By Victor N. Mose and David Western
 
Introduction
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) has conducted regular aerial sample counts of Amboseli and eastern Kajiado continuously since 1973. Details of the counting method and previous counts can be found in published papers (Mose & Western, 2015; Western & Mose, 2021) and on the ACP website.
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In May 2024 African Conservation Centre (ACC) and ACP, funded by the European Union-MOSAIC project and The Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation (LCAOF), commissioned the Department of Regional Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) and Flight Training Centre (FTC) to take stock of the recovery in wildlife and livestock in the aftermath of the 2022-2023 drought. The count was timed after the birthing seasons of wildebeest and cattle were delayed a year by the drought. The rain season count was flown across the 7,800 km² of Eastern Kajiado between May 21st and May 25th when the herds were maximally spread on migration and easily visible against the green vegetation.

Download full report below.

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine and Sunte Kimiti

Preamble
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP)  continued to monitor the conditions of  the rangelands, livestock and wildlife in the aftermath of the 2022-2023 drought and through the El Nino rains extending from October through May 2024. The following report gives a summary of the trends and an outlook assessment for the coming dry season.  

​The outlook after the long rains

The exceptionally heavy and prolonged El Niño rains were fortuitous and timely in boosting the slow post-drought recovery of pastures, the body condition of wildlife and livestock, and milk production. The outlook through the coming dry season is favorable for further recovery due to the low grazing pressure on the pastures. The boost to livestock and wildlife recovery should be taken as an opportunity to avoid the recurrent droughts, heavy wildlife and livestock mortalities, and huge economic losses incurred due to prolonged loss of milk yields and suppressed market prices for livestock sales.
The long-term ACP monitoring shows the causes of the growing intensity and frequency of droughts to be persistence grazing pressure due to permanent settlement and lack of pasture rotation (Western et al., 2015; Western & Mose, 2021). Lessons learned from the 2022-2023 drought indicate that most herders see the prevention of future livestock and economic losses to be better grazing management though pasture rotation, grass banking, supplementary feeding of animals at homesteads, and early warning systems allowing herders to sell livestock at favorable prices before drought losses (Kimiti et al., 2023).
The biggest threat to the future of the Amboseli pastoral lands and wildlife is subdivision leading to the loss of the open rangelands and the inability of herds to follow seasonal pastures. The Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plan 2020-2030 (AEMP), as well as subdivision plans for Ololarashi-Ogulului and Mbirikani, fully recognize the threat of unregulated subdivision and the need to sustain the open rangelands for livestock and wildlife alike.
 
The Rangelands Division of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust (AET) provides a means and opportunity to incorporate the lessons learned from recurrent droughts into the land use plans, rotational pasture plans, and better livestock production and marketing management systems.
ACP will work closely with AET and partners to provide the information and devise strategies to sustain the open rangelands through AEMP.  
 
References
Kimiti, S., Western, D., Mose, V. N., Kasaine, P., Kimiti, S., & Lekanaiya, S. (2023). Post-Drought Perceptions of Herders on Livestock Production in the Amboseli Ecosystem: Impacts, Coping Strategies, and Future Sustainability. www.amboseliconservation.org
Western, D., & Mose, V. N. (2021). The changing role of natural and human agencies shaping the ecology of an African savanna ecosystem. Ecosphere, 12(6), e03536.
Western, D., Mose, V. N., Worden, J., & Maitumo, D. (2015). Predicting extreme droughts in savannah Africa: A comparison of proxy and direct measures in detecting biomass fluctuations, trends and their causes. PLoS ONE, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136516
 

Download full PDF report below.

Victor Mose, Co-Director and Head of Biostatistics at the Amboseli Conservation Program-African Conservation Centre, attended the United Nations Science and Policy Business Forum special session at the sixth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), held from February 26 to March 1, 2024, at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The assembly aimed to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, emphasizing the importance of multilateralism, scientific rigor, political commitment, and societal engagement.

​A notable discussion at the forum focused on disparities in data availability between the Global North and South, particularly regarding high resolution satellite data. During a roundtable session, Victor emphasized the need to support locally-led research in developing data products directly applicable to local issues. He highlighted the Amboseli Conservation Program's use of satellite data from Earth Observation to create visually interactive products guiding herders in monitoring environmental conditions, pasture levels, grazing availability, milk yields, livestock health, and market prices in Southern Kenya.
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The Amboseli program utilizes satellite products to forecast local droughts as happened in 2022-2023 and employs long-term monitoring and modelling of pasture conditions and rainfall to provide herders with environmental outlooks. This information prompted the county government of Kajiado to provide food and water for schoolchildren and encouraged herders to sell their livestock early, mitigating drought-related losses. Furthermore, the Amboseli program incorporates artificial intelligence to streamline data processing, reducing time and costs associated with producing these valuable insights.

