World Environment Day: 8 Ways NRT Member Conservancies Are Protecting the Environment
Happy World Environment Day!
Today, and every 5th of June, is a reminder that we must take action and work together to avert the climate crisis.
At the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), our member community conservancies are spearheading transformative environmental change across northern and coastal Kenya. Here are 8 ways NRT member conservancies are protecting our planet and conserving the natural environment:
1. Mangrove Restoration at NRT Coast
Mangroves, beaches and dunes, coral reefs, and the deep waters of the offshore North Kenya Banks characterize the NRT Coast Conservancies of Pate Marine, Kiunga, and Lower Tana Delta.
The 35,000 hectares of mangroves include the nine mangrove species found in the Western Indian Ocean including the rare Heritiera littoralis. The Lamu archipelago mangroves alone constitute over 60% of Kenya’s mangrove forests and are one of the largest stands of mangrove forests in East Africa. These mangroves combined with the nutrient-rich cold waters are highly productive and contain some of the highest densities of finfish and crustaceans inshore in Kenya, supporting the fisheries that underpin the local economy.
NRT Coast Conservancies continue to restore mangroves in degraded areas and establish nurseries to hold mangrove seedlings. Since 2018, 75,018 mangroves have been planted across the three Conservancies, with nurseries holding 29,166 mangrove seedlings. The Conservancies have 50 mangrove restoration experts, 10 of whom are highly proficient in monitoring planted sites independently, without the need for external scientific expertise. The community mangrove restoration experts regularly monitor and ‘gap’ sites planted with mangrove and have recorded a growth rate ranging from 30.7% to 98.2%.
2. Rangelands Rehabilitation
Rangelands and pastoralist livelihoods around the world are imperiled by shifting settlement and grazing patterns, changing climate conditions, and a growing human population. The proliferation of invasive species such as Acacia reficiens has also taken a toll on rangelands, posing an existential threat to wildlife and people. The nature of nomadism is changing too, with more sedentary pastoralism taking place, leading to overgrazing and the degradation of rangelands.
In NRT’s approach to rangeland management, traditional institutions are integrated with modern methods, technologies, and governance concepts. NRT member conservancies are working towards realizing lasting behavioral change in pastoralist communities to accelerate the recovery of the rangelands. Some of the measures they have taken to improve the rangelands include introducing conservancy-led rangeland governance, grazing planning and management, rangeland rehabilitation, and invasive species management.
A three-part rangelands cartoon series has been introduced that depicts how the terrain of northern Kenya has changed in recent years, the causes of the change, and possible solutions. The cartoon series also portrays how the health and condition of the rangelands are monitored and evaluated and the impact of community conservancy activities.
3. The Clean Energy Project
Kenya’s forests are under immense pressure from fuelwood demand and agricultural expansion. These activities endanger forest ecosystems and release carbon into the atmosphere, leading to global warming and ultimately, climate change. According to the Ministry of Energy, 90% of rural Kenyan households rely on firewood fuel for cooking, putting immense pressure on forested areas.
NRT member conservancies, with support from NRT and partners, launched the Clean Energy Project in 2020 to facilitate conservancy community members’ switch to a renewable and abundant fuel source, easing the strain on shrinking forest habitats caused by firewood harvesting. The Project entails installing biogas digester units in compounds of community members which produce biogas for cooking. So far, 253 biogas digesters have been installed across 9 NRT member conservancies in northern and coastal Kenya. The Project targets member conservancies that rely heavily on firewood, have enough manure—ideal raw materials for the biogas digester—have access to water, and have permanent settlements.
Plans are underway to expand the Clean Energy Project by installing biogas digester units in 1,000 homes annually for the next three years.
In NRT Coast conservancies, women participating in reforestation have benefited from the distribution of energy-saving jikos, which reduce the destruction of forests for charcoal and fuel.
4. Sustainable Fishing
NRT Coast’s robust Marine Program empowers the fishers community in Pate and Kiunga Conservancies in carrying out sustainable fishing practices. Over the years, illegal fishing and destructive and unsustainable fishing practices have led to over-exploitation of nearshore reefs, habitat damage, and decline of nearshore fish populations, directly impacting the communities’ livelihood.
The Marine Program aims to protect habitats, reduce the fishing pressure on nearshore areas and provide a community-driven approach for reef restoration and the development of additional livelihood options. To achieve these goals, NRT Coast conservancies have established Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). LMMAs are regions in coastal Kenya organized in a way that marine resources are owned and managed by the local coastal communities, working in partnership with NRT, donors, other partner organizations, and relevant government agencies. The local communities have set aside part of the LMMAs as no-take zones and have imposed gear, species, and seasonal restrictions to ensure healthy habitats exist for fish where they can breed and multiply. This eases the pressures from overfishing and increases the total fish catch.
