Case Study Six: Staff Go Wild

Mission: To help plan a new education field station in Kenya

Names: Maggie Esson
Job Title: Education Programmes Manager
Country: Kenya

Ol Pejeta Conservancy (OPC) is a member of Laikipia Wildlife Forum and is the most used conservancy by the Forum’s education bus. Over 10,000 school children and community groups visit the conservancy free each year. The Morani Field Station is to become the showcase for educational visits and Maggie was invited there to help plan the site and the content of the Field Station which is open to visitors as an education facility.

Maggie worked with rangers and guides, together with OPC senior management to plan a trail that takes in an exciting visit to a habituated Black Rhino called Baraka, a short bush walk, which can be very exciting to urban children, a teaching session inside the Field Station and a visit to the brand new ‘capture and release’ exhibit.

Translocating rhinos requires big trucks and crates and the conservancies have recently agreed to pull resources for rhino translocations and invest in one top quality kit that will be held at the Morani Centre. When not in use it will be on display along with interpretation panels to explain to children how the black rhino population is being actively managed and conserved in the Laikipia District.

The information inside the Field Station will be in Swahili and English and will explain how wildlife conservation and ranching can work together, the responsibility of fencing conservancies, managing human elephant conflict and the value of field research and wildlife monitoring.

We hope that all visitors to the Morani Centre will have a clear understanding of why black rhino conservation is important and the role OPC plays in protecting and conserving the Laikipia ecosystem. Maggie and the Education staff at Chester Zoo will help design this exhibition and train the Ranger team in managing the learning experience of the children who visit.

Images: Maggie discussing plans with one of the OPC Rangers outside the Morani Field Station