NAIROBI, Dec. 6, (Xinhua/GNA) – Kenya Space Agency (KSA) and Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC), on Tuesday signed a partnership deal to use geospatial technologies to save the critically endangered mountain bongo from extinction, and its habitat on Mount Kenya.
The five-year partnership, is aimed at leveraging space technology for real-time monitoring, community engagement, and sustainable land management. “This partnership signifies a commitment between KSA and MKWC, to collaborate in using space technologies in managing and conserving our wildlife, as part of our national heritage, and a natural resource that serves as a great tourist attraction to our country,” KSA acting director-general Hillary Kipkosgey, said in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Kipkosgey said the KSA will demonstrate the use of space technology in animal and habitat conservation. He noted that besides restoring the severely endangered mountain bongo population and its habitat, the community surrounding the mountain will be involved in the conservation of the ecosystem.
Under the partnership, the two organizations will be assessing land use changes, deforestation, and soil degradation, providing crucial data for shaping sustainable land management strategies.
It will also help in the development of skills, expertise, competence, experience, and ecological monitoring techniques, to aid in ecosystem protection.
The mountain bongo, which is native to Kenya and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is on the verge of extinction, with less than 100 individuals remaining in the wild.
GNA