THE AMBOSELI COMMUNITY WILDLIFE TOURISM PROJECT

( A C W T P )

Mission Statement

To reduce the poverty of the rural Maasai population
To secure the biodiversity of the Amboseli ecosystem
To engender sustainable conservation amongst the Maasai community landowners
To reduce the reliance on livestock by generating income from wildlife
To increase direct benefits for the community from wildlife tourism

The Amboseli Community Wildlife Tourism Project (ACWTP) is run by local people from an office in Loitokitok, Kenya. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with an administrator and a board of directors. External expertise is provided by a technical adviser.

ACWTP's main sponsors are:

THE MAYER FOUNDATION OF LIECHTENSTEIN
THE KENYA WILDLIFE TRUST
THE IRISH AFRICAN/ASIAN CONSERVATION AND WILDLIFE TRUST

ACWTP Commitment

The ACWTP is committed to saving the Amboseli ecosystem by encouraging the Maasai landowners to use the wildlife they have on their doorstep as a resource. We show them how they can use this resource to bring an additional income through wildlife tourism. At the same time we demonstrate that more wildlife in their ranches will actually improve the grazing, and the consequent value of their livestock. Wildlife tourism is the one viable enterprise that, if managed correctly:

is sustainable throughout the whole area

will help to return the arid land to productivity

will bring a much-needed second income to the landowners

The ACWTP facilitates the setting aside of such areas for wildlife tourism. Already it has helped a number of landowners to mark out viable areas and has introduced them to reputable tour companies who are renting the areas, paying bed-night fees, and employing the local people.

The Ecosystem

Ever since the great mountain Kilimanjaro cooled off after its gargantuan eruptions nearly a million years ago, the plains to the north - formed by the erupting clouds of its dusty white ash - have been a refuge for wildlife. The clear water springs, which issue forth from under the furthest limit of its lava flows, form massive swamps that bring lifegiving water and vegetation to the otherwise parched savannah landscape. These swamps are the lifeblood for the many species of wild animals that feed on the confusion of vegetation growing in the swamps. They also provide water for the herds of Maasai livestock that share the land with the wild animals.

No one knows how long humans have been wandering these plains but it is likely that the Maasai are only the latest in a very long line of humankind who have lived off the plentiful wild bounty provided by the mountain and its swampy waters. When the first Europeans walked through the area in the 1880s and recorded their impressions on paper, they found an area teeming with wildlife.

"How can such abundance of wild animals exist on so dusty a plain?"wrote Joseph Thompson in 1885."Turn in whatever direction you please, they are to be seen in astonishing numbers."Indeed, great herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and gazelles roamed the savannah in those bygone days. Lumbering rhinos lazed in the groves of yellow fever trees, while giraffes snipped at the young shoots. Lions would be heard roaring every night and cheetahs could be seen during the day chasing their luckless prey at breakneck speed. It was a veritable paradise for wildlife.

Amboseli

Amboseli -- the very name conjures up a vista of elephants and Kilimanjaro -- is one of Kenya's main attractions. The name actually comes from the Maasai word 'embosel', a dry open area. Wildlife is still abundant in the national park and it is the best place in the world to see and photograph African elephants against a backdrop of the snow-capped mountain, Kilimanjaro.

The Maasai

The Maasai people first came here about three hundred years ago, replacing other more primitive people. In those days the Maasai were nomadic pastoralists, relying entirely on their cattle sheep and goats for all their requirements. They moved between the best areas for grazing and there was plenty of land for everyone. They did not hunt the wildlife but learned to live with it quite peaceably with only the occasional fracas taking place, either in defence of their livestock, or to provide sport for the famed Maasai warriors, who would show off to their peers and girl friends by taking part in lion hunts with their six foot long spears and heavy buffalo-hide shields. But since the population has grown and cattle numbers have increased, pressures on the land have widened and there is less and less room for wildlife.

This situation has led to a severe deterioration of the vegetation which has suffered from overgrazing and from the absence of wild herbivores that used to graze and browse the whole mosaic of plants. As a result, the quality of the Maasai livestock has deteriorated and become more susceptible to drought and disease and the people themselves have become poverty-stricken and regularly have to seek food aid during drought periods.

About half of the children receive primary education and some of the luckier ones go on to secondary school. Education brings new horizons and new aspirations, and many of the more educated individuals are now looking for ways to supplement their meagre income. Some believe the future lies in irrigating parts of their land to grow cash crops such as tomatoes and vegetables, and many hectares have already been turned over to this form of farming. But the crops soon deteriorate because the supply of water is problematical and little is put back to enrich the soil, which soon loses its fertility.

Having seen the numbers of tourists entering the national parks, a few landowners now realise the value of the wildlife that remains on their ranches and are looking for ways to exploit the resource.

"For too long we have been denied the benefit from the wildlife we have protected all these years", says Jacob Leyian, Chairman of the Eselenkei Group Ranch."The government took our land to form Amboseli National Park and now they pocket all the money the tourists pay to enter. But much of the wildlife lives on our land outside the national park, grazing our grass, and sometimes killing our livestock. If we are to conserve the wildebeest and zebra that eat our grass we must have some financial benefit in return."

