Research, Education and training of Game reserve is my Ultimate goal for NAROK- Tunai

By Samuel Kuntai Ole Kuntai

It has been great being hosted by Clemson University in South Carolina. We were hosted by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. It was also great meeting
with the president, Clemson University, James P. Clements.

My delegation and I visited the Clemons University Institute for Parks - Clemson Institute for Parks provides a comprehensive program of research, education, training and outreach that enhances the management of the World's parks, game reserves and protected areas, while concurrently
increasing the global public's understanding of the natural, cultural and recreational value of these treasured resources.

After that tour, we engaged the faculty on the following key
issues in regard to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve: Means of providing research to inform more effective and efficient management decisions; Increasing individual and institutional
capacity through transformative leadership education programs; Connecting the global community and delivering just-in-time knowledge through innovative internet linkages;
Promoting the relevance of game reserve to a rapidly changing,
multicultural, and global society.

We also visited the University's Social Media Listening Center. This is an interdisciplinary research laboratory and teaching facility that is able to listen, discover, measure and engage
across the web- social media conversations. It provides a graphic display of social media content to convey sentiment, share of voice, trend information, geo-location data among
other aspects.

This was an exploration on how to enhance security in the Mara and freedom of the animals, necessity of a fully-fledged research center and animal comfort within the Mara. With our firm commitment to implement the Mara Management Plan, we are exploring some of the best practices in trying to overcomthe Mara challenges.

We are reaching out for partnerships, aimed at implementing the Mara Management Plan, which will effectively boost security mechanisms at the Mara for the animals to hinder poaching; increase surveillance; enhance protection of visitors while enhancing the experience of visitors; and ultimately to increase revenue collection at the Mara.

For over forty years since the Mara became a protected area as a wildlife sanctuary billions of dollars have been channeled to our economy, hundreds of thousands of jobs created, businesses nourished and livelihoods created.
Yet, over the same period to-date, the priceless gem that the Mara is, and its ecosystem have sadly faced frightening
decline. Through the period of the Mara’s existence, man and wildlife have jostled for space and natural resources for survival, both categories have felt threatened.

I am keen to have the ultimate glory of Maasai Mara attained.