Wildlife Research and Training Institute
About Training Division
The Principal is the Head of the training Division and oversees the management and administrative functions of training.
The Principal provides overall leadership, direction and co-ordination within the Training Division.
The Institute’s management and staff are committed to assisting trainees within their academic programs reach their intellectual potential both within and outside the lecture rooms. The management may establish ad hoc committees as may be required from time to time.
WRTI offers competency based training programs that are applicable to the relevant field of work creation and employment. The courses have been developed in liaison with Technical and Vocational Education Training Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council (TVET-CDACC) and relevant stakeholders in the industry. The Institute offers four (4) Diploma and three (3) Certificate courses.
Wildlife Research and Training Institute
Our History
The institute was started in 1985 as Naivasha Wildlife and Fisheries Training Institute to offer in-service training for the then Departments of Wildlife and Fisheries under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. The first group of trainees in 1985 comprised newly appointed university graduate Assistant Wardens and Fisheries Officers on an induction course. It trained both fisheries and wildlife personnel of various cadres, which included Assistant Fisheries Officers, Fisheries Assistants, Fish Scouts, Game Assistants and Game Rangers. The courses offered ranged from short refresher and ad hoc tailor-made programs to two-year Certificate courses.
This initially fulfilled one of the institute’s key objectives, which was to uplift the skills of both wildlife and fisheries personnel with a view to improving their work performance.
After the creation of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in 1990, the Institute was placed under the management of KWS in 1994 and later in 1996, it was renamed Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute (KWSTI). The institute continued offering basic, specialized and refresher courses for KWS staff, partners including fisheries. Later it was opened for any other qualifying applicants interested in the courses that are offered for job market. In 2020, the name of the Institute was again changed to Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) in compliance with section 50 of Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (WMCA), 2013.
Application Ongoing
April Applications On Going
Towards this noble end, WRTI has established meaningful links with industry partners, who guide the Institute on practical, professional requirements which need to be in-built into programmes at the Institute.
Wildlife Research and Training Institute
Legal Mandate
The Institute initially was established following provisions of the wildlife policy contained in the sessional paper No 3 of 1975, ‘Statement of the Future of Wildlife Management Policy in Kenya’ (Republic of Kenya 1975). The sessional paper spelt out a need to build capacity especially in view of an important shift in wildlife conservation policy that was intended to harmonise conservation with economic and social development. Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) was established as a state corporation under WMCA, 2013 through Executive Order No. 1 of 2020 to undertake and coordinate wildlife research and training.
