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  • 7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: MAASAI WILDERNESS CONSERVATION TRUST, Kenya

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    Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

    Kenya

    MAASAI WILDERNESSCONSERVATION TRUST

    Empowered live

    Resilient nation

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    UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

    Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

    or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

    their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

    themselves guiding the narrative.

    To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

    that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

    to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

    replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

    the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

    Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

    EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes

    Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

    Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,

    Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma

    Mary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding

    DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Loren

    de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

    AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude MWCT, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Ms. Kira Siebert, Communicati

    and Development Coordinator. All photo credits courtesy o MWCT. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

    Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2013. Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, Kenya. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. N

    York, NY.

    http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-events
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    PROJECT SUMMARYMaasai Wilderness Conservation Trust preserves thewilderness, wildlie and cultural heritage o the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem an important migration corridor betweentwo national parks. The organization o Maasai communitieshas mitigated unsustainable practices such as overgrazingand water-intensive arming and introduced alternativelivelihood options, including ecotourism. The communitybenets rom lease payments or conservancy zones,watershed protection, and the provision o ecotourismservices. Ecotourism revenue unds community health andeducation programmes, including scholarships, teachersalaries and clean water.

    An innovative programme called Wildlie Pays compensatesMaasai herders on a quarterly basis or losses due towildlie predation in exchange or their participation inconservation activities. An innovative partnership modelwith the Kenya Wildlie Service has allowed or both locallivelihood improvements and extensive wildlie monitoringto improve the protection o threatened species.

    KEY FACTS

    EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012

    FOUNDED: 2000

    LOCATION: Chyulu Hills, Amboseli-Tsavo region

    BENEFICIARIES: Kuku Group Ranch

    BIODIVERSITY: 12,000 acres across two conservancies

    3

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Background and Context 4

    Key Activities and Innovations 6

    Biodiversity Impacts 8

    Socioeconomic Impacts 8

    Policy Impacts 9

    Sustainability 10

    Replication 11

    Partners 11

    MAASAI WILDERNESS CONSERVATIONTRUSTKenya

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    Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT) was established

    n 2000 by the Maasai o Kuku Group Ranch as a grassroots

    onservation trust. The trust ocuses on the Maasai landscape and

    he communities o Kenyas Chyulu Hills, which are set within the

    Amboseli-Tsavo region o southern Kenya. The region is located in

    ne o East Aricas most iconic landscapes, an area that includes

    Mount Kilimanjaro and Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks,

    which together orm the largest National Park in Kenya.

    The Greater Tsavo and Amboseli Ecosystems

    he Kuku Group Ranch orms an important wildlie corridor linking

    wo o Kenyas most ecologically signicant and biologically diversereas: the Greater Tsavo and Amboseli ecosystems. The Maasai

    ommunities o this area own all o the land between the protected

    Amboseli and Tsavo West National Parks, and within their 280,000

    cres o land lie important migration corridors and habitat reserves

    hat serve as wildlie dispersal areas and support a signicant

    mount o the regions rich biodiversity. The region also includes rich

    loud orests, which, in addition to serving as carbon sinks, provide

    abitat or a number o rare and threatened species, including

    izable elephant populations. The health and integrity o these orest

    cosystems are closely linked to the wellbeing o local residents: the

    vers and springs that ow rom the orest provide reshwater to

    more than seven million people in Kenya, including the inhabitants

    the second largest city, Mombasa.

    Much o the region is classied as arid and semi-arid land, making it

    rone to soil erosion and degradation. The vulnerability o land and

    oil is heightened by growing pressure rom livestock grazing and

    he conversion o land or agriculture. The region is also increasingly

    rone to climate variability, including more requent and prolonged

    eriods o drought. In addition to growing rates o wildlie and

    vestock mortality, which translate to signicant economic losses

    or Maasai communities, these conditions have led to a destructive

    shit towards unsustainable land-use practices such as inten

    agriculture that are not compatible with local conditions and le

    ever-greater land degradation.

    Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

    Although MWCT was not ormally established until 2000, its

    begins in 1996, when Italian conservationist Mr. Luca Belp

    and his wie Ms. Antonella Bonomi ormed a partnership with

    Maasai community o Kuku Group Ranch. The partnership

    based around construction o an eco-lodge on Kuku Group R

    land, with a view to creating a tourism revenue stream that w

    benet the local community. The eco-lodge, Campi ya Kanzi,completed in 1998 and opened or business the same year. C

    ya Kanzi was initially operated by Mr. Belpietro and his wie, but

    the Maasai community maintaining legal ownership o the pro

    and receiving a share o lodge revenues. An agreement was p

    place that all lodge employees would be sourced rom within

    community. Four years later, in 2002, it became apparent tha

    positive impacts o the eco-lodge were not sucient to bene

    entire community; in response, the lodge began to impose a

    100 per night conservation surcharge which was used to raise

    to support the edgling Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

    The trust operates as a non-prot entity ocused on the initi

    and development o conservation, education and healthprograms throughout the local Maasai communities. The

    aims to conserve the wildlie and cultural heritage o the regio

    ocusing on initiatives that create sustainable economic benet

    the Maasai community, providing them with an alternative inc

    source to intensive agriculture. Currently, the trust is exploring

    and additional options or nancing ongoing conservation ef

    in an attempt to reduce reliance on philanthropic unding, whi

    date has supported much o the work o the trust.

    Background and Context

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    55

    he organization has developed a number o innovative approaches

    o address persistent challenges that conront local Maasai,

    ncluding land degradation and human-wildlie conict. Among

    he notable innovations advanced by the trust are lease payments

    or conservancy zones, payments or watershed protection,

    ustainable ecotourism, wildlie monitoring and conservation,

    nd the development o alternative employment options. All

    ctivities endeavour to strengthen the Maasais cultural heritage

    nd traditional way o lie while also expanding healthcare andducational services to the local community.

    Governance and institutional structure

    An innovative governance arrangement and strategic partnerships

    ave been central to the stability o the trust since its creation in

    000. MWCT is governed by a 13-member Board o Trustees, which

    ncludes ten Kenyans, including representatives o the local Maasai

    ommunity, and three international members (rom Italy, Spain

    nd USA respectively). Members o the Board are appointed by the

    Trustees: Mr. Luca Belpietro, Ms. Antonella Bonomi and Mr. Sam

    Parashina, a Maasai rom the Kuku Group Ranch community.

    Board o Trustees plays an advisory role and guides the Trus

    in setting goals and coming up with strategies to achieve the

    Development Committee, appointed by the community, con

    o six Maasai men and our Maasai women. The Developm

    Committee advises the Board on the most pressing needs o

    community. Another Advisory Board is comprised o six commu

    elected ocials along with the Trusts President.

    The trust also has a US-based partner aliate, Maasai Wilder

    Conservation Fund (MWCF), which is a registered 501c3 non-p

    tax-exempt organization. MWCF has its own Board, which con

    o heads o oundations that support MWCT, academics, and h

    o other NGOs. The MWCF Board raises unds rom US donors w

    it grants to MWCT based on jointly approved budgets. MWCT

    MWCF share an Advisory Group made up o close collaborators

    leading thinkers in the eld.

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    6

    Key Activities and Innovations

    Community-based ecotourism

    Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust has assisted the Kuku

    Group Ranch to secure an advantageous agreement with its

    cotourism partner, Campi ya Kanzi. The conservation surcharge

    USD 100) applied at the eco-lodge is one o the highest in Kenya.

    he employment agreement reached with the eco-lodge is also

    benecial to the Maasai population, with 95 per cent o lodge staf

    ourced rom the local community. Campi ya Kanzi has grown into

    model or the development o low-impact tourism inrastructure,

    sing only solar energy to ull its electricity and hot water needs,

    managing waste sustainably, and recycling all black and grey water.

    t is the only lodge o its kind that is sel-sucient in its water use,sing harvested rainwater rather than drawing on community water

    ources, thereby avoiding putting unnecessary pressure on scarce

    esources in this dry environment. Revenues to the community have

    been substantial, currently approaching USD 400,000 per year. This

    evenue is directed towards activities that conserve the wildlie o

    he region and improve the livelihoods o the local population. The

    rust organizes these activities into three programs: conservation,

    ducation and healthcare.