By Victor N. Mose, David Western, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Leikanaya, Paul Kasaine, Sunte Kimiti and Julius Muriuki

                                                                            Situation report
Introduction
The effects of the good short rains have been felt in the Amboseli area in moving the pasture barometer into the green zone. The green zone signals abundant forage in the coming dry season. Body condition of wildlife and livestock has also fully recovered from the 2022-2023 drought. Milk yields have yet to bounce back due to impregnation and calving being delayed by over nine months following the drought. Wildebeest calving has also been delayed by a year because of the poor condition of animals at the end of the drought. 

Download the Amboseli Outlook Report below.

By Sakimba Kimiti

Introduction                                                                                                                      
The severe drought of early 2022 to February 2023 in the Amboseli ecosystem took a heavy toll on the herds and livelihoods of herders. The large number of livestock deaths and the heavy expenses incurred in managing herds during the drought highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive assessment of the viability of livestock production in the region. Despite the growing economic losses, herders, government and non-government agencies have had challenges in evaluating the losses, making it difficult to make informed decisions for improved livestock management and development.

The lack of accurate information has led to an undervaluation of traditional livestock production systems. The undervaluation has, in turn, resulted in poor government and development agency support for the pastoral area. The recurrent widespread droughts and heavy livestock mortality calls for a thorough valuation of the economic costs of keeping animals alive, and the economic value and cultural significance of doing so.
Detailed information on the economic costs of drought will help herders, government and development agencies take stock of the impact and causes of drought and mitigating measures that can be taken. The information also raises questions about whether the economic costs of drought are justifiable in the face of rangelands subdivision, degradation and climate change.

To gain insights into the impact of the drought, I conducted small-scale surveys across the Amboseli ecosystem in late October 2023, shortly before the start of the short rains.
The information collected included expenses incurred in purchasing hay, maize stalks, livestock supplements, including maizemeal (unga), livestock drugs, vaccines, acaricides, transporting livestock, leasing grazing land, and other drought-related costs. The data were broken down by month to track the time course of livestock deaths, sales, costs and value of the remaining herd.

Traditional livestock practices involving free-ranging livestock movements across shared grass and water sources are essential to the cultural fabric of pastoralists in the Amboseli ecosystem, and in sustaining wildlife herds.
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Ignoring the collective use and management of pastures undervalues the cultural significance of livestock, leading to a lack of policy support for maintaining the productivity and resilience of pastoral land, to small-scale subdivision, and pasture degradation. I have, for this reason included cultural values in my survey. 

Download the full report below.

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine, Sunte Kimiti and Julius Muriuki
 
Introduction
​The short rains, perhaps heralding a wet El Niño, started in the Amboseli area in early November. By the time David Western and David Maitumo did an aerial count on 15th November the grass had greened up everywhere except Osilalei directly to the north.
Lake Amboseli had begun to flood, and much of the Amboseli Basin was fully saturated with rainwater. The wildebeest and zebra herds had moved out on migration and elephant numbers dropped from 430 in October to 250. On the other hand, cattle numbers remained high, with 2,000 in the park despite the good rains. Several herds had moved into prime wildlife viewing areas in the center of the park.
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Conditions in the Amboseli ecosystem
The poor short rains of April and May did break the drought cycle which began in early 2022 sufficient to see a recovery of livestock and wildlife. Persistent heavy grazing soon pushed pasture condition back into the red zone (Figure 1). The current good rains starting in November and projected to continue into 2024 will provide sufficient pasture for wildlife and livestock herds to begin to recover from the drought.

Download the complete Amboseli ecosystem outlook and status report for November 2023, below.

Status of the Amboseli ecosystem
By David Western*, Victor N. Mose**, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Leikanaya, Paul Kasaine, Sunte Kimiti and Julius Muriuki
 
Situation report
Introduction
The severe drought which set in early in 2022 and continued through early 2023 continued through to the long rains of April and May. The poor long rains and continued heavy grazing pressure saw a poor recovery of pastures. By August 2023 satellite imagery of Kajiado County showed low pasture availability across the Amboseli ecosystem. The only remaining areas with substantial grazing are in the Amboseli, and Kimana swamps.   

Download full report below.

