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Through the use of world-class life sciences tools, capabilities and processes, Kenya will leapfrog older crime fighting techniques to enhance the capabilities to protect our biodiversity.

Using scientific procedures to examine, identify, and compare evidence from crime scenes, and to link the evidence with a suspect and a victim, which is specifically an animal or plant, it’s a sure way to enact progressive and stringent policies that would deter criminals as well as adopt modern technology that would assist the criminal justice system to effectively convict and grant appropriate sentences as prescribed in law to wildlife crime perpetrators.

Poaching is one of the most serious crimes investigated by wildlife forensics. The modern DNA-based molecular methods will aid in the fight against the poaching of endangered and protected species, and in the prevention of cruelty to animals. The laboratory will enable our continent to fight against poaching and offer services for all African countries especially those in the East and Central regions that are battling this new, dangerous and bloody trade.

Let’s all bridge the gap between conservation genetics and law enforcement.

Priority Species Viewer

Priority Species Viewer

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

First Informatics Training for BoWPK

The importance of using information technology to support biodiversity conservation is unquestioned. 

Dr. Beatrice Khayota (second left in picture) Principal Research Scientist at National Museums of Kenya, and and Co-chair Barcode of Wildlife Project Kenya (BoWPK) during sample collection for the upcoming First Informatics Training the Project.

These training preps are key in overall demonstration of the use of DNA barcode evidence in investigations, prosecutions, and convictions by November 2014.

According to the Biodiversity Informatics Facility at the American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, Informatics strives to utilize information technologies in biodiversity research and the applications of information technologies to organize and analyze biological data from research collections, experiments, remote sensing, modeling, and databases.

This first informatics training will be a critical part for Barcode of Wildlife Project Kenya in empowering lead persons for specimen, academic labs and informatics groups to enhance law enforcement in fighting wildlife crime.
 
Also, this training aims at constructing a reference BARCODE library to support the Country's priority endangered species which eventually will formally be adopted and implemented, to legally support the use of DNA barcode as evidence in investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.
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