Mount Kenya Trust

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 25 2008 | By: mountkenya

I thought I would try to explain the need for the fencing projects around Mount Kenya and therefore the resulting corridor. Unfortunately for most of our protected areas, and Mount Kenya in particular, there is huge pressure on land. Right up to the boundary of Mount Kenya’s forests there is dense population and hundreds of thousands of smallholdings which the majority of the local population are entirely dependent upon for their livelihoods. Coupled with a history of corrupt and badly managed land policy and tenure for many years the pressure on forests are huge. Apart from some of the Eastern side of the mountain where there is the ‘Nyayo Tea Zone’ there are no buffers between people, indigenous forests and wildlife. Human wildlife conflict is therefore common as is blatant encroachment and illegal settlement in the National Reserve. Communities on Mount Kenya approach the Trust and the Kenya Wildlife Service for assistance to build fences along their boundaries with the National Reserve. Elephants are the main problem for these communities. At night they come out of the forests and trample and eat crops. Sometimes they injure people and occasionally even kill them.  We have been erecting small, practical two-strand fences to help the communities. They do not keep people out of the forests, they just keep elephants in.  Eventually however, once the whole of the Mount Kenya forest boundary is fenced in the elephants will be trapped on what will essentially become an island. This will create a number of problems in the future, and mainly for the habitat itself. Elephants need fairly large ranges and migrate both daily and seasonally in search of their needs. Though vegetation is plentiful on Mount Kenya the habitat does not support all of the elephants needs in terms of minerals which are limited in the forest environment. That is why we have embarked on the ambitious elephant corridor project which will serve as a valve to allow the elephants a migration route to other safe habitats.  The picture above is a good example of how close the ’shambas’ or small farms are to the boundaries of Mount Kenya’s forests. Encroachment and the pressure for land for both humans and animals alike mean there are constant human / wildlife issues. Fencing is one solution but it comes with the need to mitigate the problem of isolating elephants or other wildlife in one area. By their nature elephants are destructive. Trapped in a forest habitat with an increasing population and decreasing range areas the elephants could destroy the habitat for other wildlife. Our corridor and fencing projects are therefore vital for the long term survival of the forests, the well being of the elephants and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people who live near the forests of Mount Kenya.  

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 20 2008 | By: mountkenya

The little elephant in the middle of the picture below is a female who was loosing condition very rapidly a couple of months ago. Sadly she has just now been abandoned by her family. Elephants don’t do this unless there is absolutely no hope left. She has a deformed foot because last year she was snared. Though a KWS Vet was able to remove the snare the damage done by the wire has left her a cripple. We hoped she would survive but though she has put up an incredible fight she has now been left. I cannot begin to tell you how much pain and suffering this sensless and barbaric activity brings to our wildlife in this part of the world. The saddest thing of all is I cannot get someone to euthanase her right away. There are too few vets and red tape does not allow me to bring in a private vet to help. This fact gnaws at me every single day. I feel impossibly helpless.

Please please assist us to get the Joint Wildlife Protection team up and running. The cost of having the team on the ground per annum is high but it is nothing compared to the cost to wildlife not to get this vital operation under way. If we can stop the snaring before it happens we don’t have to worry about crisis management which in itself is almost impossible to implement.

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 14 2008 | By: mountkenya

It’s just under 8 weeks away from the 10 to 4 Mountain Bike Challenge. If you are a mountain biking fanatic or you want to try this unique experience it’s time to sign up for this amazing ride. By taking part you will be helping the Trust with it’s work. For more info go to www.10to4.org!

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 14 2008 | By: mountkenya

It’s been a long time since I blogged so I will start with the good news.  The Elephant corridor fence is finally being built and though we are still waiting for the funding to come in for Virgin Atlantic we will start with the underpasses as soon as we receive the money. Unfortunately we are under budget for this project because of the delay of payments and other unavoidable circumstances, particularly the economic climate. In order to be viable the corridor is also now longer than originally planned. This is because we have added a portion of land and because there have been ‘tweaks’ made in the alignment by the farms that the corridor will pass through.  The picture shows the game proof fence that will form one end of the corridor on Kisima Farm bordering the Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve.  The corridor is the first of its kind in this region of the world.  We need further support to finish the corridor which will provide a vital route for elephants who need to migrate on and off Mount Kenya.  

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