Another leading Maasai elder Lengu Ole Mbaa who was once a clan chief argues,"During droughts our people starve, and children and old people die. We must make use of this resource given to us by God but we need to be shown how to do it. We are not traders by nature; we are cattle people and know nothing of tourists and tourism. But our people are willing to learn the skills required by tour operators and safari lodge managers, so that we can earn money from those who want to visit our land and photograph our wild animals."

The Wildlife

Up to the turn of the last century, the numbers of wildlife had remained more or less constant, but over the past 50 years there has been a marked decline, not only in the variety of species in the ecosystem but, also and more significantly, in the numbers of those species that do remain. Elephants are the only herbivore that has increased over the same period, but this increase has been mainly within Amboseli National Park and its immediate vicinity. (See news of the Amboseli Elephant Research Programme at www.elephanttrust.org).

Likewise, the flora has suffered over the same period with equally disastrous results. The decline in numbers of wild herbivores generally over the whole ecosystem and the complete absence of some of the most important species - particularly rhinos - has resulted in the proliferation of plants that the burgeoning numbers of the replacement species, cattle, sheep and goats, do not eat.

A widespread unbalancing has consequently occurred, leading to the dying out of some of the more palatable plants and the proliferation of others that only the now absent wild herbivores eat. It is this growing absence of a variety of wild herbivores that is the main cause of the degeneration of the herbage that has in turn, led to a drastic reduction in the quality of livestock. This is the main cause of the poverty and near starvation of the rural population.

The Maasai are learning that cattle and goats actually need elephants and rhinos to keep their pastures healthy. There is now a real threat of more decimation to the remaining wild herds through the bush meat trade, which, if allowed to continue unchecked, will reduce the numbers of wildlife to a point where even the remaining species will be unable to regenerate. The encroachment of subsistence farming is also threatening to render some of the most important wildlife habitats useless. Based on our knowledge gained over many years and our close association both with the communities and with the wildlife of the area, we are convinced that the isolated islands of conservation, notably the Amboseli National Park and the three existing community wildlife sanctuaries will not be sufficient to save the ecosystem.

If it cannot be secured as a whole entity, none of the ecosystem will survive. This means that the Amboseli and Chyulu Hills national parks together with the western section of Tsavo West will be lost. And with those precious national parks will go for all time, the opportunity for the communities to benefit from wildlife - their most important natural resource.

ACWTP believes that, unless the necessary measures can take effect within the next five years, the depletion of the wildlife and the damage to the vegetation will have reached an irretrievable point. Only a nucleus of wildlife remains. If, however, these measures are taken, the ecosystem can yet be saved.

In order to carry out these measures, an organisation was set up to help the landowners create their own wildlife sanctuaries for tourism. The Project is the culmination of working closely with the rural Maasai communities over more than 11 years and in the case of the Technical Adviser, of knowledge of the Amboseli ecosystem for almost 50 years.

The Amboseli Community Wildlife Tourism Project

ACWTP is run by a few local people and a Technical Adviser who have the knowledge and expertise to advise the landowners on suitable areas for tourism and can undertake negotiations on their behalf with reputable tour operators who will develop them for tourism. Three areas amounting to 20,000 hectares (200 km²) have so far been set aside by the landowners assisted and facilitated by the ACWTP. Rent is being paid together with a bed-night fee for every visitor, and local people have taken up employment in the developments.

For the first time the herdsmen can make the link between the wildebeest and zebra grazing his land, and a fuller stomach or more education for his children. All illegal killing of wildlife within these three areas has stopped and if any snares set by the bush meat traders are found they are destroyed immediately. But many more areas must be set aside before the ecosystem can safely be regarded as secure.

Daniel Morinke, ACWTP's administrator warns,"Unless more areas are set aside very soon, and the animals within them preserved, this 6,000 square kilometre ecosystem, one of the most important in Kenya, will not survive. If the wildlife cannot move freely between each 'island' of conservation, none of them will remain.

Animals which are used to moving long distances between grazing grounds cannot suddenly change their habits so if we cannot join up some of the islands to make migration corridors, the wildlife will not survive and we shall lose this great resource which could be our very lifeblood in future years."In order to facilitate more areas, the ACWTP have applied to several organisations for funds to move the idea forward.

The Community Development Trust Fund of the European Union in their Biodiversity Conservation Programme based in Kenya have been approached and have indicated they will look closely at the project. ACWTP are also in the process of applying to the Dept. for International Development (DfID) for support.

