Conservation Program Update: Public Comment Period - Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project

MWCT has recently started a REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestations and forest degradation) Carbon Project. The REDD+ mechanism has been introduced by the United Nations as a climate change mitigation strategy. The goal of a REDD+ project is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation by active forest protection and provide alternative livelihoods for local communities living in and around the forest area.

For the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project, MWCT is working in collaboration with 8 other conservation organizations (Conservation International, African Wildlife Foundation, Big Life Foundation, Wildlife Works, David Sheldrick Trust, Forestry Service, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kari Kiboko) to protect the forests and woodlands in and around the magnificent Chyulu Hills, referred to by Ernest Hemingway as the "Green hills of Africa".

The Chyulu Hills

The Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project encompasses an area of 4105 kilometres squared and includes 3 Maasai owned Group Ranchers (Kuku, Rombo and Mbirikani), Chyulu Hills National Park, a section of Tsavo West National Park, Kibwezi Forest Reserve and the Kari-Kiboko research area. The Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project is unique in that it is not only protecting the forests and woodlands, but it also protects a vital watershed.

The Chyulu Hills have a relatively higher rainfall than the surrounding areas and form a crucial water source in the further arid to semi-arid environments. The cloud forest that grows on top of the hills even collects water by cloud condensation on the leaves of the trees, the mosses and ferns during the dry season. Furthermore, the Chyulu Hills consist of highly porous volcanic rock causing most of the water to immediately infiltrate and create underground rivers. These rivers emerge in the form of springs all around the Chyulu Hills, where volcanic soils meet solid basement rocks. The most well-known of all these springs are the Mzima Springs in Tsavo West National Park. Here, an astonishing 190 million litres of water a day emerges from underneath the rocks. A pipelines transports part of this water to the human population in the costal area of Kenya. In this way, 40% of the freshwater in Mombasa originates from the Chyulu Hills.

There, the disappearance of the forest on top of the Chyulu Hills would not only have disastrous effect on the surrounding Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem and its human population, but also on the human population further away in the coastal province of Kenya.

Since the project started, the biomass plot sampling (to assess the total amount of carbon currently present in the project area) has been completed as well as the FPIC (Free Prior and Informed Consent) process. For the FPIC process, several community outreaches were held across the project area in order to inform the community about the project and seek their support. MWCT was responsible for the outreaches on Kuku and Rombo Group Ranches and conducted a total of 25 FPIC outreaches.

The FPIC (Free Prior and Informed Consent) outreaches conducted by MWCT's outreach officer 

In June, the Project Design Document has been completed and is now open for public comments on the CCB website until 27th of July. All comments, positive remarks, constructive criticism or simple suggestions, are welcome!

Please visit: http://www.climate-standards.org/2014/06/25/chyulu-hills-redd-project/

MWCT President in New York

Last week, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust President, Samson Parashina, returned from a 10 day journey to the United States. Organized by the Kenya Tourism board, Samson travelled along with a group of others for the purposes of spreading a specific message of Kenya, tourism, and conservation, to the USA.

MWCT President - Samson Parashina

Samson was a Community Ambassador on this journey to the USA, representing the Maasai community of Kenya (the Southern region). Others in the group included: a second Community Ambassador representing the Turkana (Northern) region of Kenya, there was a representative from the Kenya Wildlife Service, and there were a few representatives from the Kenya Tourism Board.

The representatives from Kenya at US News & World Report

Together with all of the individual presentations given, the message that this group wanted to provide to its' audience emphasized that visitors to these particular communities in Kenya (Maasai and Turkana were the specific examples), are making a tremendously positive impact on both the communities, and the environment. Samson shared the many success stories of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (Wildlife Pays Program, tourism partnership with Campi ya Kanzi, the Simba Scout Program, the Maasai Olympics) and how tourism, and visitors has allowed this organization to succeed and flourish within the community.

In front of Fordham University

Whilst in the US, Samson had the opportunity to share this message to: The UNDP (United Nations Development Program) in New York, Fordham Law School in New York, 70+ Journalists from in and around the New York area, National Geographic Traveller, The US News/World Report, the Smithsonian Magazine, and many many more.

At National Geographic Traveller

This journey was not only essential for establishing a positive image for tourism in Kenya the particular regions represented; but also to fully communicate that conservation and tourism CAN and WILL work together. Samson emphasized this passionately on his journey, through examples of what has happened, and what is currently going on here right now, on Kuku Group Ranch.

Conservation Program Update - Summary of Efforts

We have just recently compiled our quarterly report for the MWCT Conservation Program efforts. MWCT Community Wildlife Rangers have been hard at work patrolling Kuku Group Ranch, and have provided a summary of incidents for July, August, and September.

Through the employment of nearly 100 community Rangers and Simba Scouts, we aim to continually prevent illegal wildlife activity, reduce human/wildlife conflict, and monitor the impacts on the biodiversity here on Kuku Group Ranch.

During the third quarter of 2013, we are happy to announce that no elephants were killed on the Group Ranch. Zero tusks were retrieved by poachers during this time, and no elephants were injured by spears - all very positive news!

This map indicates different ranger sectors during security patrols on Kuku Group Ranch.

As you can see, the sectors in the Chyulu Hills (top right corner) have done an

excellent job patrolling to curb poaching!

One lion was killed by a Maasai warrior in Olorika this quater. The lions were predating on a cow, so the warriors proceeded to hunt it. A MWCT team of Simba Scouts, Rangers, and community elders ventured out in attempts to stop the hunt from occurring, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful.

Fortunately, no hyena or leopards were killed, and one lion hunt was prevented from occurring, and 10 arrests took place by MWCT Rangers for the purposes of: illegal bushmeat poaching, illegal charcoal burning and bushlogging, and illegal giraffe poaching.

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Numerous forms of community outreaches took place by Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust staff this quarter. They are as follows:

A community outreach was organized after an attempted lion hunt in Kuku village this quarter. The Group Ranch officials, chiefs, the Kenya Wildlife Service community warden, the district police, and MWCT spoke out to community members against lion hunts.  They warned the community that lion hunts will not be tolerated and that it is a criminal offence to kill wildlife.

It is this vast ecosystem that we are working so hard to protect

On August 31, community members from all over Kuku Group Ranch gathered at the Chyulu Conservation and Research Centre to celebrate the winning of the UNDP Equator Prize for grass roots initiatives. Representatives from UNDP, KWS, and the group ranch officials gave speeches on the importance of conservation, community engagement, and congratulated MWCT on its successes.

The preparation for Wildlife Pays payouts in every zone has finished. At the end of this quarter, a MWCT team of conservation, health, and education staff will plan to visit the whole of Kuku Group Ranch and talk to the community about the goals of MWCT and to raise further support for our efforts within the community - a crucially important aspect in the mobilization of knowledge to community members to further increase buy-in to the Trust programs.

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Moreover, the Wildlife Pays program was busy this quarter. There was a total of 334 wildlife predation incidents reported. The majority of these incidents were due to hyena predation, followed by jackal, and cheetah.

The cheetah - a major stakeholder in livestock predation

A total of 460 heads of livestock predated were reported (cows, goats, sheep, and donkeys). The majority of these livestock were killed by hyena, then by lion, cheetah, and jackal.

The second highest predator to livestock on Kuku Group Ranch

The total value of the payout towards these incidents was 1 728 200 Ksh. Hyena were responsible for 50.9% of the compensation paid, 21.4% to jackal predation, and 9% for lion predation.