    Wildlie conservation

    he trust supports a number o conservation activities and

    maintains a conservation department that employs more than 100ocal Maasai people. Conservation activities are divided into our

    main areas: the conservancy program, the Wildlie Pays program,

    predator monitoring, and community wildlie rangers. In support o

    hese and other eforts, the trust has also constructed the Chyulu

    Conservation and Research Centre, where it undertakes knowledge

    management, research and inormation exchange activities. Another

    ctivity, currently in the exploratory phase, is the development o

    payment or ecosystem services (PES) schemes around orest and

    water conservation.

    The conservancy program: MWCT has developed a model

    network o land conservancy zones that aims to maintain ecosy

    services on community-owned lands between the two nat

    parks. This will entail the protection o standing orest, grass

    and wetlands, among other key landscape eatures, which en

    local landholders oregoing the use o the land or livestock

    cornerstone o the trust approach is the negotiation o

    payments or conservancy zones. To date, the group has negot

    and secured two such management deals to protect a grass

    habitat reserve and a critical wetland, totalling 12,000 acres,

    o which lie within the migration corridor between the two nat

    parks. These deals allow the community to be compensated

    their stewardship o the local ecosystem, unding the creatioalternative livelihood options, which has been important in a ca

    dependent local economy that increasingly sufers rom the imp

    o prolonged droughts.

    The trust is seeking to urther develop its conservation program

    the intention o protecting 150,000 acres o land that would, in

    secure meaningul, sustainable revenue or the community.

    complementary activity, the trust also works with community gra

    committees to address the negative impacts o the Maasai lives

    on the local environment. Specically, the group has ocuse

    improving grazing practices to protect grasslands, creating b

    zones around key water sources, and working to improve the ov

    resilience o rangelands. Training and capacity building or leaders has been prioritized as a way o empowering the M

    community to maintain local traditions but also to modiy

    activities in manner that will allow them to thrive in the long te

    Wildlie Pays: The tourism surcharge levied on visitors to the

    unds an innovative compensation program or Maasai herders c

    Wildlie Pays. The program nancially compensates herders who

    livestock to wildlie predation in exchange or their ull participa

    in wildlie protection activities. The program was started as a w

    reducing retribution killing o wildlie and o bringing herders

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    7

    ully into the old o conservation eforts. Herders receive quarterly

    ayments or the value o any livestock losses. In addition to nancing

    ther actions that help to mitigate human-wildlie conicts such as

    he construction o lion-proo livestock enclosures the Wildlie Pays

    rogram is working to generate a more positive attitude among the

    Maasai towards wildlie conservation. The compensation und is a

    alued acknowledgement o the Maasai dependence on livestock

    or their livelihoods, and o the trade-ofs that must be taken into

    onsideration when balancing wildlie conservation with pastoralistvelihoods. The program is sel-sucient and does not rely on

    hilanthropic unding. Surcharges levied on tourists visiting the area

    o see wildlie more than cover the annual costs o compensation,

    stablishing a pioneering and sustainable new PES model around

    he protection o wildlie.

    redator monitoring and community wildlie rangers: A third dimension

    the conservation program involves predator monitoring and the

    se o community wildlie rangers. Over 100 Maasai community

    members are employed by the trust as game guards and predator

    monitors, making MWCT one o the largest employers o community

    angers in the region ater the national Kenya Wildlie Service (KWS).

    he comprehensive program carried out in partnership with KWS

    aims to prevent illegal activities (and in particular poaching), to

    minimize human-wildlie conict, and to monitor biodiversity in

    he region. A ormal Memorandum o Understanding (MOU) was

    ecently signed with the KWS supporting trust wildlie security

    perations and ormal training o MWCT scouts. This has enabled the

    rust to work in much closer cooperation with national authorities.

    he objectives o the monitoring and wildlie ranger programs are

    o increase communities capacity to monitor and protect wildlie

    hroughout their lands, to monitor and maintain conservancy zones

    n accordance with management agreements, and to improve the

    ata available to assess the impact o resource management choices

    n species populations.