By David Western and Victor N. Mose
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Preamble
​The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) has conducted regular aerial counts of the Amboseli ecosystem and eastern Kajiado since 1973. The counts give a 50-year record of wildlife and livestock numbers in response to droughts and human settlement (Western and Mose 2021). ACP has commissioned the Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) to conduct similar counts since 2011. The two sets of counts have given very similar results over the period of overlap. ACP commissioned DRSRS to conduct an aerial count of eastern Kajiado to assess the impact of the 2022-2023 drought by comparing current figures with the pre-drought count of February 2022. DRSRS used ACP counting protocols (Jolly 1969, Western 1976) to ensure compatibility with earlier counts.
 
We had intended the count to be flown in April-May at the height of the long rains to ensure maximum visibility of animals against the greenery. A three-month delay in aircraft availability put the count off until August 29th to September 1st. The delay resulted in the count being conducted during a severe dry spell when the visibility of animals from the air falls relative to wet seasons. As a result we expect the counts to underestimate the numbers of smaller species in more scattered herds and animals blending into the background.
 
In the event the delay was fortuitous, despite the poorer counting conditions. During the long rains in April-May an east-west rainfall gradient saw pastures green up well to the west and south of Amboseli and recovery little to the east on Kuku and Rombo. The scattered rains drew large numbers of wildebeest and zebra across the border into Tanzania beyond the counting area. Had the count been conducted in May, few wildebeest would  have been counted in the Amboseli ecosystem. The low numbers would have greatly exaggerated drought losses, By the end of August, a survey flight we conducted showed most but not all wildebeest and zebra to have returned to Amboseli.

By David Western
 
During the Maasai cultural festival week of August 21st President Ruto announced that Amboseli National Park would be handed back to the management of the Kajiado County. The announcement was greeted with jubilation by Maasai leaders. The governor of Kajiado, Joseph Ole Lenku, welcomed the presidential directive, saying it corrected the historical injustice of Amboseli Game Reserve being seized from the county by presidential decree in 1974. Conservationist were caught unaware and many strongly oppose the declaration as a regressive move threatening the future of Amboseli’s world famous elephants and wildlife.

Having played a central role in the conservation of Amboseli since the 1960s, I have been asked from many quarters to comment on the handing back of Amboseli National Park to the Kajiado County and Maasai community. Let me start at the beginning to show why I support the move, and the conditions needed to ensure the future of Amboseli not only as a national park, but an ecosystem ten times the size of the park.
 
The first colonial administrators of the East African Protectorate fully recognized the pastoral communities in northern and southern Kenya as having conserved the richest wildlife lands on earth. Following the prohibition on sport hunting in both areas, a 10,696 square mile Southern Reserve was set aside in 1906 to protect wildlife in what would later become Kajiado District. Wildlife continued to thrive in the Southern Reserve under traditional Maasai land and husbandry management. Concerned over destruction of wildlife by colonial farmers and ranchers, the administration carved out Nairobi National Park from Maasailand in 1946, followed shortly after by Tsavo, Aberdare and Mt Kenya National Parks.
 
Efforts by the newly established autonomous Kenya National Parks authority to create national parks in Amboseli and Maasai Mara, the two richest wildlife areas in southern Kenya, were thwarted by Maasai resistance. Instead, a 1,269 square mile Amboseli National Reserve was established around Amboseli in 1948, administered by the Kenya National Park Trustees on behalf of the Kajiado County Council. In 1961 the national reserve was handed over to the Kajiado County Council to manage as the Amboseli Game Reserve. The Kajiado Council set aside a 30 square mile livestock free area around the Ol Tukai swamps to protect wildlife and foster tourism.
 
When I began my research in Amboseli in 1967, the warden Daniel Sindiyo, a Maasai himself, was seconded from the Game Department to administer the game reserve on behalf of the Kajiado County Council. We both
recognized the unique role the Maasai had played in conserving the wealth of wildlife in Amboseli and across southern Kenya. My research showed the pastoral way of life and the parallel seasonal migrations of livestock and wildlife across the 4,000 square kilometer ecosystem explained the wealth of Amboseli’s wildlife and its coexistence with the Maasai community.
 
By then pressures were mounting to create a national park around the Amboseli swamps, a move which would alienate the Maasai, deprive them of late season grazing and sever the wildlife migrations. We proposed instead an Amboseli Maasai Park which would ensure local participation in the benefits of wildlife and protect the integrity of the ecosystem.
 
Despite initially being accepted by the Kajiado County Council, the Maasai Park was ultimately rejected due to opposition politicians fueling suspicions of a government takeover. The Game Department pulled out and the county failed to invest in the conservation and management of Amboseli, leading to a rundown reserve, mounting conservation concerns and, in July 1974, President Jomo Kenyatta declaring Amboseli a National Park.
 
