KenyaIntroductionThe Community ConservationResilience Initiative (CCRI) in Kenyawas carried out with two indigenouscommunities, the Maasai from Trans-Mara, Narok County, and the Rendillefrom Kargi, Kamboye, Korr andLogologo of Marsabit County. TheCCRI assessments employed aparticipatory approach that includedfocus group discussions, sketchmapping and storytelling, all with aview to assessing the biodiversity andthreats to conservation within theNyekweri Kimintet Forest andMarsabit communities. Theassessment revealed that in the pastthe Nyekweri Kimintet Forest andMarsabit were abundant with floraand fauna but the communities haveobserved that this has now decreasedin some areas.

Nyekweri Kimintet in Trans-Maraborders the Maasai Mara NationalPark and is a significant breedingarea for elephants from the reserve.Inhabitants of the forest practicepastoralism as their main livelihood.In 2005, community membersformed the Nyekweri Forest KimintetTrust to strengthen their ability toconserve biodiversity. Approximately80% of the land within the area hasbeen allocated to individuals with theremaining land under communalownership. The trust covers 6,000acres, and helps to secure andensure the continued protection of

land dedicated to the conservation ofbiodiversity, preventing itsconversion to other land uses.

Community members from Kimintetparticipated in a workshop, mappingexercise and focus group discussions,in which they assessed the resilienceof the community conservationaround the forest and the roles ofcommunity members.Few women attended theinitial workshop due tocultural barriers, so aseparate meeting wassubsequently organisedfor the women. This waslater followed by a jointmeeting for allcommunity memberswith more womenpresent and mencommitting to involvingthem in decision-makingprocesses.

Community membersasserted that their area isan important biodiversityhotspot with some of theonly remainingindigenous forestshosting sacred sites,sheltering wildlife andproviding wild fruits andmedicinal plants.Approximately 80% ofKenya’s wildlife lives

Summary report of the Community ConservationResilience Initiative in:

outside Protected Areas becausemost of them are not fully fenced.The wildlife moves in and out ofthese areas in search of pasture andwater especially during the dryseason, and interacts with people onprivate and community land. [1]

The second CCRI took place inLogologo and involved the Rendille

Kimintet Community members' sketchmapping activity.Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

Rendille women from Korr in mapping exercise, while anindigenous girl watches keenly. Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

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Community Conservation Resilience inNyekweri Kimintet Forest

The Maasai around NyekweriKimintet have lived in harmony withwildlife and conserved the foreststhrough customary laws and values.

During the assessments communitymembers from Nyekweri KimintetForest identified key external threatsincluding a lack of legal protection ofcommunity forest by the county andby national laws or institutions taskedwith providing protection. The legalframework recognises thecommunity forests’ role inbiodiversity conservation andecosystem services, but does notsupport communities to strengthentheir conservation; and national andlocal forest and wildlife authorities do

not work incommunityforestconservationareas. Theincreasingimpact ofdrought has alsoresulted in a lossof biodiversity aswell as water,leading towildlife-humanconflict.

The main internal threats mentionedwere the erosion of cultural valuesgoverning conservation, due to theprivatisation of lands and a loss of

traditional ecological knowledge asthe youth leave the community tofind employment in towns; anddeforestation due to charcoalburning and overgrazing.

peoples from the Logologo, Korr,Kamboye and Kargi communities ofMarsabit county. The communitymembers are pastoralists and utilisenearby forests for materials forconstructing houses (‘manyattas’),herbs and fuel. They live in lands thatare 20% privately owned and 80%under communal ownership or heldin trust by the county government.

Indigenous women made up 99% ofthe participants (in contrast to theCCRI assessment in Trans-Mara) withthe local chief also participating. Thiswas because the men had migratedin search of pasture due to the dryseason, aggravated by the impacts ofclimate change—and the women areleft to manage the households.Nevertheless patriarchy is an issue inboth communities, with women beingperceived as inferior and decisionsbeing made solely by the men.However, the indigenous womenfrom both areas highlighted that theyhave been playing key roles in

conserving biodiversity and holdingtraditional knowledge relevant forconservation. They ensure inter-generational learning, thetransmission of vital knowledge andvalues. In addition the women inMarsabit are generally the solebreadwinners in their households,raising income through the sale ofbeadwork and irrigated farming. Thishelps families to cope with theabsence of the men, making themless vulnerable.

The Kenyan government is welladvanced in matters of policy andlegal instruments. The EnvironmentManagement and Coordination Actasserts various environmental rightsand responsibilities, with its generalprinciples founded on Article 42 ofthe 2010 Constitution. This givesevery citizen the right to a clean andhealthy environment, including theright to have the environmentprotected for the benefit of presentand future generations. The

Constitution also recognisesIndigenous Peoples (in article 260);defines forests as natural resources;and classifies community forests thatare vested in the communities ascommunity land (Article 63). Howeverthe Constitution does not specificallyprovide for the conservation andpreservation of forests. In addition,the new Community Land Act, passedin 2016, is geared towards ensuringgender equality and tenure security.However, women are not aware oftheir rights. [2]

Livestock and people are impacted byopen pits such as this one, which hasbeen left by the extractive industryafter taking materials for roadconstruction. Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

Rendille indigenous women during the CCRI meeting.Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

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Community Conservation Resilience in MarsabitThe Rendille peoples have a similarlystrong connection with theenvironment and have values relatedto conservation rooted in theirculture. For example, traditionallythey will only cut down tree brancheswhen needed for constructinghouses, and medicine and herbs areextracted sustainably. As pastoralists,the community has plannedmigration routes for their livestockwhich allow for the regeneration ofvegetation.