    Payment or ecosystem services

    n recent years, MWCT has worked to develop additional revenue

    treams or the Maasai community through innovative PES schemes.

    he trust has signed a Memorandum o Understanding (MOU)

    with the Kuku community to act and negotiate on their behal in

    xploring these options. One o the rst steps will be to assess the

    potential economic value o carbon and watershed services resu

    rom orests on community land. MWCT has secured unding

    Conservation International and the JP Morgan Fund or an in

    assessment o the carbon assets in the Kuku and Rombo Gr

    Ranches, and has brokered a ormal partnership between both t

    communities and Wildlie Works a private sector carbon pro

    designer and implementer that has brokered the only two reve

    generating, veried carbon credit trading projects in Kenya.

    hoped that a carbon-based payment or ecosystem services schwould urther bolster community conservation eforts and pro

    an additional incentive or saeguarding local ecosystems.

    Health and education programs

    The trust has been able to advance a broad vision or lin

    ecosystem health with community social and economic well-be

    Notably, the conservation ocus is complemented by health

    and education programming. Within its education program

    trust supports 20 local primary schools and one secondary sch

    serving a total o 7,000 students. The trust operates these schoo

    partnership with the Kenyan government, which provides suppo

    the orm o schoolhouse construction, employment o teachers

    the provision o stationery. More than ty educators are emplo

    by the trust to teach in its schools, making it the largest employ

    teachers working on the ranch. MWCT also unds and operates K

    Academy, a school or talented students in the region. The acad

    has so ar unded 34 secondary and post-secondary scholarship

    Maasai students, o which 15 are still ongoing at various educat

    levels.

    Similarly, the trust health program operates our local dispens

    in partnership with the Kenyan government, reaching about 8

    people. It also unds outreach services in the orm o out-pa

    care to isolated regions that lack access to medical acilitienew laboratory was recently built to support early diagnosis o

    health problems. MWCT was also recently awarded a three-

    grant by the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation, which

    been used to employ a Health Program Director with responsib

    or coordinating all strategic planning, government relat

    measurement o clinical program data, and sourcing o grant

    the health program.

    Our overall goal is to develop better practices in monitoring of wildlife species, in order

    to create a protected environment in which wildlife, the integrity of the land, and people can

    flourish together.

    Mr. Samson Parashina, President, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

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    8

    Impacts

    BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

    The trusts activities have had a positive impact on ecosystem

    ntegrity and wildlie diversity and abundance in the region. The

    2,000 acres within conservancies established on Maasai lands have

    helped to mitigate unsustainable practices such as over-grazing and

    water-intensive arming, which has, in turn, improved ecosystem

    esilience and bolstered the prospects or long-term environmental

    health. Importantly, the wildlie migration corridors between

    Amboseli and Tsavo have been ortied and protected.

    Reduced human-wildlie confict

    As a result o the Wildlie Pays program, predator mortality rates

    have declined dramatically in recent years. In 2005, two years

    beore the program was implemented, the number o lions killed

    on Kuku Group Ranch alone averaged 9-10 a year. Since Wildlie

    Pays was introduced, a total o ve lions have been killed by Maasai

    herdsmen. This positive trend is directly linked to the innovative

    MWCT program, which compensates herders or livestock lost to

    wild predators. By creating an incentive to engage in conservation

    eforts and abandon retribution killings, the trust has been able to

    efectively protect a number o charismatic predator species.

    Going beyond avoided human-wildlie conict, MWCT has instigated

    partnership with the Zoological Society o London (ZSL) todevelop standardized species monitoring protocols in conjunction

    with Tsavo National Park research teams, a relationship that will

    acilitate ecosystem-wide data-sharing and build understanding o

    ong-term trends in the abundance and distribution o key species.