The Maasai considered the declaration illegal and showed their anger by spearing scores of elephants, lions and other wildlife. A compromise was reached after government was persuaded to cede the land and lodge revenues at Ol Tukai to the Kajiado County, pay the Maasai community a fee for supporting the wildlife migrations, and agreeing to future lodges being on community land to prevent overcrowding the park and earning the community direct tourism revenues.
 
Community-based conservation and an ecosystem approach to conserving wildlife was pioneered in Amboseli and adopted as national policy in 1977. In 2004 community leaders convened a meeting of conservation organizations, the Kenya Wildlife Service and county representatives to develop a ten-year ecosystem management plan. The plan, followed by an enlarged 2020-2030 plan, has seen wildlife numbers increase due to the deployment of some seven hundred community scouts, tourism enterprises, conservancies and the oversight of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust constituted by the landowners and partners.
 
Having played a strong role in Amboseli’s community and ecosystem approach to wildlife conservation and promoted similar approaches nationally and internationally, I fully support the return of Amboseli to its traditional custodians. It does correct a historical injustice and vested wildlife in the community which has conserved it down the ages.
 
I do, however, caution the need to correct the injustice of Amboseli’s seizure through legal channels, not by presidential decree--as important as this is in setting the ball rolling. I took a similar position when President Kibaki decreed Amboseli be handed back to the Kajiado County Council in 2005. The decree led to an outcry, not only among conservationists, but also a Suswa Declaration by Maasai leaders rejecting the illegal declaration as an effort to buy Maasai votes. The Kibaki decree was halted by a court injunction, leading to angry tussles between government and Maasai leaders ever since. 
 
The gazetting and degazetting of a national park must be done through the legal provisions of the Wildlife Act and the approval by the National Assembly. Amboseli could otherwise be taken back from the Maasai by a future presidential decree. The return to the Maasai should also be seen as the correction of an historical injustice, not an election gift. Other counties will otherwise press for a similar gift of national parks, and already are.
 
The handing back of Amboseli to the Maasai comes at a critical juncture. Frustrations are mounting among community members over rising conflict with wildlife and paltry revenues from the park. The frustrations, lack of returns from wildlife and the ongoing subdivision of the surrounding group ranches pose a grave threat to the future of the national park, migrations and ecosystem.
 
Under Maasai custodianship, Amboseli’s wildlife must find an enduring place in their future as it has in the past. The Kajiado County must also show it can manage Amboseli to the standards KWS has set. The county inherits a well-run park with regulations which have curbed the uncontrolled tourism crush harrying predators in many national reserves and sullying Kenya’s reputation as a premier wildlife destination.
 
The resumption of Amboseli management by the Kajiado County also offers an opportunity to secure the future of the ecosystem in the face of subdivision. With the County Assembly prepared to share a significant portion of the park revenues with the community, the payment for their ecological services could secure the ecosystem needed for wildlife migrations and the future of livestock herders. Conservation trust funds being set up by government and conservation organizations, along with payments for carbon and biodiversity credits and nature enterprises, could provide additional income to the Maasai community to keep their rangelands open.
 
With these caveats and the potential to secure the future of the entire ecosystem, I see a promising future for Amboseli National Park vested in the Maasai community.  The government must and has given assurances that it will take bold steps to reform existing punitive wildlife policies to ensure our national parks are embedded within the ecosystems on which they depend, and embrace community engagement.  The Parks Beyond Parks movement which I launched at KWS in 1997 has seen conservancies flourish and cover more land than all national parks and reserves combined. The combination of such community conservation efforts and national parks is a winning combination which augers well for conserving Kenya’s wealth of wildlife.

Introduction
Rangeland ecosystems face enormous biophysical, sociocultural and economic changes at an unprecedented rate. Frequent droughts are disrupting the lives of herders, leaving them destitute and unable to cope with the changing times. The Amboseli ecosystem illustrates the many changes affecting herders and their livelihoods. The hardships call for monitoring and identifying the losses, coping mechanisms and best practices in order to build drought resilience.

We have conducted a comprehensive survey to detail the perceived causes, impacts, and responses to the 2022-2023 drought relative to earlier droughts. A well-informed management strategy depends on a clear understanding of the pastoral production systems and coping strategies. The survey by the Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) was conducted by Sakimba Kimiti and the ACC Resource Assessors (RAs) across the Amboseli ecosystem. The survey was designed to assess livestock losses, social disruption, management strategies, best practices, and pointers to the future sustainability of open rangelands.

The survey findings give valuable pointers to stakeholders in Amboseli to better ecosystem planning and management, and ways to improve drought resilience in the pastoral lands.
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Download full report included in the second issue of the Amboseli Conservation Bulletin below