Why wildlife migratory corridors matter: Reporting resources for journalists

Wildlife corridors and dispersal areas are important for the survival and sustenance of wild animals, besides playing a vital ecological role in enhancing biodiversity. However, these corridors are facing serious threats from infrastructure development, fencing, cultivation, mining and other economic ventures. This has resulted in wildlife movements changing, human-wildlife conflict escalating, and wildlife numbers plummeting.

To help sensitize journalists, and by extension the general public about the importance of wildlife migratory paths, the Internews' Earth Journalism Network and WildlifeDirect have organized a webinar in which experts provide insights about these corridors that elephants and other animals use to move freely between their various secure habitats.

The webinar is anchored on recent developments in Kenya but will be open to all environmental journalists in the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

During the webinar, four speakers who are experts in environmental conservation and human-wildlife coexistence discuss the mapping of elephant migration corridors using existing research data and assessing the contribution of conservancies to the human/wildlife ecosystem.

Speakers:

• Dr. Paula Kahumbu – CEO, WildlifeDirect
• Elizabeth Gitari-Mitaru – Head, Environmental Law and Policy Advisory at OGO-Law
• Dickson Kaelo – CEO at the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association
• Samuel Ole Kaanki – Chair of the Amboseli Landowners Conservancies Association

Moderated by Kiundu Waweru, EJN’s Project Manager, East African Media Coverage of Conservation & Wildlife.