So far, four LMMAs are active in Pate Conservancy. Two are no-take zones targeting specific reefs where all fishing is restricted, while two are seasonal closures, specifically targeting octopuses. Beach Management Unit (BMU) members, local fishers, and conservancy rangers work together to monitor and police illegal fishing within the LMMAs.
5. The Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project
The Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project is the first large-scale grasslands soil carbon project in the world and the world's largest carbon removal project to date. Over the course of 30 years, the North Kenya Carbon Project is expected to remove and store 50 million tons of carbon dioxide. This is the equivalent of the annual emissions from over 10,000,000 cars!
Working with partners, NRT has facilitated the Project Development over the past ten years so the sale of the sequestered carbon on global markets generates sustainable income for member conservancies to use for community-led development projects. At least 14 NRT member conservancies are involved in the Project. Rotational grazing practices developed through conservancy and village grazing committees and upheld by livestock herders are the Project’s activities. These help improve rangeland conditions, pasture for livestock and wildlife, and the habitats of four endemic endangered species, assisting people in Northern Kenya to adapt to the consequences of climate change, reducing conflict over, and building peace in this sensitive region. Read more about the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project.
6. Volunteer Plastic Clean-up Activities
Oceans remain the world’s largest plastic dumping grounds and it’s devastating to see the impact of tonnes of plastic waste on the environment. Kenya’s coastal marine areas have been affected too, as heaps of plastic end up on the shores, affecting fish and communities that depend on them for their livelihoods. In collaboration with partners, NRT’s Kiunga Community Conservancy launched the Bahari Moja Project to collect and recycle plastic waste from the Conservancy’s shoreline. In 2021, community members, conservancy rangers, and staff collected approximately 34.9 tonnes of plastic and nondegradable waste from the surrounding beaches. The construction of Kiunga Conservancy’s plastic recycling center is now complete, and community members have been trained on plastic sorting, crushing, and recycling. Local women’s groups use recycled plastic to make ecobricks for construction and crafts for sale. The Conservancy is working towards a cleaner, healthier environment for the local community and marine life.
7. Forest Conservation
NRT member conservancies are engaged in forestry activities targeting terrestrial forests, which are vital water catchment areas with high biodiversity. These activities include: registering Community Forestry Associations (CFAs) and aligning them with conservancy governance structures, developing participatory forest management plans (PFMPs), mapping and monitoring forest conditions, protecting and managing forests, establishing tree nurseries, and undertaking tree planting exercises.
Ngare Ndare Forest Trust, for example, an NRT member conservancy whose forest is said to be the only one in Kenya with an expanding canopy cover, has continually funded tree planting programs and gives farmers access to seedlings at subsidized prices. For every seedling the farmers buy, they receive another free of charge to reduce reliance on Ngare Ndare Forest for timber and fuel. The seedlings are nurtured in 12 community tree nurseries, which grow over 100,000 exotic seedlings every year for farmers. The Trust also has an indigenous nursery where over 100,000 indigenous seedlings of various species are grown.
In the Ndera and Lower Tana Delta Community Conservancies, local communities are actively involved in the Reforestation Program. In two degraded riverine forests, Lalafitu and Kinyadu, they planted 5,000 indigenous tree seedlings.
The Conservancies’ nurseries had 7,000 seedlings as of December 2021. Conservancy rangers and local community members monitor and replace the seedlings regularly. Lalatifu and Kinyadu Forests are found along the Tana River and are home to the critically endangered Tana River red colobus and Tana River mangabey.
8. Wildlife Protection
Did you know that historically, local communities in Kenya had little say in how conservation areas are managed and reaped little benefit from protecting wildlife? As a result, the people who co-exist with wildlife developed an apathetic attitude toward undomesticated animals.
The community conservancy model is changing this by showcasing the connection between wildlife conservation and improved indigenous livelihoods. Today, NRT member conservancies are at the forefront of wildlife protection, doing this in 6 main ways:
Conducting anti-poaching operations
Habitat management
Increasing conservation awareness
Mitigating human-wildlife conflict
Monitoring wildlife population
Operating endangered species recovery programs
In 2021, the wildlife protection activities that took place in NRT member conservancies include rescues of 44 orphaned elephants and 8 sea turtles, translocation of 9 Rothschild's giraffes from a disappearing island to a safer mainland, and vaccination of 59,703 head of livestock to promote the health of livestock and protect endangered wildlife like hirola from disease.
We have only one earth, and we are proud that NRT member conservancies are playing a significant role in saving our planet and conserving the environment.
NRT works hand in hand with the indigenous communities we serve to develop solutions that benefit the people, land, and wildlife, with support from our partners.