Land use planning in Kajiado County
The governor of Kajiado County, David Nkedianye, who holds a PhD in conservation biology, called on ACP and ACC to co-host a workshop on land planning for the county. The governor is fully aware of the pressures of subdivision and land buying companies poised to snap up pastoral lands for speculative resale to small holders. We held the meeting in October for a spectrum of leaders across the county to look at the risks of subdivision and promote land use planning. The upshot was that Maasai leaders convened a meeting in Mombasa early November to consider the risks of subdivision. They came out strongly opposed to sub-division ranches until the alternatives have been fully weighed and land use plans drawn up. Kimana Group Ranch adjacent to Amboseli was cited as the prima fascia case against subdivision. Since the subdivision the ranch has been largely fenced and sold to land speculators, leaving the Maasai with no grazing or future on the land.Following the leaders caution, the Mbirikani group ranch committee has called on ACC to help convene a land use planning workshop in January. The plans will draw on GEF and other funds to implement the program. Ololorashi Ogului is expected to follow a similar process shortly.