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PREAMBLE
The Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute (KWSTI) is one of the training units of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) based in Naivasha (a small lakeside touristic town surrounded by a busy horticultural and fishing industry) about 80 Km northwest of Nairobi. It was established in 1985 with the support of the World Bank and was originally known as the Naivasha Wildlife and Fisheries Training Institute, and operated under the then Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
It was essentially an in-service training institution for the Departments of Wildlife and Fisheries, respectively, both of which fell under the same Ministry. The establishment of the Institute came as one of the policy recommendations contained in the Sessional Paper No.3 of 1975.
The Institute started functioning in 1985, when it admitted the first group of trainees who comprised newly appointed University graduate Assistant Wardens and Fisheries Officers on Induction course.
The courses offered then ranged from short Refresher and ad hoc tailor-made programmes, to two-year Certificate courses. In 1994, KWS took over the management of the Institute and later renamed it KWSTI in 1996.
KWSTI currently serves the nation as a medium-sized comprehensive tertiary Institute dedicated to excellence in all its programs and operations. It is a bio-diversity conservation and management centre in which knowledge is sought as well as taught.
All its sections recognise the importance of scholarship and service, the intrinsic value of research, and the significance of a primary commitment to quality instructions & operations.
Broadly, the objectives of the Institute are to offer:
-
Basic, specialized and refresher courses for KWS staff and its partners;
-
Training and conducting research in Natural Resource Management in an effort to enhance conservation, management and sustainability of Kenya’s wildlife resources & their habitats;
- Hospitality services.
In the recent times, the Institute has expanded tremendously in its training profiles as exhibited by the large number of trainees and the increasing staff.
Through linkages with other tertiary
institutions both
locally and internationally the institute has broadened the
scope of its
Certificate, Diploma and other training courses. The expansion,
modernization
and improvement of the facilities has enhanced the Institute's
capacity
to collaborate in more field-based training programmes and
research as
well as improve its hospitality services.
