A voice for Africa’s animals: Getting to know Lawyers for Animal Protection Africa:

Africa’s animals are some of the most critically endangered animals on the planet. With some sub-species of giraffes suffering what is being termed a ‘silent extinction’, lions suffering from cruel and barbaric treatment due to canned hunting, elephants and rhinos being massacred for their ivory and horns, Africa’s animals desperately need someone to speak up and challenge the status quo on their behalf. One of the organisations doing just that- Lawyers for Animal Protection Africa, a.k.a LAPA.

LAPA is an organisation which envisages an Africa where animals are respected and protected within the legal systems of each Africa country, and through cross-jurisdiction legislation and co-ordination. Their mission is absolutely essential for the survival of so many of Africa’s animals which often lack any legislation to protect them, or if they do have legislation it is so poorly enforced and so riddled with escape routes and loop holes that it lacks any effective protection (see my previous blog on canned hunting in South Africa hereand on the illegal bush-meat and pet trade in Liberia here).

LAPA is co-founded and run by the incredible Amy P Wilson and Jim Karani, both who are trailblazers in the animal law field, both determined to use their legal skills to better the world for the animals their continent is home to. Amy is currently an Aquatic Animal Law Fellow at the Centre for Animal Law Studies within the Lewis and Clarke Law School and Co-Founder of Animal Law Reform South Africa (the first animal law organisation in South Africa). Jim previously headed the Legal team at Wildlife Direct where he co-ordinated the Eyes in the Court Room Project (which you can read about below), but has now returned to education at the University of Pretoria to complete his PhD, after being the first Kenyan to study a Masters in Animal Law at the Lewis and Clarke Law School. Both Jim and Amy are busy people, working extremely hard to learn more about their field so that they can use this knowledge to make a serious and long-lasting change for the better.

I am so grateful that Jim took some time out from his studies to answer some questions to help everyone get to know LAPA a bit more.

Learning about LAPA:

What encouraged you both to get involved with animal law? 

As the first African animal lawyer, it was daunting to venture into this field of animal law. All I was promised when I applied at Lewis & Clark was that I would be given better skills to fight for animals. Animal law, as a field of law, sharpens and hones the skills one needs to be a better litigator and defender for animals in court.

The battlegrounds for the fight for the protection of animals have moved into courts. Animals remain vulnerable often overlooked by systems of law and justice designed to protect them. Animals need lawyers to be steadfast litigators, zealous drafters of policy and law. I wanted to be counted as one of these lawyers.

Why did you found LAPA? 

We founded LAPA to address a large gap in legal support that exists in the civil society world. Many CSO’s do not have lawyers or law themed activities in their work

What kind of work do you do on a daily basis, you say on your website you do advocacy, research/education and consulting, can you provide examples? 

A good day is one where my litigator skills are called in action. Often I am in court either litigating or defending a motion in either a donkey welfare class action suit or similar. My work revolves around setting up powerful public interest litigation that advances the status of animals in law. As LAPA, we also are contracted to conduct legal concierge services for various CSO’s

What is the most difficult issue you have faced in trying to encourage pan-African legislative changes for animals? 

Ignorance of contemporary animal issues.

There is a major lack of awareness of contemporary animal protection issues; e.g. animal abuse, progressive adoption of elevated

What is the biggest animal rights concern in South Africa and Kenya, and if they are different, what can you learn from both of these issues to make positive changes? 

Loss of Habitat.

Kenya is widely known for its wildlife. Kenya is heavily developing and implementing infrastructural developments in protected areas. This heavily competes with animals for space.

With Kenya part of China’s Belt initiative, there is a plan to build many pipelines, road, airports, railways and industries which will adversely affect the environment and animals in general

(c) Pixabay

What positive changes have you seen in Kenya and South Africa in relation to animal law and animal rights? 

· Progressive interpretation of laws by courts.

· The development and enforcement of progressive animal welfare legislation

What has been the most challenging aspect of trying to advocate for laws to better protect animals? 

Fighting the Agriculture and Manufacturing industry.

Implementation of better laws comes at a heavy business expense to these industries. Fighting these industries in corrupt systems is not easy as they can easily subvert justice.

Where do you hope LAPA will be in 5 and 10 years? 

In 5 years - A vibrant Non profit with a portfolio of lawyers actively leading pro – animal legal intervention

In 10 years – LAPA will be a legal aid fund to facilitate legal interventions that bring significant gains to animals

If you could change or create one piece of legislation for animals, what would that be? 

Give animals personhood.

If a company can be a legal entity for business efficacy then an animal can be a legal entity for protection efficacy.

What would you say to people who think that one person alone cannot make a difference to animals? 

All its take is one person.

What work do you do on a daily basis at Wildlife Direct and Lewis and Clark Law School? 

