From the dailies- Agencies agree on plan to build elephants corridor linking parks

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An elephant corridor will be mapped from Mount Kenya to the Aberdare forests.This is in a bid to find out how the natural wildlife ecosystem can be restored.The mapping will be carried out by the Nyeri County government, Kenya Wildlife Services and conservationists.
 

This was mooted on Tuesday in Nyeri during a meeting called by the county government.A senior Kenya Wildlife official, Dr Erustus Kanga, said they had developed terms of reference to guide the steering committee set up for the mapping. Dr Kanga said they would also be involved in mobilizing people living on the 15 to 20 kilometers corridor.
 

A herd of elephants recently gave birth at Thego forest in Mt Kenya and they are struggling to cross to the Aberdare forest.He said once the corridor is established, the elephants would easily reconnect with others on the other side.
 

Rhino Ark Charitable Trust Executive Director Christian Lambrechts said the lessons from the fencing project of the Aberdare forest was that once farms are protected from marauding wildlife, the value of land increases since people can harvest the crops they had planted.“After we fenced the Aberdares, the value of land increased by about 300 per cent. We should do the same for people in Nyeri,” said Mr Lambrechts.
 

Mt Kenya National Park Senior Warden Simon Gitau said the corridor will present the perfect opportunity for establishing housing estates as is happening at Ol Pejeta in Laikipia County. The Mt Kenya Wildlife Estate in Ol Pejeta has exquisitely designed houses for sale.