KENYA
>> GEF-SGP biodiversity projects
>> UNDP Equator Initiative Finalists and Winners
Selected GEF biodiversity projects:
>> Tana River National Primate Reserve:
Development and implementation of a management plan for the Tana River National Primate Reserve, which contains the last remaining contiguous area of indigenous riverine forest along the Tana River. The Tana Reserve protects two endangered primate species, the Red Colobus and Crested Mangabey monkeys.>> Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and First National Report to the CBD:
Formulate strategies and actions necessary for the protection and sustainable use of Kenya's biodiversity, as well as prepare a plan for their implementation. The primary product will be a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP). In addition, Kenya's first National Report to the CBD will be prepared.>> Lake Baringo community-based integrated land and water management project:
The overall objective of the project is to conserve biodiversity of global significance in Lake Baringo. The project will specifically focus on: 1) strengthening capacity of communities in sustainable land management by introducing resource use techniques for water, pasture and cultivated land that will minimize resource deterioration; 2) extending conservation benefits to biologically important community-controlled lands; and 3) ensuring the long-term continuation of these conservation benefits.>> Lewa Wildlife Conservancy:
Strengthen long term sustainability of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) managed for the benefit of endangered wildlife / habitats and support community income generation.>> Support to the implementation of the National Biosafety Framework:
The main goal of the project is to support the implementation the National Biosafety Framework by establishing a biosafety management system, and by strengthening capacity and infrastructure for LMOs development, import / export, handling, transport and release. The National Biosafety Framework will be established through the approval and entry into force of a draft Biosafety Act, and through implementation of the national regulations and guidelines for safety in biotechnology. Specific objectives are as follows: 1) support the establishment of the regulatory and administrative basis for the implementation of the management and monitoring system related to the safe environmental release, commercial production and transboundary movement of LMOs in Kenya, in appliance of the obligations of the Cartagena Protocol; 2) strengthen capacity in biosafety policy, management, administration and risk assessment / management (in order to provide guidance and design risk management options and strategies); 3) strengthen national facilities for LMOs management, handling and monitoring activities, 4) strengthen national biosafety research activities, and 5) promote and strengthen information sharing and dissemination among relevant stakeholders and enhance public awareness on biosafety related issues.>> Back to top
Selected GEF-SGP biodiversity projects:
>> Solar-powered fence as a mitigation measure for human / wildlife conflicts in Mt. Kenya East:
A 14km, solar-powered fence will be erected in Mt. Kenya East to protect farmers from frequent crop raids by elephants.>> Commercial production of medicinal plants in Kinangop Area:
Large-scale medicinal plant farming on a 12-acre demonstration plot to enable farmers to start their own medicine shambas and connect to marketing outlets. This project also enables rural communities to conserve endangered species of medicinal plants while also earning income from them.>> Tsunza crab-farming project:
In this project the Tsunza Conservation and Development Programme will develop eight crab pens with the capacity to raise 6000kg of crabs every seven months. Project is expected to raise US$15,000 per harvest, and a net profit of US$7,000 per harvest. A prototype crab farm already exists.>> Water hyacinth purification ponds and income generation project at the Nairobi Dam:
In this project Kisumu Innovation Centre Kenya will demonstrate how the water hyacinth can be used to make crafts and furniture as a commercial enterprise. The project will also demonstrate how the weed purifies water in the purification ponds.>> Kakamega Forest ecotourism project:
Ecotourism venture at the Kakamega Forest Station. Activities include: butterfly farm for local viewing, snake park, solar panels for houses at the forest station, canopy viewing sites, replanting degraded parts of the forest, a gift shop, and an education programme for children.>> Filming of Nairobi Dam project by Azimuths Productions:
The Geneva-based Azimuths Productions will produce a video documentary on the Nairobi Dam / Athi River initiative. The video will be distributed to all their global networks as well as media houses in Kenya.>> Bee-keeping coupled with conservation efforts in Mt. Kenya region:
This bee-keeping project is designed to enhance conservation efforts by community members and to provide an avenue for generating income through the production and marketing of honey. Bee-hives owned by farmers will be placed along the forest edge. The farmers are expected to work with the authorities in monitoring illegal activities within the forest and reporting them. HoneyCare Africa, a private company, will train the farmers, provide them with bee-suits, collect the honey, pay for it and market it.>> Planting indigenous trees in Mt. Kenya Forest using women's groups:
In this project, the Bill Woodley Mt. Kenya Trust will raise 120,000 seedlings using women's groups around Mt. Kenya. The indigenous seedlings will be planted in degraded parts of the forest.>> Conservation and management of traditional groves and sites of unique biological, cultural and aesthetic value around Kenya:
This project aims at understanding the full range of sacred sites around the mountain, their historical, cultural and biodiversity significance, their current status and potential threats.>> Feasibility study on garbage management in Meru Municipality:
The Municipal Council of Meru has been dumping garbage in the Imenti forest of Mt. Kenya for several years. A feasibility study will determine alternative and suitable sites for dumping and managing garbage.>> Involvement of local communities in conservation and management plan of Mt. Kenya Natural Reserve and World Heritage Site:
This project will enable local communities to participate in the management of the natural reserve.>> Community-based biodiversity programme:
In this project the community around Kapsabet will undertake tree-planting in their shambas, undertake bee-keeping and attend workshops on the value of conserving the Nandi forest. A private enterprise, HoneyCare Africa will work with the community to market all the honey produced from the project.>> Commercial production of two medicinal plants:
A 25-acre demonstration plot in Kajiado district will grow medicinal plants with the aim to encourage farmers in Kajiado to grow medicinal plants in their private shambas.>> Development of tourism infrastructure in the Kitengela:
Developing wildlife-based tourism activities that will yield benefits to the local community by providing the infrastructure necessary to begin creating economic incentives to encourage landowners in Kitengela, especially those bordering the Nairobi National Park.>> Lake Kanyaboli conservation and rehabilitation programme:
Working with fishing and farming communities to promote conservation and management of Lake Kanyaboli, a lake with endemic fish species.>> Arid lands resources project:
Assistance to pastoralist communities to sustainability exploit gum arabic, increasing their incomes and thereby reducing tree-cutting for charcoal.>> Coast integrated conservation project:
Mobilization of coastal communities to conserve threatened mangroves and related ecosystems.>> Back to top
UNDP Equator Prize Finalists and Winners:
>> HoneyCare Africa Ltd. (Equator Prize 2002 Finalist)
In an era when global agricultural practices are seen to be increasingly insensitive to the environmental and social needs of rural people, many farmers in Kenya are reversing this trend as part of a burgeoning movement that links income generation and biodiversity conservation by means of sustainable beekeeping.