During the assessments, the Rendillewomen identified four key internal

threats. Firstly deforestation which isbeing driven by demand for woodand charcoal and the overgrazing oflivestock, resulting in the loss of keytree species and wild animals.Secondly there is an erosion oftraditional knowledge and values,which has led to uncontrolled use ofresources. Population increase andthe impacts of extractive industrieslike sand harvesting were also raised.

The external threats identifiedincluded outsiders illegally settling ontheir land during the droughtseasons, particularly in Logologo

community. Anotherproblem is the spread of aninvasive tree species,

prosopis juliflora or ‘mathenge’, whichwas introduced by the governmentand is now widespread in Marsabit. Ithas been considered a menace for along time by the residents, due to itsnegative impacts on livestock andindigenous species in the area. TheEnvironmental ManagementCoordination Act requires that anyintroduction of alien species forwhatever purpose requires anenvironmental impact assessment(EIA) license to be considered legal.In this case, an EIA was done butthere has been no social impactassessment. [3] Climate change hasled to diminished fresh water sourcesand extreme drought in Marsabit. [4]

Conclusions andRecommendations:Nyekweri Kimintet

The vision of Nyekweri KimintetForest community members is tosustain the forests for futuregenerations.

Community proposedsolutions for internal and

external threatsinclude support forthe community,including for exchangevisits to other wildlifeconservation areas,for practical learningand adaptation of bestpractices, andstrengthening linkageswith county andnational governmentenvironmentalauthorities like theKenya Forest Service(KFS) and the Kenya

Wildlife Service (KWS). Othersolutions include financial supportfor management of the conservationarea, to carry out reforestationinitiatives to restore degraded areasand to pay volunteer game scouts to

monitor the conservation area; andthe development of communityprotocols to complement nationallaws and regulate communityinteraction with the land andimplement pasture and landmanagement systems. Awarenessraising among community membersand information sharing aboutexisting national legislation thatrelates to the environment wouldsupport engagement with policymakers and help to ensure lawenforcement.

They recommended strengtheningNyekweri Kimintet Forest Trust as aninstitution and setting up ecotourism,in order to enhance communityparticipation in sustainableconservation and facilitate theconservation of wildlife resources.

Indigenous women gathering during the community meetingin Kimintet, Lolgorian Trans-Mara. Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

Donkeys ferrying fuel wood from Nyekweri forest tonearby urban centres. Edna Kaptoyo/GFC

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Alice Howo Lesepen is a Rendilleindigenous woman fromLogologo in MarsabitCounty, Kenya. She issecretary and a memberof the Merigo Women’sgroup, which seeks toempower indigenouswomen in understandingtheir economic rights and toraise awareness aboutenvironmental conservation and advocacy in relation toextractive industries. She has been an active advocate at thelocal level and is a member of the environment committeein her community. Alice says “I’m happy about the CCRIbecause it’s helpful to us. We indigenous women have beenplaying a crucial role in conservation and how traditionalknowledge is relevant for present day challenges and futuregenerations.”Alice Hawo Lesepen, Logologo, Marsabit

[1] Kenya wildlife service. https://www.kws.org/[2] Constitution of Kenya 2010[3] Environmental Management Coordination Act[4] PACIDA 2009. Kenya: Drought Situation report from Marsabit, Chalbiand Laisamis District.

TestimoniesSankau Ole Ntokoyuan is aMaasai elder who practicespastoralism. Together withother members of theKimintet area he has givenup private land tocontribute to theconservation of theKimintet forest, to continuebuilding the resilience of theirconservation efforts. He is vocal incommunity forest protection and advises the communitytrust on conservation issues. He says: “As a community that iskeen on conservation, the CCRI has helped us understandissues we couldn’t understand on our own. It’s reminded usof the past, the challenges of the present and that we cannow plan to restore our conservation practices andstrengthen our resilience more effectively. We are committedto continue our traditional conservation practice.”Sankau Ole Ntokoyuan, Kimintete Village

References

Conclusions and Recommendations: MarsabitThe Rendille communitiesrecommend halting deforestationthrough raising awareness about theimportance of conservation, sharinginformation about sustainable use,and advocating for widespreadbehaviour change to improveenvironmental health and wellbeing.

The community-proposed solutionsinclude strengthening engagementwith local leadership and countyleadership in developing new by-lawsaddressing the issue of extractiveindustries; partnering with civil

society organisations for advocacyand trainings on existingconservation and environmentallaws; and the development ofcommunity laws to govern the use ofresources. They also called for theformation of communityenvironmental committees tostrengthen their role in conservation,conducting capacity buildingworkshops, utilising local 'barazas' [5]to mobilise the whole community,and strengthening their ownership ofthe process. Utilising women’sgroups to advocate for

environmental issues and climatechange was also highlighted.

Their recommendations were toundertake advocacy targeting localleadership and the environmentauthorities of the CountyGovernment, and to strengthen therole of women in conservation bycreating women’s networks forconservation and advocacy forenvironmental issues at local andcounty level, with links to nationallevel advocacy networks.

[5] ‘Baraza’ is a formal gathering of community members and localleaders to share information and address community issues.

Sankau Ole Ntokoyua.Edna Kaptoyo/

GFC

Community Conservation Resilience Initiative · January 20184

This summary is based on a full CCRI report about the communities' conservation resilience assessment inKenya, which can be found here: http://globalforestcoalition.org/community-conservation-resilience-initiative-ccri-full-country-report/

Alice Hawo Lesepen.Edna Kaptoyo/

GFC