Following the year-long moratorium on developments NEMA (National Environmental Authority) issued pending a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plan (AEMP), Amboseli Ecosystem Trust (AET) raised the $100,000 from the NGOs and KWS to conduct the review. LCAOF has been kept abreast of progress in previous reports. Following a very professional and participatory process, the Strategic Environmental Assessment was approved by the steering committee in November. NEMA subsequently issued a letter of authorization granting AET authorization over the plan. The gazette binds all government agencies, land owners and developers to the provisions of AEMP. The plan zones the Amboseli ecosystem according to best land uses and tourism intensity zones. It also calls for a clear demarcation of wildlife dispersal areas and corridors. The SEA of an ecosystem management plan is the first of its kind for Kenya and possibly Africa. It is a landmark in granting the landowner association the responsibility for implementation oversight and integrated natural resource management of the ecosystem. It also calls for livestock and water plans to be drawn up in the coming year. There has been enormous interest in the SEA process from other landowner association, NGOs and most recently the US Ambassador. He paid a visit to Amboseli in October to review the plans and discuss US funding for similar initiatives.The gazetted land use plan comes at a time when a new grant from the Global Environmental Facility, administered through KWS, will inject four years of funding into biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration of the Amboseli ecosystem.ACC will also help set up the Nongotiak Resource Centre under contract to AET over the next five years, as it does with Lale’enok under SORALO. Finally, under the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) grant (see below), ACC is provided funds to help build up the capacity of AET. In doing so it will draw heavily on the skills of KWS and other NGOs.
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.
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.
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