    The partnership was also pursued as a means o strengthening

    he MWCT conservation program; that is, backing up anecdotal,

    qualitative successes with solid scientic data on the impacts o

    diferent conservation activities. Conversely, data collection and

    wildlie monitoring undertaken by MWCT also benets ZSL and KWS,

    who are charged with species monitoring in Tsavo National Park.

    Measuring ecosystem services

    The organization is in the process o evaluating the value o ca

    and watershed services provided by the community land.

    hoped that this will allow the community to develop a paymen

    ecosystem services scheme which will in turn create a new rev

    stream to nance conservation eforts and the stewardship o

    ecosystems. MWCT is also completing a easibility study o

    development o a reduced emissions rom deorestation and o

    degradation (REDD) project, which would provide protection o

    regions threatened cloud orests, as well as other orest areas o

    Kuku Group Ranch.

    Preserving culture and nature

    Perhaps most importantly, the combined work o MWC

    environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods is allo

    the Maasai to maintain their traditions and culture, in whi

    balance and harmony with local wildlie plays an important pa

    the absence o the conservation and development program

    advanced by MWCT, the Maasai, out o economic necessity, w

    likely be orced to arm the land, transorming their culture and

    landscape. This has been a trend in other Maasai group ranch

    the region, which has had devastating consequences or the

    environment; arming in such arid conditions oten results in neg

    impacts on wildlie, water systems and soil quality. Crop ailuparticularly dry years is also quite common. The preservation o

    pastoralist liestyle, in careul balance with local ecosystem car

    capacities, provides or both people and nature in this equation

    SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

    Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trusts eforts to develop

    sources o income through tourism, land leases or conserva

    compensation or livestock lost to wildlie, and altern

    employment options has decreased local dependence on c

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    or their livelihoods. Revenues coming into the community through

    ecotourism and conservation work are now quite substantial,

    and have been leveraged to both create new jobs and improve

    ocal wellbeing. In particular, new revenue streams have created

    ivelihood opportunities or local people in the provision o essential

    ervices such as health and education, and the wider community

    has beneted immensely rom eforts to ll these existing public

    ervice gaps.

    Employment and capacity building

    The trust is the largest employer in the Kuku Group Ranch, employing

    over 100 people in its conservation activities alone. Revenue rom

    MWCT activities has already greatly sotened the nancial blow o

    drought-related cattle losses, which have been on the rise in recent

    years. With decreased dependence on cattle, the community is now

    n a better position to adapt to climate variability and to be more

    esilient in the ace o environmental and economic shocks.

    The trust has also prioritized training and capacity building or a

    new generation o leaders within the Maasai community. Trainings

    provide Maasai employed by MWCT with new skills in sustainablenatural resource management that complement local traditional

    knowledge. By expanding the knowledge base and skill-set o the

    ocal population, the trust is working to expand livelihood options,

    ob opportunities, and overall community resilience. MWCT believes

    hat maintaining Maasai cultural heritage is not incompatible with

    creating new development opportunities or the local population

    and preparing or the uncertainties posed by climate change.

    Education and health

    Education and healthcare programs have opened up a number

    o essential social services that were previously unavailable or

    underunded in the region. In addition to employing the only local

    doctor in the area, the trust is providing a range o health services to

    he Maasai community through our dispensaries and an outreach

    program. The collective upshot is that thousands o people who

    previously lacked access to medical care because o geographic

    solation are now being served. The MWCT health program has

    developed a specic ocus on maternal health, including baby

    clinics, pre-natal health advice, and educational campaigns on amily

    planning. As a result, a signicantly higher number o local women

    are able to give birth at a health clinic, under medical supervision.

    The reach and impact o the MWCT education program has been

    equally impressive. The trust is the single largest employer oeachers in the area, including the government. MWCT also operates

    a school that serves over 700 students, while also supporting many

    more schools in the region. A special academy has been constructed

    and is now in operation which serves gited students. Many o these

    tudents are provided with scholarships that will allow them to

    access higher education and open up vocational training options.

