The Taper begins after your last long run, usually 3 to 4 weeks from your Rhino Ramble Marathon, 10 to 14 days from your Zebra Zoom Half Marathon, 7 to 10 days from your Cheetah Chase 10 km and about 5 to 7 days from your Dingo Dash 5.5 km.
For the taper it is the amount of running that is reduced, not intensity (except maybe for the last 2 or 3 days perhaps when you might also reduce speed slightly any faster running in the plan). So don’t run slower, run less.
There is no ‘hard and fast’ rule about the reduction amount, but a guide could be 50% to 60% less kilometers in the last week, 30% to 40% in the second last week, and 10% to 20% less in the third last week (if you are running the marathon). That means that the biggest reduction is in that last week for the Zoom or Ramble, or days if you are running the Dash or Chase.