I no longer work at WildlifeDirect. I am now a full time student.

How have your experiences in other NGOs helped you when establishing LAPA? 

Yes. Of all skills it is human resource management I treasure the most

What do you think is stopping animal laws from being enforced in your countries, as both have legislation, especially Kenya which has very harsh wildlife laws, such as up to life in prison for ivory poaching. 

Corruption.

Poachers easily subvert justice by paying off corrupt officials.

Do you think we should be trying to encourage the teaching of animal rights/animals laws in schools across Africa to engender a better understanding and respect for animals at a younger age, such as through programmes like Wildlife Warriors in Kenya?  

Yes.

The education of children when they are young is important as it instills animal protection ideals when they are still young. As they go through their formative years they are able to interact with animals and learn to value them.

How do you think tv shows like NTV wild have helped to encourage people to protect animals? What more do you think they could be doing? 

Previously, before NTV Wild, Kenyans could NOT watch documentaries shot in their own national parks as they featured on National Geographic. Many Kenyans cannot afford this pay per view subscription. NTV Wild partnered with Nat Geo to make films and documentaries available to all Kenyans. With most Kenyans accessing TV and 84% of Kenyans accessing the internet, films and documentaries have emerged as a powerful media to connect Kenyans with their wildlife.

Jim you said in your interview on the Wildlife Direct site, that poachers often have a lot of money and the true ringleaders are not the people on the ground, which is something Jenny Desmond of LCRP also said to me, how do you think we need to encourage people to see that the risks that come with poaching outweigh the benefits? 

The benefits of poaching are purely financial. Risks of poaching often should look like this; the penalty for poaching should be more than the financial benefit one would obtain from selling the wildlife trophy. Prosecutors are at liberty to freeze all assets belonging to traffickers and forfeit them to the State as proceeds of crime.

It is important that poachers know that they will be detected, arrested, prosecuted, sentenced, jailed, assets frozen and forfeited. These actions must be very deliberate and calculated at causing the most financial discomfort to poachers.

As people who clearly value and love African wildlife and respect African wildlife, what can you do to end trophy hunting without the support of your governments? 

Without the support of the government the best we can do is awareness. Turning the masses against the evils of trophy hunting can reduce the demand and networks that allow this act to thrive.

© Pixabay

What trends have you noticed from the Eyes in the Court Room Project? Are there any that surprise you? Do you analyse results from similar projects in other countries, such as Lilongwe's courtroom project in Malawi which has a similar aim? 

Eyes in the Courtroom was the first project to truly have its pulse on the status of wildlife crime in Kenya. Its success has been shown by how its been replicated in Malawi, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia. The most suprising thing I have noticed is law enforcement officials do a better job when they know they are being monitored and watched.

When we started monitoring cases in 2013, convictions stood at 7%. As of last year this stood at 95%. Monitoring and continued pressure works.

How can people get involved and help LAPA? 

Join as volunteers to help us break down legal concepts, analysis and litigation and/or donate to support LAPA’s work.

Can lawyers from outside of South Africa and Kenya get involved with your work? Such as UK qualified lawyers, or trainees/students? 

Yes. We welcome all passionate lawyers.

What are your thoughts on how legislation in Kenya is protecting elephants from the ivory trade/poaching? 

We have done an impressive job with passing great laws. Kenya’s anti -wildlife crime law is the strongest legislation protecting elephants on the planet.

What are your thoughts on South African legislation and its protection of lions, particularly those in the canned hunting industry, as I spoke with Pippa Hankinson of Blood Lions and she believes the laws are inadequate and need reform? 

Laws need to fundamentally change. The supreme court ruling from South Africa illustrates that the court cannot fill in the gaps in law. There is a need to update the laws to reflect 21stcentury realities.

If there was one fact that you would like people to know about animals and animal law/rights in Africa what would it be? 

There is a space for fighting for animals in Africa. Africans have a deep and affectionate connection with all of their animals and when armed with great knowledge they can value and better protect them

LAPA on social media: If you want to learn more about LAPA, I strongly encourage you to look into their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, which are full of informative posts about the latest developments in animal law in Africa, success stories of poaching gangs being held accountable under developing laws, and ways to get involved on important animal days, like World Lion Day or World Elephant Day.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalLawAfrica

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animallawafrica/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnimalLawAfrica

You can also learn more about the work LAPA does and how it aims to make the world a safer and better place for Africa’s animals via their website: http://www.lapa.africa

Thank you to Amy and Jim:

For me, it is essential to learn more about the organisations around the world which are helping to be the voice for animals, as this helps me to learn more about what I can do to help. Amy and Jim, I am so grateful for your time and to be able to help LAPA even in a small way. Your work is absolutely critical and I look forward to watching LAPA grow into an alliance of voices from Africa and beyond to help African animals.