Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good morning. It’s my pleasure to join you in presiding over the official launch of the Wildlife Information Landscape Database (WILD). We are pleased to have supported the development of the WILD application, one of the legacies of the USAID-funded Planning for Resilience in East Africa through Policy, Adaptation, Research and Economic Development program -- known as PREPARED. I wish to congratulate the PREPARED Project Partners for this milestone.

The East African region is home to some of the most spectacular wildlife and ecosystems globally. The region is renowned for the iconic wildebeest migration from the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Nature-based tourism, which is heavily dependent on wildlife species, is a major contributor to livelihoods and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region.

However, management of wildlife resources in East Africa faces many challenges. These include wildlife crime, weak legal and regulatory frameworks, and rising human population and competing development demands that are reducing the space for wildlife. Poaching and wildlife trafficking in East Africa are at critical levels and pose serious threats to the socio-economic development of the region. Wildlife crime undermines security, rule of law, wildlife management and biodiversity conservation efforts, and efforts to end extreme poverty.

Protecting wildlife from poaching and illegal trafficking helps to secure our global heritage and fight against sophisticated criminal networks that lead to insecurity. International wildlife criminal networks target wildlife populations across porous borders under the management of weak institutions, creating a complex problem that transcends national boundaries.

It is in response to this trans-boundary threat, that USAID is taking decisive action to reduce wildlife crime in the region. USAID is working with national wildlife conservation agencies in expanding existing counter wildlife trafficking interventions using advanced tools like the WILD app for digital monitoring and tracking of wildlife.

USAID is keen to strengthen the capacity of governments and intergovernmental mechanisms in East Africa to take the lead in counter-wildlife trafficking. USAID has entered into a five-year partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior to coordinate efforts to address wildlife trafficking in the region. This will include providing technical assistance and training on wildlife law enforcement and prosecution, and on conducting forensic investigations to support prosecution of wildlife crime.

USAID looks forward to supporting the adoption and roll out of the WILD app by both non-governmental and governmental wildlife conservation actors in Kenya, Tanzania and the entire region to improve monitoring, coordination, and analysis of wildlife anti-poaching and Human Wildlife Conflict incidents. USAID is also keen to ensure that that there is an integration been WILD and other existing tools such as the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting and Reporting Tool (SMART).

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the collaboration required to make the WILD app a reality. The development of WILD presents a good example of how public-private partnerships can contribute to counter-wildlife crime initiatives. I wish to appreciate the technical expertise provided by Strathmore University's iLab and the contribution of the various governmental and non-governmental conservation organizations within Kenya and Tanzania for piloting and testing WILD in conservancies and selected protected areas. I also wish to acknowledge the coordination role provided by Tetra Tech ARD as USAID’s contractor for the PREPARED Program.

To all our partners here today, we look forward to continuing our work together to conserve the country’s wildlife heritage and, by doing so, contribute to the resiliency and economic empowerment of surrounding communities.

Thank you.