在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Africa

Protecting elephants by turning poo into paper

By OTIATO OPALI in Nairobi, Kenya | China Daily | Updated: 2025-07-24 09:24
Share
Share - WeChat
In the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, a herd of elephants walks in the dawn light with the highest mountain in Africa, Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, topped with snow and glaciers in the background. BEN CURTIS/AP

Before setting up the Nampath Paper company in Kenya's coastal region, John Matano had been a victim of human-elephant conflicts.

Having been a smallholder farmer mainly rearing maize, Matano, like other local farmers, always faced the risk of losing his crops to marauding elephants from the nearby Shimba Hills National Reserve.

"The elephants would move in large herds, sometimes numbering 100-150, and they would stay for several nights, causing widespread damage," Matano said. "After facing losses, many farmers had nowhere to turn other than to wait for government compensation which would sometimes get delayed. That is why we had to get alternative means of handling the problem."

Owing to increasing cases of poaching and human encroachment on what was formerly forest land, cases of human-wildlife conflict in Kenya have been on the rise.

In May, farmers in the country's Kilifi County reported significant losses after elephants from Tsavo East National Park destroyed their crops. The farmers complained the elephants consumed more than 40 hectares of maize, cowpeas, potatoes and other crops, leaving them with little to harvest and causing economic hardship.

Following these losses, Matano joined the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary, which was set up back in the 1990s to help save elephants and to assist 200 or so local farmers facing direct conflict with the elephants.

Other than convincing farmers to donate part of their land to create a migration corridor for the elephants, the sanctuary also encouraged farmers to explore additional income sources such as selling elephant dung for turning into paper, or making the paper themselves.

"After being trained on how to make paper from elephant dung at the sanctuary, I set up my own company called Nampath Paper back in the early 2000s and today, I have employed 42 people, and we make an annual profit of up to $24,000," Matano said.

According to him, the process involves the collection of elephant dung, which is boiled and pounded to a pulp, after which wastepaper is added and pounded too. The paper and dung are mixed in different ratios depending on the color of the paper. More recycled paper is added to give it a lighter color.

"From 50 kilograms of dung, we can produce approximately 125 sheets of A4 paper of good market quality," Matano said.

Income source

Paul Gathitu, the spokesman of the Kenya Wildlife Service, said they support the use of elephant dung to make paper as a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional paper production. This is because the initiative helps reduce illegal logging and provides a valuable income source for the local communities.

"Elephant dung paper is a sustainable product as it utilizes a readily available resource and reduces reliance on traditional paper manufacturing practices like felling trees. In addition, when elephants are seen as a source of income through dung collection, it can reduce the incentive to poach them for ivory or other purposes," Gathitu said.

The Kenya Wildlife Service supports activities like the elephant dung project by providing forest rangers to sanctuaries like the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary to reduce human-wildlife conflict. They have also supported the establishment of community-based organizations and companies like those run by Matano by ensuring they safely collect their raw material without coming into conflict with elephants.

Currently, there are more than 17 companies in Kenya producing paper from elephant dung with the list growing, including in other African countries like Uganda.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美综合一区二区 | 欧美一级淫片 | 五月婷婷激情综合 | 欧美1区2区| 特级毛片爽www免费版 | 久久视频在线免费观看 | 国产精品一区二区三区四区五区 | 国产视频一区二区在线观看 | 日韩一级视频 | 伊人久久网站 | 日本精品在线视频 | 五月伊人网 | 日韩一级淫片 | 国产成人午夜 | 婷婷综合网 | 欧美一级片在线观看 | 美女扒开腿让人桶爽原神 | 国产一区中文字幕 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区 | 久久久久久久99 | 亚洲一区二区在线播放 | 亚洲在线视频观看 | 国产在线欧美 | 国产小视频在线观看 | 久久久久久91 | 免费av不卡| 亚洲天码中字 | 中文字幕99| 又色又爽又黄18网站 | 中文字幕一区二区三区在线观看 | 亚洲精品少妇 | 中文在线字幕免费观 | 免费av不卡 | 精品欧美黑人一区二区三区 | 狠狠操天天干 | 欧美成人精品一区二区 | 精品一区二区三区四区五区 | 精品在线一区 | 国产一区二区不卡 | 黄色小视频免费观看 | 欧美精品久久久久久久多人混战 |