Goals and Objectives of the Project

The Main objectives of the Project are:

The relief of poverty within the rural communities
To secure the biodiversity of the Amboseli / Tsavo ecosystem
The reduction of the reliance on livestock as the sole means of income
To engender sustainable conservation amongst the landowners

In many of the arid areas of Africa, wildlife has been shown to be the most sustainable and economically viable resource available, yet it is still the most under-utilised. Unlike domestic stock or subsistence crops, wildlife is drought resistant and disease resistant. It thrives without human input, for it is self-sustaining and self-regenerating. Allow it an area of land and provide proper tourist facilities and people will come from the ends of the earth to spend a few days in the African bush watching and photographing it, and they will be prepared to pay dearly for the privilege of doing so.

The Proposal for the Project addresses the neglect of this natural resource in Kisongo Maasailand and gives those who have for generations lived with wildlife without harming it, the opportunity at last to benefit from it.

A Summary of the Project

The Kisongo Maasai that inhabit the Amboseli ecosystem are amongst the poorest communities in East Africa.
The wildlife that inhabits the same ecosystem is also in a perilous state.
The Project addresses these two factors and provides a solution where one will be the salvation of the other.
The Project seeks to initiate and support low volume, sustainable wildlife tourism within the 5,700 km² ecosystem. Community wildlife tourism has been shown to be the one viable and sustainable means of supplementing traditional pastoral livelihoods while reinforcing land rights.
Through awareness education and training, the Project will show the communities that converting to wildlife tourism on parts of their land will not only benefit them financially but will also enable them to retain their culture, improve their livestock and create opportunities for them to become self-sufficient.

The project has five main components:

Awareness Creation
Facilitation of Areas to be set aside for Tourism
Land holding rental
Provision of Water
Training

Awareness Creation

The Maasai are a very fragmented people living in isolated pockets. The community in one area may not know what is happening in another part of their land and families who have yet to declare a wildlife sanctuary may not know that their cousins just a few kilometres away are already earning money from theirs. A 25-minute video film will therefore be produced in the Maasai language showing clearly the benefits that can accrue from allowing wildlife tourism on their land. This film will form part of a presentation that ACWTP will take round to village centres. The local community will be invited to share in the discussions about the new concept for reducing their poverty through wildlife conservation and tourism on their land.

Facilitation of Areas to be set aside for Tourism

ACWTP will facilitate community meetings to discuss the setting aside of areas for wildlife tourism. When the community is ready to declare such areas , ACWTP will advise them on the best areas for tourism. When everybody is happy with the decision, we will mark out the boundaries and erect noticeboards so that everyone knows where the areas are.

Land holding rental

One of the reasons that ACWTP have found it difficult to secure more areas for wildlife tourism is that the landowners expect to receive payment for the area directly they have passed the resolution to set them aside. The motivation is limited unless they can see an immediate return from their decision. But it may take up to a year after the decision has been taken, before income begins to accrue. The community must gain benefit from it while investors are being sought and negotiations entered into and completed.

For these reasons it is essential to have money available to reward the landowners as soon as they have agreed to set aside the areas. A land holding rental will therefore be paid, directly the decision is made to set them aside. This commitment will last until the developer takes over the rental.

Provision of Water

For both cattle and wildlife the critical resource is water.

Permanent surface water is extremely scarce but can be provided effectively either by drilling boreholes (water is plentiful at an average depth of 100m) or by tapping into existing pipelines in the area.

In order to give an inducement for the landowners to approve of wildlife tourism in their areas, and in order to give an incentive to reputable investors to develop the areas, the provision of two permanent water supplies will be made available to each community that agrees to set aside a wildlife tourism sanctuary: one for the community and one for the wildlife tourism development. This combination means that the immediate practical needs of the herders are being met, whilst at the same time enabling the introduction of the wildlife tourist development.
The aim is that the introduction of the new activity occurs in the process of strengthening traditional activity, reinforcing the linkage between the two.

Training

The project seeks to bring about a diversification of the local economy through the introduction of community tourism. This is specifically designed to maximise the opportunity for employment and income generation, and this will have a particular emphasis towards the needs of women.

The principle is that these opportunities can be introduced without any displacement of traditional activities, and in the process provide much more secure livelihoods and a greater degree of income independence.

Employment is the one means of gaining income directly to those members of the community who have no access to other income from rentals and visitor fees. Similarly, the project's objective is to support and enable the communities to manage wildlife tourism alongside pastoral activities. A small college will be set up in Loitokitok, the main centre for the area, for the practical training of skills in hotel and guiding work so that as many local people as possible will be qualified to apply for work in the tourist developments. There will also be representative training in more specialised techniques, including negotiation skills, estate management, book-keeping and borehole maintenance in order that the landowners may understand that they have responsibility to manage their areas in accordance with good accountability and transparency.

Part of the work that the Project undertakes is a mobile video-aided presentation to all 41 primary schools in the Amboseli area. This work is funded by Drusillas Park in Sussex. Our lecturer Daniel Morinke talks to the children and explains why wildlife is important to them and how it can even become the means by which they can continue their education through to secondary school and even to university. The video (most of the children have never seen TV) shows visitors paying to enter national parks to see and photograph the animals inside. It explains why wildlife is a good thing and can be used as a resource. The children love it and take a most intelligent interest in the discussion that follows the film.