    Womens empowerment

    Special emphasis has been placed by the trust on working to en

    the ull and active engagement and participation o wome

    conservation and natural resource management activities. As

    example, the rst emale community rangers were employe

    2011, which has engaged local women in the monitoring o wil

    Additionally, our o the ten Advisory Board members are wo

    rom the Kuku Group Ranch community. This may not seem osignicant, but is in act a relatively progressive achievement in

    context o Maasai traditions. Roughly 46 per cent o the teac

    employed by MWCT are women, with 25 per cent o those com

    rom within the Maasai community.

    POLICY IMPACTS

    The Kenya Wildlie Society (KWS), the national conservation

    national park management agency, has demonstrated keen int

    in the Wildlie Pays program, and is closely monitoring its pote

    to provide a national model or efectively compensating he

    or losses to wildlie. MWCT is also increasing its outreach to

    government bodies regarding PES and REDD schemes, as wewater and wildlie management.

    This engagement with government agencies has been aide

    MWCTs prole at the international level. Following a presenta

    given by MWCT Board members to UNDP and UNEP ocers

    Permanent Secretary o Kenyas Ministry o Environment and Mi

    Resources, and the Acting Director o the National Environm

    Management Authority (NEMA) during the UNEP Environm

    Ministers Summit in Nairobi in 2011, NEMA and the Minist

    Environment identied MWCT as an implementing partner

    KWS-led, Global Environment Facility-unded project ocu

    on Kenyas Southern Rangelands. The project titled Enhan

    the ecological integrity o the Tsavo-Chyulu-Amboseli ecosy

    through sustainable management and utilization o the na

    resources or improved livelihoods and poverty reduction aim

    maximize ecological and economic benets rom Maasai comm

    lands in the Tsavo-Chyulu-Amboseli ecosystem.

    MWCT has played a leading role in the development o

    project, contributing its expertise in efective engagement o

    communities in conservation issues, as well as its demonstr

    ability to leverage nancing or its core program activities. While

    unding will contribute up to USD 8 million over ve years, M

    is expected to contribute co-nancing. The project will also b

    on MWCTs exploration o potential PES schemes or carbonwatershed services in the Chyulu Hills. The engagement o M

    in this project is an indication o its increasing role as a case s

    in how to efectively engage Massai communities in conserva

    eforts.

    9

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    10

    Sustainability and Replication

    SUSTAINABILITYhe trust has experienced a great deal o success to date, and is well

    ositioned to not only sustain its operations, but to expand them.

    he diversity o economic development and revenue-generating

    ctivities pursued by the trust ensures that nancing o ongoing

    onservation eforts is secured in the short- to medium-term.

    erhaps most central in terms o organizational sustainability

    will be continuing to ensure that benets rom the trust and rom

    ts programs reach the community and are perceived by the local

    opulation as positively impacting their lives.

    Financial sustainability

    At the moment, MWCT is primarily unded through outside donors.

    he trust recognizes the need to create a measure o nancial

    ndependence and sel-suciency and is taking steps to explore

    nnovative unding options that would reduce its reliance on

    hilanthropy. Despite this dependence, MWCT does not rely on any

    ne source o unding, but has been able to develop an impressively

    iverse portolio o donor sources. The conservation levy charged

    o eco-lodge visitors has been a central source o sel-generated

    evenue, and has been used to create employment and to und

    onservation activities.

    he trust continues to look or ways to capitalize on the economicotential o biodiversity and a healthy environment, having

    dentied this as the cornerstone o both the local economy and

    community health and wellbeing. MWCT has also started to

    xplore innovative conservation nancing measures, building on

    he Wildlie Pays program, which itsel is a new model o payment

    or ecosystem services. Discussions have been opened with leaders

    n the tourism industry on how best this model might be expanded

    n neighbouring regions. Other options include the REDD easibility

    tudy and the development o a payment or ecosystem services

    cheme around the protection o the Chyulu Hills watershed.

