Leveraging Donor Attention, Mount Kenya National Park, Kenya
Case Study C0190
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| Date | October 2004 |
| Agency | GEF COMPACT Initiative |
| Donor/support agency | Kenya Forest Working Group Honey Care Africa Ltd. Various local NGOs, cooperatives and community based organisations |
| Project type | Implemented by agency |
| Context(s) | Protected area |
| Geographic coverage | Kenya |
| Locality | Nyeri and Kirinyaga districts in Central Province; and Meru Central, Meru South and Embu districts in Eastern Province |
| Biodiversity focus | Ecosystem/landscape |
| Development focus | Local communities |
| Conservation goals | Conserve the biodiversity of Mount Kenya National Park |
| Poverty reduction goals | Provide local residents alternative sustainable sources of income |
Summary
The Mt Kenya World Heritage site consists of Mt. Kenya National Park (71,500 ha), Mount Kenya Natural Forest (70,520 ha), as well as adjacent natural forest between 1,600 and 3,100 m. The area was legally established as a Forest Reserve in 1932, gazetted as a national park in 1949 and inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1997. Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro, and is a vital water catchment for some 7 million people. The forest zone hosts important populations of several threatened animal species, and has one of the most impressive snow-capped landscapes in East Africa. The site constitutes a major destination in Kenya for eco-tourism and is regarded as a sacred mountain by local Kikuyu and Meru communities living in the peripheral zone of the mountain. The main threats to the forest area around Mt. Kenya are: illegal logging, firewood collection, poaching, charcoal burning, destructive honey collecting, settlement and encroachment. Human interference in the park is heterogeneous but more serious at lower altitudes.
Most of the key threats identified by COMPACT* during its baseline assessment relate to illegal and destructive activities carried out by local people to earn a living. Alternative income generation linked to the promotion of conservation were therefore given top priority by COMPACT. Other activities prioritized by COMPACT site strategy, launched in 2001, included electric fencing to protect farms from elephants, community tree planting on plantation lands, improved municipal waste management, construction of an information and education centre, and facilitation of community inputs to the protected area management planning process.
* In 1999, the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP) joined efforts with the United Nations Foundation (UNF) to launch a partnership initiative entitled ‘Community Management of Protected Areas for Conservation’ (COMPACT). The goal of COMPACT is to demonstrate how community-based initiatives can significantly increase the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in the co-management of globally significant protected areas by working to improve the livelihoods of local populations. (For more information on COMPACT see initiative n°36.)
Conservation impact
Some of the impacts of the project to date are:
- 20 selected “eco-model” schools established woodlots to be able to harvest fast-growing fuel-wood trees, thereby reducing their impact on the forests. 12 of the schools also replaced their traditional stoves with energy-efficient stoves to reduce fuelwood use. It is estimated that the project will conserve up to 26 ha of forest per year
- A fence built to protect crops from wildlife has also provided a barrier to discourage people from entering the forest illegally
- Public awarness was raised on the need to preserve the forest
Poverty reduction impact
Some of the impacts of the project to date are:
- A project carried out in five districts around Mt. Kenya has allowed women to own and manage hives for the first time using environmentally friendly techniques with the potential to generate higher levels of income through more effective marketing
- COMPACT helped construct a 14 km solar-powered electric fence along the national park boundary intended to deter elephants from costly and dangerous raids on food crops
Strategy for Conservation/Poverty Linkages
Enabling local participation in policy-/decision- making processes
Provision of alternative livelihoods
Sustainable Use
Reference 1
http://www.undp.org/sgp/download/publications/Partnerships%20for%20conservation%20-%20web.pdf
More information
Nancy Chege
Tel: 254-62-31328/62-31297
E-mail: wnchege@iconnect.co.ke
Related records above this one:
- Global Environment Facility (GEF) (Organisation O0026)
- Honey Care Africa Ltd (Organisation O0031)