the conservancy movement

8/11/2019 The Conservancy Movement

1/9

OLARE MOTOROGI CONSERVANCY (formally Olare Orok Conservancy)

The Conservancy Movement

More than 70% of Kenyas wildlife lives on rangelands outside protected areas i.e. National Parks and NationalReserves. These rangelands belong to a variety of landowners, some of them private individuals, some of themcommunities, and some of them groups of individuals on lands that were formally community owned but havesubsequently been subdivided. Many of the landowners are pastoralists such as the Maasai and Samburupeoples. Their lands comprise most of the key wildlife dispersal areas and migratory corridors bordering thecountrys famous tourism destinations, such as the Masai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli National Park andTsavo National Park. Few protected areas are self-sufficient ecosystems and were these landowners to decideto fence their land, plough it up for agriculture, or simply get rid of the animals, the countrys wildlife wouldbecome a shadow of its former self.

Originally pioneered in northern Kenya in 2004 by the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, several other organizations,including the Kenya Wildlife Trust (KWT) and Basecamp Foundation (BCF) in the Mara, the African WildlifeFoundation (AWF), the African Conservation Centre (ACC) in Amboseli-Tsavo, and the Laikipia Wildlife Forum

(LWF) in Laikipia, have worked productively to convince landowners with wildlife on their land to turn theirland into conservancies. In many cases this has involved seeking investment from tourism partners who haveleased conservancy land to create boutique camps and small lodges, and in other cases it has involved seekingdonor partners to assist with funding. In both cases the goal has been to ensure equitable financial returns tolandowners in return for their support and co-operation.

Instead of 6% of Kenyas land being protected for wildlife, it may soon be 15% or more. And if this is the case,the biggest winners will not just be the animals and conservationists but, as importantly, the landowningcommunities for whom wildlife will prove to be much more of a benefit than a cost. (Source:kenyawildlifetrust.org)

How the Conservancy Model Came About

May 2006 was a landmark date for conservation in the Masai Mara with the formation of Olare Orok & Motorogi

Conservancies bordering the Masai Mara Game Reserve. This was the date when a deal was brokered with the277 Maasai landowners that has since become the template for the Mara community wildlife conservancies anda blue-print for the sustainability of the greater Masai Mara eco-system.

Prior to 2006, the Olare Orok and Motorogi Conservancies, 32,000 acres of prime grasslands, riverine forestsand acacia woodlands, were populated by rural homesteads and grazed in an uncontrolled manner by largeherds of cattle, sheep and goats. The eco-system was over-grazed and sustainability of the habitat for bothpeople and wildlife was being destroyed. After many meetings with the local Maasai it was agreed that a newcommunity conservation vision should be tried to address sustainability of their land and to add value in bothincome and conserving vegetation, so that a combination of wildlife tourism and sustainable rotational grazingcould create a win-win situation for both the Maasai landowners and the wildlife of the Masai Mara eco-system.

Moving from a bed night system of payment to a monthly rental from the safari camps has given the Maasailandowners a reliable steady income. The management of the Conservancy is conducted by a Board consistingof representation from both the Maasai landowners and tourism partners in conjunction with donors who wereinstrumental in supporting the Conservancy.

VISIT: WWW.GREATPLAINSCONSERVATION.COM


2/9VISIT: WWW.GREATPLAINSCONSERVATION.COM

The management, together with facilitators and elders, brokered the removal of homesteads and the reductionin domestic livestock herd sizes within core conservation areas. In particular, diurnal refuge areas for predatorswere left completely free of domestic livestock. As a result, the Conservancy has once again become a haven forbig cats and part of the annual wildebeest migration route. The Conservancy now offers some of East Africas

finest, year-round wildlife viewing. The area boasts one of the highest densities of lions per square kilometre inAfrica and over 50 different species of raptors have been identified.

Tourism in the Conservancy is limited to a maximum of 94 beds in five mobile camps this equates to a ratioof one game viewing vehicle for every 2,100 acres, a move that is aimed at maximising the client wildernessexperience and minimising the environmental impact of tourism.

The Conservancies have adopted an holistic approach to grazing and pasture management within theConservancies, an approach that is not far removed from the traditional Maasai system where the elders woulddecide on which areas were grazed and which were left for leaner times. The Kundi Moja or one-herd systemis where the landowners control-graze a small area in a tight formation of their herds and will graze this shortbefore moving on to the next designated area.

