Till such time I began travelling with Siva, all I knew was that he was doing a research on Grevy’s zebra in the area, at a research centre called Mpala. Grevy’s zebra are same as the regular zebra, but the stripes are different and coser. Ther are found only in central-northern Kenya.
Likipia forms the beginning of the northern part of the Kenya, but technically located in the central province. As we drove, I was exposed to an entirely new world, which I had not even dreamt of. Barring Nyanuki and nearby places, government is virtually non existent here.
Mpala is an hour's drive from Nyanuki. During the British rule, the entire area was converted into big ranches and the local people were driven to wildlife reserves. Even today, the ranches are owned by rich whites and they are private holdings. The extent of each ranche is unbelievably big. There are ranches as big as 370 sq kms and even there are some small holdings too. This has left behind smaller patches of few community ranches for the locals.
Like elsewhere in rural Kenya, livestock is the livelihood of locals here. The question is about grazing. While the ranch owners can manage to graze their cattle in their own ranches, the others have to depend on community ranches to graze the cattle.
There is a mix up of wildlife and livestock in the area. The wildlife is seen in many private ranches and some does not allow wildlife to enter their area. “This person is a friend of mine, but does not allow the wildlife to enter his ranch. He just shoots it down,’’ said Siva, as we passed a well fenced huge ranch.
But, not all the ranch owners are like that. The owner of Ol Jogi ranch is proud of black rhinos inside his ranch. He has kept armed guards to ensure that the poachers do not enter his premises. He does not allow any one inside the ranch, including tourists. It is just for his private guests.
Another ranch Ol Pejeta, which is the largest among the ranches, has a Chimpanzee rescue centre run by noted wildlife conservationist Jane Godall. The tourists are allowed here and can stay back. It is part of their tourism business. The Mpala research centre itself is in a private ranch, converted into a trust. The entire wildlife conservation research in the area is being conducted from this centre.
However, the issues in this area are very complicated. As we drive from Nyanuki, there are literally no roads after 20 km. The motato, the local transport, also stops at that point. After that, it is large tracts of forests, owned by private people or community and they are mainly used for cattle grazing.
Most of the private ranches are well fenced and the existence of wildlife depends on the passion of the ranch owner. In community ranches, it is the cattle first. Most of the community ranches are over grazed and lands are degraded. The local administration system has divided the area into grazing and non-grazing areas, but when the fodder is scarce, there will be little difference between the two. The red patches of land amidst the trees stand testimony to the amount of land degradation due to over grazing in this region.
Though the ranch owners does not allow local people inside, they get into a lot of community works like sponsorship for students, building schools or even running small dispensaries. The deal with the community leaders is that they should not graze the cattle or steal anything in the ranch. Once the promise is broken, the ranch owner threatens to withdraw the facilities.
``It is a mutual benefit and acts as security to the ranch owners,’’ Siva pointed out.
But the biggest problem here is the wildlife conservation. The locals are unforgiving, when a predator attacks their livestock. A group of them will barge into the area and kill whichever predator comes on the way. Though it is against the law in Kenya, no one questions. There is no government to question either.
But the things are not as pathetic as it appears. The conservation efforts started here around 25 years ago. There problems that existed are being addressed stage by stage. One of the first local groups into conservation included Likipia Wildlife Forum (LWF) and Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT).
NRT is a membership-based organisation, where ranch owners become members and start implementing wildlife conservation in their area. The organisation gives the logistic support to these ranch owners. Besides the Mpala research centre and African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), some private conservation ranches like Ol Pejeta, Lewa and foreign zoos are also working in the area.
Interestingly, 100 years ago, there were no elephants in the area and 40 years ago, there were no Grevy’s zebras. Twenty years ago, the wild dogs were not heard of at all. They are here over a period of time, and the habitat has changed from being open grassland to full of trees. But, there are growing problems too. During the last 10 years, land degradation has been an issue, especially with community ranches. Though the non-grazing areas look good, the grazing areas are denuded by over grazing, especially by the sheep and goats.
It is said that Likipia has large mammal in abundance anywhere in east Africa, except in Sarangetti-Masai Mara enclosures. Yet, there is no formal protected area here.
Mpala research centre
11-12-2008
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