By David Western
 
Wildlife numbers in Amboseli continue their recovery from the 2009 drought. The influx of zebra and wildebeest into the Amboseli basin in October doubled the numbers counted in August. This is good news for Amboseli and, along with Maaasai Mara, has restored the national park to the top league of wildlife viewing in Kenya. I have not seen such spectacular concentrations of zebra, wildebeest and gazelle around the swamps since the 1990s.
 
The increase reflect a continuing recovery of herbivores from the 2009 drought in which wildebeest numbers plunged by over 90 percent, zebra by two thirds and buffalo by slightly more. Zebra numbers have recovered their pre-drought levels of 16,000 but are still below their peak numbers in the 1990s. Wildebeest figures have risen to two thirds of their pre-drought levels and buffalo are approaching the same recovery.
 
The big influx into Amboseli in October also reflects the severity of conditions across the larger ecosystem, as reported in the July posting. With livestock at peak numbers and the long rains falling short in the Chyulus and Mbirikani, Kuku and Rombo Group Ranches to the West, pasture is at its lowest ebb since the 2009 drought. The upshot is a large influx of wildebeest, zebra and livestock that would otherwise retreat to the dry season pastures along the base of the Chyulu Hills. Since July, I have counted the largest numbers of cattle, sheep and goat in Amboseli in many years.
 
The recovery of wildlife and livestock herds poses big problems that need urgent attention to avoid a repeat of the 2009 drought. The pressure on the pasture is showing up in the monthly grassland plots we monitor across the ecosystem. Grazing pressure has severely depleted the late dry season reserves. Pasture recovery is falling sharply in the rains. The body condition and milk yields of cattle has dropped steeply, making life harder for pastoralists. Herders are pushing their animals deep into the Chyulu Hills, Tsavo West and Amboseli National Parks in search of grazing, causing a growing conflict with Kenya Wildlife Service rangers. Elephants running short of late season forage in the park are spreading out of the park and running up conflict with herders and farmers. The intense grazing and browsing pressure in Amboseli National Park is continuing to deplete woody vegetation and biodiversity. A renewed push to build a cement factory between Amboseli and Mbirikani/Chyulu Hills poses a severe threat to the migratory route connecting the two pivotal portions of the ecosystem.

As reported in July, the imminent threats to the Amboseli ecosystem are land subdivision, fencing, loss of habitat due to browsing pressure and pasture due to grazing pressure, and a rising conflict between wildlife and humans. Predator attacks on livestock continue at a high level, despite the increase in wildlife numbers, suggesting carnivore stock-killing habits are persistent. Crop depredations by elephants are running at all-time high. Human deaths due to wildlife attacks have caused several riots in the Amboseli region this year.
 
A number of new development have taken place since the July report on measures to address the threats. The most important is the launch of funding for the Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plan. After a year and a half of delays, a four-year grant from the Global Environmental Facility has been released to KWS, African Conservation Centre, Big Life and Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. Each organization will take on specific tasks, aimed at restoring the health of the Amboseli ecosystem. ACC will help build the capacity of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust to oversee the implementation of the plan.
 
Preliminary steps to restore the loss of habitat, pasture and biodiversity were undertaken by ACC, ACP, KWS, Big Life under the umbrella of AET in series of woodland elephant exclosures and pasture restoration plots over the last year. The start-up funds were provided by NAGA. Additional funds are provided under the GEF program. Plans are underway through the partnership headed up by AET to submit a renewed grant application to NAGA for setting up a long-term ecosystem restoration program.
 
Big Life has taken a lead in tackling the depredations of elephants on small-scale farms on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and swamps to the east of Amboseli. Assisted by Space for Giants, Big Life has drawn up a fencing plan to protect the line of farms from elephant attacks. The 37 kilometer fence should block elephants from reaching the growing farming communities to the south and east of Amboseli, areas they rarely used before farmers moved in. Most elephants moved north and west of Amboseli with the rains. These areas remain lightly occupied and, could, with the restoration of seasonal dams, restore elephants to their former range.
 
To address the broader human-wildlife conflict, the main NGOs tackling conflict, including Lion Guardians, Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Big Life, International Fund for Animal Welfare, ACC and ACP will be meeting under the umbrella of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust and KWS on December 8th to set-up an integrated conflict mitigation strategy and procedures.

In November 2016, Sakimba Kimiti, a research assistant with the Amboseli Conservation Program, defended his master’s titled, Rangeland Resource Dynamics and the Implications for Pastoral Livelihoods in the Amboseli Ecosystem, Kenya. Sakimba was interested in describing the local community knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the extent of change in rangeland resources in Amboseli. Changes in the ecosystem monitored by ACP over the last few decades include land fragmentation, loss of grazing areas, changes in land tenure, restricted herd mobility due to increase in human settlements, changes in land use, and loss of pasture productivity. How well do local perceptions reflect the changes, and what is missing in the changes measured? Few studies have compared traditional and scientifically monitored information.
 
Sakimba integrated scientific approaches and local knowledge to assess changes in the Amboseli ecosystem over time, the causes of changes and the impact of the changes on pastoralists. He stratified the Amboseli ecosystem into nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary land uses under group tenure and private holdings. The four decade of change were divided into a pre-park period (1967-76), pre-settlement (1977-86), post-settlement (1987-2006) and the post-2009 drought.
 
From the resource maps drawn by the community, grazing areas have declined significantly over the period. The decline was more pronounced in the sedentary subdivided lands and the semi-nomadic locations, less so in nomadic locations. Areas of cultivation have also expanded over the period in both sedentary and semi-nomadic land sites. The changes have led to a reduction in household herd size in all the land locations, with the biggest declines in the sedentary land use sites.
 
The results of the study show that pastoralism remains a key livelihood strategy in Amboseli. Monitoring rangeland changes through community perceptions is a vital step in designing sustainable strategies for managing change and in strengthening participatory planning process.