    While MWCT has successully negotiated and established conservancies through management agreements with Kuku G

    Ranch protecting over 12,000 acres o critical migration corr

    wetlands and grassland reserves the trust is exploring lon

    term arrangements or expanding the amount o land u

    conservation. Currently under negotiation is its most ambi

    conservancy management agreement to date, which would pro

    one o the most critical water sources in western Tsavo. Thro

    this agreement, the Kuku community would be paid an an

    per acre sum in exchange or a management agreement

    MWCT to set aside the acreage as no graze, no boma, no arm

    prohibiting livestock herding, settlements, or cultivation an

    an area to be managed as an ecological conservancy by the t

    These management agreements bring higher revenue to the M

    communities than the yield rom marginal arming and gra

    and are thereore an attractive proposition. To date, they have

    unded with grants; MWCT is now working to raise a substa

    endowment that would support the model in perpetuity. The

    o raising a USD 7-10 million conservancy trust und was den

    2012 as part o the trusts our-year plan, which sets out the go

    transitioning rom philanthropic grants to creating market-b

    revenue streams (such as carbon credits) and sustainable long-

    models o underwriting (such as endowments.)

    Community ownership

    In each o its programs, MWCT is demonstrating efective

    creative solutions that protect local ecosystems and support a m

    or delivering long-term benets or rural communities. St

    community approval or MWCT benet-sharing arrangem

    represents a key social component o the initiatives stability

    long-term sustainability. The trust holds itsel to a high lev

    accountability to the community it serves, notably including

    revenues ow into the community. The vast majority o direct ben

    are paid in the orm o new employment, whether in the comm

    ranger program, at the Chyulu Conservation and Research Cent

    within the education and healthcare programs.

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    1111

    As well as being direct beneciaries o the initiative, local community

    members are deeply involved in the governance o MWCT. While the

    rust benets rom having an experienced international board, local

    epresentation is never compromised or side-lined. Many o the

    ey roles within the MWCT program areas are lled by local Maasai

    eople. Ongoing training and education o younger community

    members ensures the capacity o uture generations. The Director

    nd Operations Commander o the community rangers program are

    oth Maasai, as are the Wildlie Pays Coordinator, the Conservationupport Ocer, and the Simba Scout Coordinator (Simba Scouts

    omprise eight Maasai warriors paid to patrol Kuku Group Ranch,

    ecording animal and particularly lion sightings and locations.)

    n 2009, MWCT acquired and renovated a deunct saari camp,

    ransorming it into the Chyulu Conservation and Research Centre.

    he Centre serves as the MWCT headquarters and is a hub or its

    many collaborations and partnerships. Research activities provide

    urther alternative livelihood opportunities or the local community,

    roviding training and work or community members as staf,

    ecurity guards and research assistants.

    REPLICATIONhe trust is constantly working to expand the reach and ambition

    its conservation work. It has opened discussion with leading

    epresentatives o the Kenya tourism industry on how some o

    ts best practices might be scaled up, including the application

    a wildlie surcharge on the guests o larger hotel concessions

    within the national parks. Extension o this approach would allow

    oordinated wildlie security work to be expanded throughout the

    Maasai lands between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks.

    lans are also in place to scale-up the MWCT land conservancy

    nitiative. Conservancy deals to date cover 12,000 acres, but have theotential to be expanded to 22,000 acres in the short-term. MWCT is

    egotiating urther conservancy agreements, while simultaneously

    eginning to raise unds or the creation o a permanent endowment

    o und the conservancy network in perpetuity. The help o

    otential partner unders is also being sought to assist in scaling the

    ndowment and the conservancy network throughout the region.

    n March 2011, MWCT hosted the rst Chyulu Carbon Summit at

    ts headquarters in the Chyulu Conservation and Research Center.

    he goal was to discuss the potential or developing payment

    or ecosystem services schemes in the region, including carbon

    torage and REDD credits. Representatives rom Kuku and Mbirikani

    Group Ranches, Kenya Wildlie Service, Conservation International,Wildlie Works, Arican Wildlie Foundation, UNEP and Maasailand

    reservation Trust all participated, along with the Chyulu Forest

    Maasai stakeholders, government representatives, NGOs and private

    ector carbon brokers. This demonstrates the extent to which MWCT

    s becoming a regional centre o excellence or community-based

    onservation and sustainable land management.

