If you’ve read some of our previous blogs about animal stories, you already know that Philip and I consider witnessing the most incredible animals on Earth simply living their daily lives in their natural habitat as wonderful benefit of living in Kenya. We hold animal conservation in high regard, in addition to conservation of other natural resources.

Perhaps you may have seen a recent episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes , reporting the death of some 75 lions that had been linked to Furadan poisoning in the Masai Mara.  You may also have heard an interview with Richard Leakey, Kenyan politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. And yes, he is the older brother of Philip.

It’s an age-old man vs animal dilemma.   Furadan, a highly potent pesticide, has been used in recent years by traditional cattle herders as a means to protect their livestock, under threat from predators such as lions and hyenas. It is sprinkled over animal carcasses and left as traps for the big cats. Kenya’s lion population is a fifth of what it was in the 1970s, and across Africa, the numbers are down to 30,000 from highs of 200,000.

According to Richard, chairman of WildlifeDirect, Furudan also “threatens a variety of other species including numerous birds and fish species that are killed with Furadan for human consumption. This practice poses a serious human health threat since the pesticide’s active ingredients, carbofurans, are dangerous to humans.  Ingestion of tiny amounts of these compounds can cause paralysis and even death.”

After the airing of the 60 Minutes episode, FMC Corporation announced the withdrawal of Furadan from Kenya and their commitment to buy back the entire remaining product in Kenya.

We applaud the efforts of Richard and other animal conservationists in their ongoing quest to save our animal population.

Obviously, we at The Leakey Collection have a passion for conserving our planet’s natural resources so it is with much interest that we read about Earth Hour which was celebrated globally on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 pm.

What exactly is Earth Hour? Here is an excerpt from their website:
“This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. ..It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.”

You won’t see any videos from the Maasai Mara since there is no electricity, but I encourage you to visit Earth Hour’s website and view the videos from all over the world as lights were switched off. How inspiring to see people of all nations bonding in a common goal!

The Leakey Collection also has a goal to reduce our carbon footprint as well.  As you may recall, we were one of 12 finalists in the BBC World Challenge 08 last fall. Our plan for the cash award was to build a hydro-electric plant here in Kenya to reduce our dependence on fuel oil.  In addition to more work opportunity for the Maasai women, a hydro-electric plant would power the business school that we plan to build to promote the development of rural enterprise around the world.  We still are working to meet that goal!

As we approach Earth Day celebrated on April 22 this year, we are reminded of some positive changes that have occurred in the surrounding eco-systems since we started The Leaky Collection.  The environmentally sustainable harvest of the grass works to preserve wetlands since the communities no longer burn the grass, which cattle do not eat, to make room for the plentiful offshoots of grass that cattle do eat. In some areas, entire wetlands have come back.  In the past, the Maasai would burn the acacia trees for firewood.  One of our goals has been to teach them the value of preserving the trees by paying them a premium price for the collection of the fallen wood that we use to make our Zuluwood jewelry. In addition, we plan to continue to educate the Maasai on the conservation of the earth’s resources by special Earth Day activities this year.

We have a friendly Earth Day challenge for you. What are your eco-friendly practices? Do you plan to add new ones? SEND US YOUR GREEN TIPS, and we’ll post our favorites in an upcoming blog, along with an update on the Maasai.  Go Green!