Amboseli, Southern KenyaThe shadow of our small plane moves smoothly across the top of acacia trees as we float across the plains. Kenya from the air. It is utterly amazing to see a group of giraffe from the air or a lone rhino in the plains or an elephant high in the lush mountains.
Three days in the Chyulu Mountains—north of Tsavo National Park-east of Amboseli. We are at a colleague’s home, a spectacular open air house looking out over vast plains towards Amboseli. Kilimanjaro’s snow capped peak is in plain sight. It is simply awesome. Their house is open on one side. Why put up walls, when you have such beautiful views and amazing climate? This baffles the Maasai, the pastoral tribe of the area, and they ask “when will you finish the house?” At night you can only see one or two lights in the distance and let me tell you, over the plains, from this vantage point, we can see really far.
Our colleague is Kenyan, second generation. Dedicated to conservation and culture. Their home is technically not theirs. They have leased land from the Maasai and run a lodge. A percentage of the bed night fees go to the community. They helped start a game scout association. Game scouts are trained to secure the wildlife from poaching. They are trained in military style, wear fatigues and are critical in the fight to preserve the wildlife. There is a waiting list of individuals who want to join the anti poaching team, but not enough money to pay them.
We spent the three days exploring and discussing how to expand and link the protected areas in the Amboseli ecosystem. The Park, while spectacular, is too small. Elephants and other wildlife know no boundaries and need room to roam. Needless to say, the landowners don’t appreciate elephants tromping through their farms and the result is deadly to the wildlife. The human-wildlife conflict is severe. A solution must be found. The land is owned by the Maasai. It was community land, now much has been sub-divided. Politics is thick. Corruption is severe—leaders pocket money, it never reaches community members. Many meetings under trees. In NYC meetings take place on a golf course, in Montana—fly fishing a river, here, we deal with serious issues under a tree.
How do you protect land in perpetuity? Is there such a thing as perpetuity in Africa? How do you ensure the communities are actually benefiting? How do you develop trust? Once the land is protected, how do you make sure the wildlife is not poached? How do you monitor all this?
