Maasai Mara - Conservancy

Masai Mara Land and Resource Management

Problem: Limited shared land and grazing resources.
The Maasai are a herds people. Their livelihood is built directly on the raising and selling of cattle. Many have little or no formal education so there is little opportunity for diversifying their income. In addition, the land they have is shared with the wild animals - including predators. Like many other places in the world the human here is growing; encroaching and taking over what was once wild animal's natural habitat. As this worsens and livestock is taken by predators, the predators are killed to protect the livestock.

Parks & Reserves: Approximately 8% of Kenya's land mass is protected area for wildlife conservation. These areas have been surveyed, demarcated, and managed as either National Parks and/or National Reserves all managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Plan 1 - National Park: Government owned and managed land that is set aside as a fenced park. (Nairobi National Park)
Complete protection of natural resources and the only activities allowed are tourism and research. Animals are able to roam freely within the park. Local people do not contribute nor benefit from the park. In addition, since the animals are fenced in, there are limitations on their natural movement in grazing, roaming, and breading. In the park any number of vehicles are allowed in at any given time. This can cause visitor congestion and stresses the animals. Poaching continues to be a problem in the park which also makes the animals stressed and skittish. This plan does not address the real world problems of increasing demand on the land, education for the local people (Maasai), nor diversity of income for the local people.

Plan 2 - National Reserve (Maasai Mara): Government owned and managed land that is set aside as an unfenced park.
Human activities are allowed under specific conditions. Animals are able to roam freely across the reserve as well as outside the reserve without hinderance by fences. Activities such as fishing in marine reserves or firewood collection in terrestrial reserves are allowed. This plan also does not address the real world problems of increasing demand on the land, education of the local people, nor diversity of income for the local people.

Plan 3 - Conservancy: Privately owned lands put in trust and managed in unfenced areas.
Individual land owners place their land in trust with a conservancy that is financed by safari operators. The conservancy acts as a middle man between a group of land owners and a group of safari operators. Safari operators pay an agreed upon amount to the conservancy for the management of the conservancy as well as compensation to the land owners for the use of their land. As part of this agreement the land owners have a say in how the trust will be managed by the conservancy as well as are paid for the use of the land. The land is held in trust by the conservancy for a specified amount of time (usually 15 - 20 years). During this time the conservancy will pay a specified amount of money each year to the land owners (Maasai) and employ many of the Maasai people in many new jobs related to the conservancy from laborers to drivers and trackers. In addition to payments and employment the conservancy also manages the grazing for the domestic livestock ensuring that the grazing grounds are rotated, to reduce or eliminate over grazing. The conservancy also monitors the movement of the predators and coordinates the domestic grazing to ensure that the livestock and people are safe. If livestock is lost to a predator and the kill happens in the conservancy designated grazing area the conservancy will pay the owner of the livestock for his loss. This encourages the local livestock owners to cooperate with the conservancy's direction as well as eliminates the need/desire for retaliation by killing the suspected offending predator. As part of this plan schools have been established and basic education is now required for the children of those who are part of the conservancy. This education includes understanding the purpose and functioning of the conservancy and allows the local people to have a say and "pride in ownership and success" of the conservancy. The land owners also have a say and contribute greatly in the operation, guidelines, and rules of how the conservancy is run. For example, in the Maasai North conservancy only a limited number of vehicles are allowed at a given "sighting" or "event" (currently five vehicles). This is less invasive and disruptive to the animals, significantly reduces visitor congestion, and provides a much better and natural viewing experience for the visitor.

Our experience: In our five days at the Alex Walker's Serian (meaning peace in Maa) Safari camp was a real eye opener. The permanent camp is setup on an escarpment overlooking the Maasai river. The employees of the camp are mainly Maasai including our expert driver and spotter - Dennis and James. We observed many of the local wildlife. The wildlife, especially the predators, seemed to be uninterested in our vehicle or us, often walking within feet of the vehicle. Even the animals we could call "prey" were calm and unconcerned with our close proximity. Around the camp many of the local residence were present. Just down the hill in the river we saw and heard hippopotamus, we heard lions on the other side of the river, and one evening we even had a couple of Eland walk and browse within yards of our tent. This could only be due to the peaceful relationship between man and animal over a long period of time. We are told that in areas where there is still a real problem with poaching the animals are still very afraid of man, are not at ease, and are stressed by our presence. Even when a predator was eating a carcass we were able to be within yards of the kill without any observable change in behavior or concern on the part of the lion or her two cubs. Animals with their babies seemed unconcerned with our presence continuing to feed, suckle, and play with no concern that we were observing and taking pictures.Read more