The Conservancies are a partnership between 277 landowners and five tourism operations; founding members

Porini Lion Camp and Kicheche Bush Camp were later joined by Mara Plains Camp and Olare Simba Camp, andwill soon include Virgin Groups Mahali Mzuri Camp. The Conservancies are managed by Olpurkel Ltd., a not-for-profit company whose shareholders are the operators, and controlled by a Board of equal representation fromboth the landowners and the tourism partners along with representatives from the Trust. This ensures thatthe Conservancies are run in a fashion that maximises the benefits for all the interested parties no matter howdiverse their interests and needs are. This has led to an interesting blend between conservation and traditionalpastoralism, a recipe that incorporates the puritan elements of conservation with the commercial needs ofmaking the Conservancies self-sufficient, combined with traditional knowledge gathered through centuries ofexperience.

These short grass areas, once vacated by the cattle, become hot spots for short-grass loving herbivores.Water catchments are planned and constructed with these grazing patterns in mind, ensuring that thereare close watering points for both cattle and wildlife. Roads and firebreaks are also planned to minimize theenvironmental impact of visitors in the Conservancies whilst maintaining the quality of experience for visitors.

Management has a policy of employing from its landowner community wherever possible and encourages itspartners to follow suit, maximising the benefits derived from conservation tourism.

The Conservancies have strict environmental policies and stipulate that the environmental footprint of itsoperators is kept to a minimum, insisting on mobile camps with no foundations, proper garbage and wastedisposal policies and adherence to a strict Code of Conduct with regards to both camp operations and thebehaviour of their clients and guides whilst in the Conservancies. Management works closely with the OlareOrok Conservancy Trust, which supports the Conservancy and helps spread the benefits of conservation to a farwider community than the immediate recipient landowners.

Management also works closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in animal health and welfare and haveassisted research foundations such as Living with Lions and Colorado State University with research andcollaring programs, like the recent collaring of 18 wildebeest from the Loita herds to study their little known

migratory route: www.gnulandscape.com.



OLARE MOTOROGI CONSERVANCYwww.mmconservancy.com

Olare Motorogi Conservancy Partners

The Conservancy is owned by 277 Maasai landowners, each holding a freehold title deed for their parcel of landwithin the Conservancy. These landowners have formed a partnership with the five tourism operators with thegoal of running the Conservancy as a premium destination offering a private and exclusive experience to ourvisitors. At the same time the Conservancy also serves as a pool of natural resources essential to the Maasaipastoralist community that can be utilized in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The Conservancy landowners are from a mix of clans and the communal pastoral culture of sharing resourcesleads to an interesting and novel approach to land use and conservation.

Combining traditional generosity with the western concept of private land ownership has led to the Conservancydeveloping a pioneering management model whereby landowners individually lease their land to a land holdingcompany owned by themselves and, as a group they in turn contract this contiguous area to a managementcompany. This management partnership is governed by a Board of Directors balanced between landowners,with more traditional pastoralist interests, and the Conservancys tourism operators, with their more westerncommercial understanding.

The management partnership has led to the ability of the Conservancy landowners and the surroundingcommunities to maintain much of their pastoral culture at the same time as assuring the landowners aguaranteed income derived from Tourism. Through a controlled and a well-managed grazing policy thesurrounding Maasai communities have been able to maintain healthy herds of cattle in a region whereovergrazing and poor land management is rapidly drying up the ability to support quality herds of cattle.

The Olare Orok and Motorogi TrustIn working with local communities, the Olare Motorogi Conservancy partners with The Olare Orok &Motorogi Trust.

The Olare Orok & Motorogi Trust was set up in 2009 to work with communities and other key stakeholders touplift communities and enable the successful conservation of the Masai Mara Ecosystem. The Trust worksclosely with the Conservancy and is an integral part of a landscape level conservation and development planfocused on enhanced land-management practices integrated with, and enhanced by, holistic communitydevelopment. The Trust acts as a critical link between key local communities, the Conservancy and other

partners and strives towards building sustainable and resilient communities.



Strategic Objectives of the Trust:

In collaboration with the Olare Orok and Motorogi Conservancy, periphery communities and other partners,develop a sustainable pastoralist land management system that can be a model for adoption across the wider

ecosystem.Design and implement comprehensive education and training programs that support MME conservationthrough an integrated land-management plan.

