Narok County Commissioner Evans Achoki today flagged off, Jim Justus Nyamu, in his ninth day walk to sensitize residents on the need to conserve the environment and protect the wildlife.
Nyamu who is the founder and director of Elephants’ Neighbours Center has so far walked 17, 000 Kilometers and is in his 14th, edition targeting to walk across 11 counties, from Nairobi to Trans Nzoia County sensitizing people on the need to conserve environment.
He said the 14th, edition was launched on 16th this month in Nairobi whereby Mr Nyamu passed through Ngong in Kajiado County. He will finish on December 19th, 2021 in Mt’ Elgon- Trans Nzoia County.
“The ecosystem at the Mara has changed and if we are not careful we will lose the wild animals to the Serengeti- Tanzania side. That is why I have to walk to sensitize the residents on the importance of conserving the environment,” he said.
The Mara we used to know, he said, has changed because people are focusing more on tourism other than spending time looking at conservation.
“The future of Maasai Mara is not in tourism but in wildlife. Statistics show that the wildebeest have declined in number in the last few years. If we are not careful in protecting the animals, we will lose the eighth wonder of the world,” he said.
Nyamu said the walk is sponsored by the National and county governments who have come in to support his ambition of conserving the environment.
During the walk, the environmentalist targets to plant 10, 000 tree seedlings in various schools and institutions, so as to serve as an example and motivate the young learners to conserve the environment. “We need to mitigate the climate change, by planting the right trees. We are the generation that has tampered with our environment, so we need to prepare the future generation on how to cope with the environment,” he said.
Elephants’ Neighbors Center is a Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to raise awareness about conservation especially to communities adjacent to national parks through two pillars; conservation and research and community-based conservation programme.
Nyamu said he choose his mode of campaigning because he wanted to connect with the local person on the ground.
Achoki lauded Nyamu for being the change he wanted to see asking residents to plant trees in their homesteads, institutions, and on the hills so as to achieve a high tree coverage in the county.
By Ann Salaton
