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
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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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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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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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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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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.
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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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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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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: MAASAI WILDERNESS CONSERVATION TRUST, Kenya
12/12
Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781-4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
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kind o growth that improves the quality o lie or everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we ofer glo
perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2013 by Equator Initiative
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Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
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