Land for Life – WWF supports local Maasai communities and wildlife to coexist more peacefully
Over the past three-years WWF-UK, in collaboration with WWF-Kenya, WWF-Tanzania, African People & Wildlife and South Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO) have empowered local communities in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania to manage their natural resources sustainably, with positive impacts for both people and wildlife.
Photograph: SORALO all female team of community rangers using a mobile phone to share locations before morning patrol. Credit: WWF-UK
Communities have been supported to live more peacefully alongside wildlife, protect their livestock with predator-proof ‘Living Walls’, manage rangelands sustainably, and women especially have been empowered to take an active role in conservation and develop sustainable enterprises.
Photo: A Maasai community member helping to install a living wall boma at the home of Jopha Kakanyi. Longido, Arusha, Tanzania. Credit: WWF-UK
“We have to continue in making sure that we all focus on giving communities a chance to be the drivers of conservation in these areas because the land belongs to them”. John Kamanga, Director of SORALO
Late last year, the UK Aid Match team visited four grant holders and their delivery partners across Africa and Southeast Asia – Action Aid and UWS (United World Schools) in Cambodia, ADD International in Uganda, and Save The Children in Kenya.
The visits were an opportunity to connect with grant holders and partners, strengthen our critical relationships, and to deepen our understanding of project progress and challenges. They also create time for troubleshooting ideas and offering tailored support, for example, with technical or financial reporting challenges or with understanding the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) approach to safeguarding.
Below is a brief summary of the visits:
In four provinces of Cambodia, Action Aid has established Women Champion Networks (WCN) who are equipping their communities with tools, knowledge and resilience to adapt to climate change, manage disaster risk and amplify their voices to advocate for their rights.
During the visit our team met with members of the WCN in Koh Kong and Kampot, seeing first-hand how their efforts have been impacting them and their wider communities. In Koh Kong, Women Champions demonstrated how their innovative coconut husk fertiliser business is generating funds to support the Network’s other activities, creating financial sustainability for the group. The fertiliser is a natural, eco-friendly way to enhance soil health which is vital in their drought-prone region. And in Kampot, Women Champions delivered agro-ecological training activities such as crop selection and rotation, reducing dependence on agro-chemicals and establishing water catchment systems so women-farmers are better prepared for the effects that climate change is having on their livelihoods.
A key success of the WCN are their mentoring activities, which are providing members with opportunities to build confidence and learn new skills in a safe, supportive community. Women Champions shared how these experiences have had a positive impact on their inter-personal relationships and positions in their households and communities.
Photographs: Coconut husks used to produce fertiliser and generate income for the financial sustainability of WCN; A Women Champion demonstrating the coconut husk fertiliser process
UWS are supporting children to enrol and stay in school in remote regions of Cambodia, while developing education facilities, school management structures and supporting teacher employment and training. This multi-country project also extends to remote areas of Nepal.
Our team and FCDO travelled to Ratanakiri, Kratie and Koh Kong, meeting students, teachers, mothers groups and community leaders across seven schools, deepening understanding of the challenges and progress of the project. The schools are very remote and often in hard-to-reach locations, where support from government and other stakeholders is minimal. The progress so far was evident, with vibrant school buildings and resources, upgraded latrines, running water, and in some cases, electricity.
The UK Aid Match supported schools have strong enrolment and retention rates compared with non-supported schools, and teachers are receiving training and mentoring support to strengthen child-centred classroom culture and learning standards. School Management Committees and mothers groups are central to the project’s sustainability plans to create inclusive school cultures that nurture student learning and a safe environment for children to flourish, especially for girls.
A key strength of the project is the strong relationship that UWS have developed with local government authorities (education offices) and the positive effect this has on the broader work of UWS to help facilitate innovative educational initiatives.
Photographs: Children learning at the upgraded schools
In Uganda, ADD International are supporting young people with disabilities (YPWD) through kitchen gardening, improving both food and income security for them and their families, and reducing the risk of violence against YPWD.
During the visit our team travelled to Jinja and Luwero districts, where they met with ADD International’s partners – Buganda Disabled Union (BUDU) and Source of the Nile Union of Persons with Albinism (SNUPA) – who are working with ADD to advocate for YPWD, as well as implement the project. They were able to visit some of the kitchen gardens as well as a market stall selling vegetables that have been grown in the gardens.
The project is also challenging negative perceptions around the productive capacity of YPWD and the team were happy to hear that there has been a positive shift within communities, families and among YPWD themselves. Through the kitchen gardening, YPWD are contributing to household food security and income, and feedback from them and their families have highlighted increased self-confidence, aspiration and pride.
Photographs: Fatuma, a Lead Farmer, at her market stall in Jinja District; Members of the UK Aid Match team with SNUPA, ADD International and project participants in one of the kitchen gardens
In Turkana and Mandera counties, Kenya, Save The Children are improving access to lifesaving prevention and treatment services for childhood illnesses and malnutrition.
During the visits our team travelled to two community outreach sites in Loima Sub-County, Turkana, to meet with implementing partner Turkana Christian Development Mission, Community Health Promoters (CHP) and the Sub-county Health Management Team. The goal was to understand how they work together to improve healthcare access in these areas. As part of the project, CHPs have been trained to successfully identify and provide appropriate treatment for diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia. This training, alongside a social and behaviour change campaign, has improved community awareness around these illnesses. Mothers in particular now have a better understanding of symptoms to look out for when they or their children are sick and can contact the CHPs to seek appropriate treatment.