Implement and assess projects and initiatives that add value to this land management plan so thatconservation remains competitive against other land use forms that are not compatible with conservation.

Implementation:

In order to realize the strategic objectives OOMT is developing 5 key programs:

Integrated Livestock Management: This program integrates traditional pastoralist practices and rangelandmanagement science to enhance land management within the Masai Mara ecosystem. Systems are being

created that add value to livestock management systems that are compatible with wildlife conservation and areenhanced by the conservancy as a grass resource. Under this program projects include:

breeding for improved stocking sustainable grazing systems through rotation water development to allow for enhanced rotational grazing veterinary services mobile, predator-proof bomas access to slaughter facilities and enhanced marketing sustainable stocking numbers

Outreach & Education: This program implements experiential education programming, capacity buildinginitiatives and advocacy focused on environmental sustainability and community development challenges.

Projects under this program include:

Environmental education Leadership development Seminar series aimed towards building key community proficiencies Advocacy for conservation and equitable resource distribution



Sustainable Livelihoods: This program utilizes local resources, appropriate technologies and best managementpractices to generate economic and environmental resilience within communities. Projects under this program

include: Appropriate technologies demonstration centre Sustainable energy solutions Clean water solutions Nutrition gardens Bee keeping and honey production Sustainable wood lots

Applied Skills Training: This program trains people in practical and marketable skills, aiming to reduce theunemployment rate of Maasai who wish to be employed in sectors that require higher levels of training.Available training initiatives include:

Trade skills

Mechanics Plumbing Carpentry Electrical Masonry Computer Skills Language Skills Community Development Internships Wildlife Management Internships

Management Skills

Holistic Community Development: The Trust partners with periphery communities to help build sustainable

infrastructure that improve livelihoods and are compatible with conservation initiatives.



Mara Plains Camp Community Projects

EducationThrough the Olare Orok Conservancy Trust and jointly with other donors, Mara Plains Camp has expandedthe classroom, administrative and dormitory facilities at the Endoinyo Erinka School that neighbours theConservancy.

In 2012 Mara Plains helped create an Environmental Awareness Club at Endoinyo Erinka School with the goal ofraising awareness and understanding of ecosystems and wildlife among school children - the next generationof local leaders and conservationists. Club activities include tree re-afforestation, lectures on conservation andfield trips into the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, led by management and guides of Mara Plains Camp.

Community HealthMara Plains has been a contributor to the Olare Orok Conservancy Trust which has sponsored the building of anew clinic in the Endoinyo Erinka area.

Water ProjectsMara Plains Camp, through its contribution to the OOCT, has co-sponsored the building of two water projects:the Mpwai water project in the eastern area of Olare Orok and the Endoinyo Erinka water project which provideswater to the whole community in that area.

Womens EnterpriseThrough the Trust, Mara Plains Camp supports the economic empowerment of local women throughenterprises such as micro-financing for commercial bee-keeping, domestic solar lighting and beading workshopsfor the production of souvenirs sold at the camp. All proceeds from the camp shop are channelled back to thecommunity projects. The Endoinyo Erinka womens cooperative is also invited to Mara Plains Camp, on requestby guests, to sell their crafts in a private Maasai soko (market). The women keep and share among them 100% ofthe income they make at these markets.

Mara Plains pays the salary of a female group coordinator who manages the womens group, meetings and

community visits by Mara Plains guests.

Cultural AwarenessCommunity cultural visits for guests of Mara Plains are carried out near the Endonyo Erinka School, a 1 1.5hour drive. It is an opportunity for guests of Mara Plains to learn about the community of landowners, theirfamilies and the Conservancys involvement with them.

Day trips to the Endoinyo Erinka community can include a visit to the school, clinic, a Maasai boma (homestead)and also a meeting with the womens beading group. This itinerary can be tailor-made according to guestinterests. For the whole experience guests are kindly requested to pay a small fee into a community fund incamp. All 100 members of the womens group meet once a month to decide how they would like to spend thisincome for the greatest good of all in the Endoinyo Erinka area.

If guests at Mara Plains would like to visit a boma on a cultural day trip to Endoinyo Erinka they will be askedto pay a small fee (for the whole group, not per person), which is given to the host family at a later date by thegroup coordinator. The 100 members of the womens group take it in turns to host visitors, so guests in their



homes will likely be the first foreigners there, making it a very exciting and genuine experience for both parties.