    Work is being undertaken with neighbouring Maasai communities

    o encourage the replication and uptake o the trusts activities.

    MWCT maintains a long-running collaboration with Maasailand

    Preservation Trust, a sister community trust in the same ecosys

    which now models its own livestock compensation strategy on

    Wildlie Pays program. Given that over three-quarters o Ken

    classied as arid and semi-arid lands, MWCT work has great pote

    to be replicated in other parts o the country. The UNDP-impleme

    GEF-Small Grants Programme has held discussions with MWC

    explore potential methods or replicating its activities and sha

    knowledge gained in sustainable rangeland management

    other pastoralist communities in neighbouring regions.

    PARTNERS

    MWCTs US-based partner aliate, Maasai Wilderness Conserva

    Fund (MWCF) is a registered 501c3 non-prot, tax-exe

    organization. MWCF raises unds rom US donors which it gran

    MWCT based on jointly approved budgets.

    MWCT has signed a Memorandum o Understanding with K

    Wildlie Service, the government entity responsible or wildli

    Kenya. KWS supports MWCT wildlie security operations and

    approved the trust training program or conservation scouts.

    Conservation International has been working with MWCT

    developing payment or ecosystem services. Together with Wi

    Works, they are supporting the Kuku community in a REDD easi

    analysis. The trust has also secured the support o a number o o

    organizations in this endeavour, including: AECOM, who prov

    wide range o technical services and assistance and have take

    the trust as a pro bono client; the Solar Electric Light Fund; and

    author Pavan Sukhdevs GIST Advisory Group, which is provi

    technical expertise on calculating the economic value o biodive

    and ecosystem services. The JP Morgan Fund has also prov

    support or this collaboration in PES.

    MWCT partners with the Zoological Society o London, which

    worked in Kenya or over 20 years with strong involvement in

    development o national species management strategies, on spe

    specic research, monitoring, and conservation managem

    This partnership aims to develop standardized species monito

    protocols or the region. The trust has also engaged with

    based Texas A&M Universitys Department o Ecosystem Science

    Management (ormerly Forest Science and Rangeland Ecology

    Management) to initiate a research partnership based at the Ch

    Conservation and Research Centre to study impacts o her

    practice, re and drought on grasslands, and to develop a long-

    management strategy or sustainable use.

    MWCT was selected by Google Earth Outreach as one o its m

    projects or Arica. The trust was also awarded a three-year gran

    the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation to und the employm

    o a Health Program Director. US-based NGO Partners in H

    assisted the trust in recruitment or this new role.

    Additional partnerships include support rom Hotelplan (a Swiss

    operator), which donated USD 250,000 to build a primary sc

    including teachers accommodation, and the Le Rosey Founda

    which donates USD 25,000 a year to sustain MWCT core progra

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    Equator Initiative

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    2013 by Equator Initiative

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    FURTHER REFERENCE

    MWCT website: http://www.maasaiwilderness.org/

    Fundraising webpage or MWCT: www.crowdrise.com/maasaiwilderness

    MWCT brochure: http://maasaiwilderness.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MWCT_Programs_Brochure.pd

    MWCT Equator Initiative prole page: http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=win

    detail&id=100&Itemid=683

    http://www.maasaiwilderness.org/http://www.crowdrise.com/maasaiwildernesshttp://maasaiwilderness.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MWCT_Programs_Brochure.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=100&Itemid=683http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=100&Itemid=683http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=100&Itemid=683http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=100&Itemid=683http://maasaiwilderness.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MWCT_Programs_Brochure.pdfhttp://www.crowdrise.com/maasaiwildernesshttp://www.maasaiwilderness.org/http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348258301.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161335.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348165612.pdf