wrong and would be happy to stop. The issue is that the unemployment rate in Kenya, especially among youth, is extremely high. This is why finding alternative sources of income are so important, and these guys will be some of the first we train as guides when we begin our forest tours.
The assistant area chief Mr. Mgeni has been very helpful and shared with us his thoughts on some of our plans. He really wants the forest tours to get up and running soon and agrees we should include the local Kayas as well. Kayas are sacred areas of the forest which in the past were used for prayer and worship. These are still used today by local elders, and they are very concerned about the future of the Kayas. The Kayas represent the culture heritage of Shimoni and are at risk of being destroyed, one has already been lost due to destruction. We would like to include the Kayas in our forest tour, so we are arranging a meeting with the village elders to discuss their hopes and concerns.

Active charcoal pit
Mr. Mgeni has been very active in conservation throughout his career, including being chairman of Shimoni Youth Conservation group. He has a few ideas as well which he would like our help with. One of his goals is to raise enough money to plant 5,000 saplings in local schools and public areas. This will be a way Shimoni can support environmental education, as well as the villages own way of fighting global warming. We think this is a great idea and we will help raise as much money as possible.
As always we appreciate you taking the time with us today and on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and our new partners, this is Drew saying thanks and talk to you soon.

Tags: , Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest

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