Kenya is a partner country in the Google-funded, Barcode of Wildlife Project (BWP), in collaboration with Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL). The Barcode of Wildlife Project Kenya (BWPK) aims to construct a barcode reference library of endangered flora and fauna for law enforcement in wildlife crime, with National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) as lead institutions. NMK has repositories of live and voucher plant and animal specimens, while KWS is the enforcement institution. Other collaborators include: International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) for capacity building in bioinformatics, and Biosciences East and Central Africa (BeCA) at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for training and sequencing services.

Priority species that are CITES-listed (https://www.cites.org/eng), look-alikes, of national importance and conservation concern (frequently encountered in court cases and protected by law), were selected. Specimens were sourced from existing repositories, botanic gardens, private collections and in nature.

Training in DNA barcoding chain analysis and bioinformatics was undertaken for KWS, NMK, ICIPE, Government Chemist and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) staff, followed by informatics training.

Training workshops on admissibility of DNA evidence in court were held and trainers’ manuals for rangers, (scene of crime officers), were drafted. The participants were from KWS prosecution and enforcement departments, magistrates, police and scientists involved in identification and DNA analysis.

Partnership and technology transfer between molecular labs in Kenya and international partners has been enhanced. Exhibits have been verified based on present sequences in GenBank, and used as admissible expert evidence in court. This has built capacity for scientists and law enforcement officers in biodiversity conservation.

Lessons learnt from the project include but are not limited to the need for agreed inter-institutional project implementation structure, negotiated Agreements, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and criteria for selection of priority species and participants. These are key to the success of the multidisciplinary project.

Outputs of the project are posted online via Google+, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and websites, including articles on wildlife crime.