African wildlife monitored and protected

‘It was one of the best moments of my life,’ said the 42-year-old PhD student from India. ‘I always wanted to do something that might make a difference in this world.’

Chandran’s perseverance paid off when his Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System (WEMS) was launched on 18 July by Kenya’s Dr. Noah Wekesa, minister for forestry and wildlife. The WEMS launch was a part of the African Elephant Law Enforcement Day celebrated in Nairobi.

Seized ivory burns after being lit by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. Photo: Remi Chandran

Two days later at a special event, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki set five tons of elephant tusks and ivory carvings ablaze in Manyani. The burning was organized by Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) to formally demonstrate their determination to eliminate illegal trade in ivory. In his speech, President Kibaki acknowledged the importance of Chandran’s work, ‘The Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System will provide the platform for our enforcement agencies to collect and share information on the trends and patterns of wildlife crimes.’

335 elephant tusks

Chandran was there to witness the burning, as well as PhD alumnus of ITC, Dr. Shadrack Ngene, who wrote his dissertation on the movement of the Marsabit elephant in Kenya. Also attending as a representative of the ITC faculty was Dr. Paul van Dijk, head of research. ‘I’m glad that this event gained so much worldwide publicity,’ he said. ‘We need to become diligent stewards of these fantastic riches of African wildlife.’

President Mwai Kibaki sets the ivory to blaze. It ignited so rapidly that he was whisked away from the fire by his security guard. Photo: Paul van Dijk

The Kenyan president burned 335 elephant tusks and more than 40,000 ivory carvings — mostly personalized hanko seals that are used in China and Japan. The burning of the illegal ivory, which was captured in 2002 in Singapore was a strong signal to poachers and illegal traders. DNA profiling has shown that the ivory probably originated in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

‘The major issues behind the sharing of enforcement data of illegal wildlife trade are political,’ said Chandran. ‘But I am very pleased with the excellent commitment from the African nations who have signed the Lusaka Agreement.’ In fact, nine countries in East Africa have endorsed the agreement and seven of the nine have ratified it. The Lusaka Agreement approves the implementation of WEMS in East Africa.

Ecomessage

WEMS allows law enforcement agents to detail illegal trade in a standardized format called an Ecomessage. The Ecomessage is then sent to a central database, as well as to Interpol and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This data is then statistically analyzed including spatial and non-spatial time series analysis. WEMS can also map, simulate trans-boundary trafficking, and define the seasons of illegal trade in a calendar year.

Chandran’s idea for sharing such common information started in 2004 with his work at the United National University in Tokyo. Concerned with the serious issue of illegal wildlife trade in East Asia, he began by proposingcloud-sourcing data to monitor illegal wildlife crime. His attempt to bridge policy makers, enforcement officials, researchers, and civil society members from different nations proved to be a challenge.

From left to right: Head of the local police force, Paul van Dijk, Head of the Kenya Wildlife Service Field Training School, and Remi Chandran. Photo: Paul van Dijk

Why not in Asia?

‘Sharing law enforcement information relied on propriety information that, at times, was considered almost sacred,’ explained Chandran, ‘and scientific experts or NGO’s are not really welcome.’ Despite many disappointments along the way, Chandran developed his first prototype of WEMS in partnership with Asian Conservation Alliance, a network of grass root civil society members from 14 Asian countries.

But, in the end, the African nations were the ones to commit to fully working together. Part of Chandran’s PhD research now is to understand, from a policy point-of-view, just how and why the commitment to WEMS happened in Africa and not in Asia? In addition, he hopes to continue to build data resources and assess the future challenges that nations might face when implementing WEMS.

Chandran arrived last August to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management on an Eramus Mundus Fellowship. ‘I am a practitioner of public policy with tacit knowledge, but I need more of a theoretical understanding of governance,’ he said modestly.

When asked about his personal connection to animals, Chandran replied, ‘I come from Kerala, a land of wildlife. Culturally, animals have always been meaningful to me,’ said Chandran. ‘In India, we have some of the toughest laws banning wildlife trade. But the biggest threat isn’t just about trade but about finding the right balance between conservationism and market based approaches.