The brainchild of HoneyCare Africa, a private sector organization, the initiative brings together communities, NGOs, and development organizations, in a symbiotic relationship that works to reduce rural poverty while promoting biodiversity conservation and environmental awareness in rural Kenyan communities. Based on a vision of environmentally sustainable income generation, HoneyCare Africa supports individual beekeepers with organizational and management skills training and technical and extension education. HoneyCare Africa guarantees to buy all the honey produced by participating households at a fair and competitive price through direct cash payments to individual beekeepers. As a result, close to 2,000 rural households are now able to rely on beekeeping for supplementary income. In total, these households care for 10,000 individual hives and produce 60-96 metric tons of high-quality honey annually for sale in shops and use by hotels and airlines.
Most importantly, through the sale of honey, households are able to earn US$200-250 per year – an amount that is often enough to make the difference between living above or below the poverty line. In addition to collaborating with individual beekeepers, HoneyCare Africa is also engaged in partnerships with development agencies, the Kenyan government, and charitable foundations to promote biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.
By promoting sustainable income generation through beekeeping, HoneyCare Africa is working to protect species-rich natural areas in Kenya from increasing overuse and encroachment. In conjunction with its many partners, education and outreach have become pivotal components of HoneyCare Africa's work. In training exercises, the need for conserving Kenya's natural flora and the importance of bees as pollinators and bioindicators is conveyed to participants and communities. Through its established programme, an emerging "bees for trees" initiative, and extensive outreach, HoneyCare Africa is helping to raise community biodiversity awareness while promoting a vision of environmentally sustainable revenue generation.Online resources:
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>> Il Ngwesi Group Ranch (Equator Prize 2002 Finalist)
In Kenya, as in many tropical developing countries, the bond between human society and wildlife, though age-old, has been placed under increasing strain due to human poverty, encroachment into vital habitats, and poaching. On Kenya's Laikipia Plain, home to some of the world's greatest concentrations of large mammals, the Il Ngwesi Group Ranch has had great success in breaking the cycle of poverty and biodiversity loss through establishment of a community owned trust responsible for local land management and the promotion of ecotourism.
The Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, a 16,500-acre holding rich in wildlife, is a collectively owned initiative of 499 local households that represents an exciting attempt to reduce poverty and promote biodiversity conservation through community-private enterprise collaboration. The community owned trust incorporates a Natural Resource Management Committee responsible for land management and a separate company that operates an exclusive 16-bed ecotourism lodge.
Overall, the stable environmental and social conditions created by the Il Ngwesi Trust and the clear responsibility it gives to local people for protection and management of their resource base have been very positive for both the community and the local environment. In addition to providing full patrolling of the group ranch lands to limit poaching the trust is also providing major wildlife and ecological benefits through efforts to conserve and sustainably manage water resources.
Poverty at Il Ngwesi is being tackled through the redirection of tourism revenue back to the community, US$80,000 to date, with the funds used for education, infrastructure projects, and medicines, as well as direct funding of salaries for ranch workers. There are also indirect benefits that have helped to reduce poverty, including a reduction in cattle rustling and banditry. By providing better emergency and privately funded bursaries to several schools, the trust is ensuring the human capital at Il Ngwesi will not be squandered.
Il Ngwesi is achieving remarkable success in re-establishing the harmony that once existed between the livelihoods of local people and their environment. By increasing the level of protection from logging, overgrazing and poaching, for example, elephants and the endangered Grevy's zebra have been given a new lease of life. Through a focus on local research and conservation efforts, Il Ngwesi has become a safe haven for wildlife and is now home to trans-located animals from around Kenya, including a hand-reared black rhino.
Online resources:
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>> Pastoralist Integrated Support Programme (PISP) (Equator Prize 2004 Finalist)
This remote community-based organization is located in the north of Kenya, in some of the driest and, seemingly, inhospitable habitat on Earth. Yet, they have had tremendous success in reducing the vulnerability to drought of nomadic pastoral communities through the restoration of highly flexible, traditional water management systems. PISP works with over 11,000 people in areas typically devoid of permanent water points, and fully dependent on rainwater, to strengthen community capacity for water harvesting. The organization has also been dedicated to ensuring that fragile dryland biodiversity is protected from the harsh impacts of over-grazing through the careful and strategic management of herd movements between and around vulnerable water points.
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