No crafts are sold at the boma, nor does any money change hands while guests are there. Should the guestswish to buy crafts from the area, they visit the womens group shop so that every member is represented fairly.

Prices in this shop are fixed, labelled and recorded by the group coordinator.The cultural visit is a highly recommended experience for an in-depth understanding of the Maasai lifestyle. It isnot commercially driven and is a family-friendly experience.

The school visit provides a first-hand experience of the correlation between tourism, conservation andcommunity. A family-friendly activity, guests can interact with the students and teachers and maybe getinvolved with a bit of the class work, football, etc.

With a picnic lunch guests can visit both the school and boma, and enjoy a bit of a game drive back to camp inthe evening.

History of Olare Motorogi Conservancy (formally Olare Orok

Conservancy)Maasai land-owners which resulted in the formation of Olare Orok Conservancy, bordering the Masai MaraGame Reserve. Olare Orok has become the template for Mara community wildlife conservancies and is set tobecome the blue-print for the sustainability of the greater Masai Mara eco-system. The conservancy offerspleasant and exclusive viewing of game in a pristine environment, with a rich and diverse wildlife populationrarely found anywhere else on the African savannah.

The pioneering Olare Motorogi Conservancy offers one of the highest quality, lowest traffic safari experiencesin the region. Tourism in the Conservancy is limited to a maximum of 94 beds equating to a ratio of onegame viewing vehicle for every 2,100 acres - a formula which maximizes the client wilderness experience andminimizes the environmental impact of tourism.

Built upon a partnership with local Maasai landowners, Olare Motorogi management has worked with the local

people who agreed to move their homes and cattle, leaving the wildlife completely unimpeded. As a result,the wildlife population and diversity have greatly increased since the establishment of the Conservancy andthere are good populations of both predators and herbivores, including the Maras famous big cats and manyelephants. Rhino and wild dog have also been sighted, and it could become a very viable habitat for these twohighly endangered species, given the right sort of protection through sensitive tourism development. The areaencompassed within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy is a strategic buffer zone for the Masai Mara NationalReserve and the wildlife migration corridors, and will be secured from incompatible land usage, such as wheatfarming, charcoal production and subsistence agriculture, which together displace wildlife habitats at analarming rate.

Olare Motorogi Conservancy is set to be a world-class conservancy, generating sustainable income for thelandowners, and supporting an increase in wildlife habitat beyond the Masai Mara National

Reserve.



Olare Motorogi Conservancy FactsEstablished: May 2006

Size: 32,000 acres

Location

The Olare Motorogi Conservancy directly adjoins the Masai Mara National Reserve to the south and is an areaof outstanding beauty and importance for wildlife. It encompasses the lower river valleys of the Olare Orok andNtiakitiak rivers, together with their associated riverine woodland. The Conservancy also features the impressiveNtiakitiak Gorge and a beautiful escarpment some 12 kms in length. Below the escarpment are extensive areasof acacia woodland, which are important habitats for a number of species.

Camps and Lodges

Kicheche Bush Camp Mara Plains Camp Mahali Mzuri Porini Lion Camp Nomadic Encounters Topi House Olare Mara Kempinski

Local partners

Tourism partners rent land from 277 Maasai landowners on a monthly basis.Conservancy fees

US $100 per person per day

Tourism density

94 beds within 21,386 acres = 1 bed per 228 acres

More information

www.oocmara.com

Masai Mara Conservancies Mission



The Olare Motorogi Conservancy is part of five Masai MaraConservancies, namely:

Enonkishu Conservancy Mara Naibosho Conservancy Mara North Conservancy Ol Kinyei Conservancy Olare Motorogi Conservancy

The Mara Conservancies offer visitors the ultimate safari: the lowest tourism densities; incredible day and nightgame viewing; and authentic cultural interactions. But above all, the Conservancies are managed according to amodel that protects the delicate eco-system and benefits the landowners themselves the Maasai people.

The Masai Mara Conservancies have common goals:

Safeguard the Masai Mara through professional wildlife management

Direct and transparent revenue distribution to the Maasai landowners Promotion of strong eco-tourism practices and use of environmentally friendly technologies Controlled tourism and guaranteed low vehicle density for lower environmental impact Fundraising for the betterment of the local communities Lobby government on legislative issues

the conservancy movement

Documents