It was also encouraging to see the strong collaboration between the Save the Children project team and the County Department of Health and Sanitation, with joint monitoring of project outcomes, mentoring of key health personnel and regular quality assurance checks against the Community Health Strategy. These efforts are supporting long-term capacity, ensuring that knowledge, skills and resources are in place to continue successful implementation of healthcare once the project ends next year.
Photographs: A Community Health Promoter advises a mother on how to monitor her child’s nutrition status; UK Aid Match, Save The Children and Turkana Chrisitan Development Mission’s teams with CHPs
A thank you
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organisations and individuals involved with these visits. We really appreciated all your time and continued hard work.
On Tuesday 11 June, UK Aid Match grant holder ZSL held an event ‘Fostering coexistence between people and wildlife during global crises’ as part of their Science and Conservation series. They were joined by other UK Aid Match grant holders Ripple Effect, Tusk and WWF, who together shared highlights from their conservation projects and discussed important lessons to help shape future project design and implementation in this area.
Highlights from the projects
Since 2020, UK Aid Match grant holder ZSL has been supporting 4 communities in Kenya and Nepal to coexist with wildlife by increasing livelihood opportunities, building financial resilience and improving relationships with wildlife authorities.
Climate change can have a devastating effect on people and wildlife living in these areas – drought and erratic rainfall can lead to poor harvests and livestock deaths, and the lack of water can cause animals to venture onto community land, destroying crops and killing people’s cattle, goats and chickens. This can bring communities and wildlife into conflict and worsens relations with protected area authorities.
ZSL trained nearly 300 people in human-wildlife conflict mitigation techniques, such as building predator-proof livestock enclosures. They also established community meetings with protected area and local government authorities, providing a safe space for expressing concerns and suggesting solutions to conflicts. Over 400 people are now active members of a community banking scheme, helping to increase household financial management, and another 400 people have been trained in new enterprises including vegetable farming, beekeeping and shopkeeping.
“I have learnt that the environment including trees are very beneficial to us. Even the way I relate with wildlife has changed. I now know they are of great benefit.”
Photograph: A project participant with her goats
Ripple Effect and Tusk along with their partner Uganda Conservation Foundation, have recently completed a three-year ‘Living with wildlife’ project which supported people and wildlife to live side by side around Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.
Similar to ZSL’s project, crises such as drought, flooding, and COVID-19 had an affect on project activities. Flooding displaced wildlife, like hippos, from their natural habitats, pushing them onto cultivated lands and increasing human-wildlife conflict. COVID-19 led to market closures, leaving farmers unable to sell their produce, and the disappearance of tourism collapsed the local economy, causing a spike in poaching within the park.
Despite these challenges, by the end of the project, 37,000 farmers had improved food security and livelihood opportunities. A further 260 young people benefited from apprenticeship and vocational courses, which were set up to provide alternative income from illegal activities such as poaching and fishing which can lead to more conflict. Community members and school children were offered trips to the park so they could learn the importance of protecting endangered species and advocate for the protection of wildlife in their respective villages.
“…After the park visit, I came back to my village and encouraged poachers to stop poaching wildlife. Three poachers have since stopped poaching after following my advice”.
WWF’s Land for Life project is improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of Maasai communities in Kenya and Northern Tanzania through sustainable enterprises, whilst protecting and recovering wildlife in critical corridors in the area.
Over the past few years, with the uncertainty of climate change and the rise of COVID-19, people were struggling to make a living with some resorting to unsustainable activities such as wildlife poaching, cutting down trees for firewood, and encroaching on important wildlife corridors.
WWF and their partners African People & Wildlife and South Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO) are supporting 27,000 people to thrive with nature through community owned conservation. Maasai households transitioned from traditional corrals (enclosures for livestock) to predator-proof Living Walls which protect their livestock from carnivore attacks at night. These Living Walls involve planting Commiphora trees (or similar) in a circle around the perimeter of a livestock enclosure and secure with chain-link fencing.
Communities have been supported to understand sustainable rangeland management, learning to remove invasive plant species, allowing crucial habitats to regenerate. Further, the introduction of drought-tolerant sunflower cultivation and beekeeping has been successful in creating new economic opportunities.
“Nature has an amazing way of coming back, if you give it time and space”
Photograph: A Maasai community member stood next to his Living Wall
Key lessons and recommendations from UK Aid Match grant holders
- Factoring climate resilience adaptation into project design is vital to ensure projects are prepared for the effects of climate change and natural disasters. For example working with new partners to trial options for drought resilient livelihoods and / or improving the management and supply of water in the project area
- Whilst human-wildlife conflict measures can be extremely effective, they can also be limited to certain species and areas, risking pushing conflict to new areas. Implementing solutions at a landscape scale not a local scale can help mitigate this, taking a holistic approach to human-wildlife conflict management
- Improving relationships between community members and authorities is key for project acceptance and sustainability. This needs to be done over time, with regular engagement between communities and authorities. In some cases formalising this engagement is a good way to ensure sustainability – for example in Kenya, ZSL supported human-wildlife conflict resolution committees to provide a crucial platform for community members to discuss human-wildlife conflict issues with the Kenya Wildlife Service. In Uganda, Ripple Effect and Tusk took school and community groups on trips to the National Park, and these had a profound impact on communities willingness to co-exist with dangerous wildlife
- Building resilience with project participants is really important. Ripple Effect and Tusk found that farmers they worked with demonstrated considerably more resilience to crises than members of the wider community
- It’s important to commit to adaptive management throughout the project. Factor in time and budget to stop, reflect, explore the ‘why’ and adapt
- Every community is different and so all project designs need to be unique. It’s essential to consider local needs, cultural identities and traditions and to engage communities as collaborators.
