Community Conservation - Northern Kenya

30th August 07

Wilderness Journeys are proud to be part of a team of nature conservation, community development and ecotourism experts working towards an inspiring vision for integrated community conservation and ecotourism in northern Kenya. The objective is the creation of an extensive network of community-managed wildlife conservancies across a vast tract of exceptional wild country stretching from the eastern escarpments of the Great Rift Valley to the lower reaches of the Tana River.

Previously home to huge herds of elephant, plentiful black rhino and the principal territory of the rare Grevy zebra, the region was subject to intense poaching in the 1980s and early 1990s, with most of the wildlife exterminated and the rhino in particular poached to the verge of extinction. While the remaining rhino have been protected in a series of heavily guarded sanctuaries, mainly on the Laikipia Plateau to the south, the future for the rest of northern Kenya's wildlife lies in the success of a new generation of community-owned conservancies.

These areas do not, and likely will not in the future, enjoy the same levels of formal or de facto protection as national parks or other privately managed reserves in Kenya. As such, it is essential that the communities, who are the guardians of these precious wilderness areas, benefit in a meaningful way from the wildlife they are setting out to regenerate and protect. The conservancies must be largely self-sustaining as funding for wildlife conservation on the scale required in Africa is in very short supply. Furthermore, the local people who until now have largely viewed wildlife as a threat to their livestock and as competition for grazing, must derive positive benefits if they are to remain motivated to conserve their local environment. The management strategy for the NRT conservancies therefore views community-involved ecotourism as a vital component in the future for the region. It is hoped that ecotourism will in the medium term provide core funding for the antipoaching and wildlife monitoring activities of the conservancies and will result in extensive local employment and other related spin-off enterprise opportunities.

Having offered a wide range of walking safaris and remote wildlife experiences in northern Kenya for many years, Wilderness Journeys are in an ideal position to assist in the longer term planning for ecotourism in the region. Neil Birnie, one of our directors, recently visited the majority of the NRT conservancies and met with the management team working with the initial ecotourism enterprises in the region (including Sarara Camp in the Mathews Range and the community-owned ecolodges of Il Ngwesi and Tassia) to discuss their progress to date and future development plans. Neil also provided advice on factors affecting the planning for future experiences which would interest visitors from overseas, such as walking and trekking safaris, imaginative tented camps and low-impact ecolodges. Neil says "the north of Kenya is without doubt one of the most wild and beautiful regions of the world. Because of the lack of promising agricultural land, the main way in which communities might seek to improve their livelihood is through involvement in sensitive ecotourism and related micro-enterprises. These must be developed extremely carefully, in a manner which results in minimal disturbance to the special traditions and ancient tribal cultures of the region.

There is great potential for the work of NRT and partners such as Wilderness Journeys to succeed in developing a new "destination" where a small number of visitors each year can make a huge difference to the wildlife and biodiversity of this amazing region and can meaninfully assist the local people in realising their aspirations for the development of their communities".

If you would like to visit northern Kenya, Wilderness Journeys offer an extensive range of wildlife and walking safaris in a selection of the most remote and beautiful locations. All have been carefully selected according to the quality of experience and the benefits involved for local people and wildlife conservation. Many of our safaris operate within the NRT conservancies mentioned above and others are in existing neighbouring conservancies, of equally vital importance for the conservation of the wider ecosystem. Particularly recommended are our walking safaris in the remote El Bogoi valley and our journey on foot from Lewa Downs to Il Ngwesi or Tassia ecolodge via the scenic Ngare Ndare river valley.

All of our itineraries may be customised to suit your exact dates and timescale and can be combined with the Indian Ocean or other regions of Kenya such as the Masai Mara or the Great Rift Valley.

 

 

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