On World Wildlife Day, lets get serious about ending corruption

Paula Kahumbu: Advances in the war against wildlife crime are in danger of floundering in a mire of corruption

On the eve of World Wildlife Day on March 3rd 2016, Kenyans can look back proudly at how much has been achieved in the last 12 months. More poachers and traffickers have been arrested, and more of them are going to jail on conviction. Most important, deaths from poaching are down by over 80% for both elephants and rhinos in just 3 years. Elephants and rhinos in Kenya are now much safer than before.

Much of this progress can be attributed to the multi-agency focus on wildlife crime, reforms in legislation, training of anti-poaching forces on the ground, and development of new standard operating procedures for prosecutions. An enormous investment has gone into training investigators, prosecutors and magistrates, and the country has participated fully in international efforts to crack down on wildlife crime cartels.