Research and conservation within the Amboseli Conservation Program
Started in 1967, the Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) aims to explain the factors that govern the structure, dynamics, and changes of the ecosystem and the interactions between wildlife and people.
ACP is also dedicated to the conservation of Amboseli. The program was directly involved in the planning, establishment, and development of Amboseli National Park. It has played a continuing role in the conservation of the park and ecosystem over the years since.
Monitoring
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The core of ACP research includes the long-term monitoring of the numbers and distribution of wildlife, livestock, and human settlement in relation to rainfall, pasture, and other environmental factors. A key aspect of study has been the nature and causes of seasonal migrations among livestock and wildlife.
The program includes the following studies:
- Sample aerial counts over an area of 8500 km2 of eastern Kajiado district covering the Amboseli ecosystem;
- Total aerial counts of the dry season area and Amboseli National Park;
- Vegetation monitoring to track seasonal and long-term changes in species composition and standing biomass;
- Experimental studies to determine the ecological interactions of plants and herbivores;
- Long-term habitat changes and causes;
- Livestock-wildlife interactions;
- Livestock grazing strategies;
- Herding and settlement decision-making;
- The ecology of pastoralism;
- Drought; and
- Human changes across the ecosystem.
Data on long-term changes in migratory patterns and land use are stored in a common database and GIS format.
Many other projects have been conducted over the years, including tourism use and impact, wetlands studies, bird censuses and the impact of sedentarization of pastoral communities on wildlife and livestock production.
Animal counts
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Dr. Western conducting an aerial count.;)
The plane is equipped with specially made grid markers.
ACP has conducted animal counts in the Amboseli region since 1967. The numbers and distribution of wildlife, livestock, and human activity are counted from the air and on the ground, and related to environmental variables.
Large-scale sample counts of the ecosystem have been conducted under the Ilkisongo Monitoring Program since 1973. The Ilkisongo counts cover the 8,500km2, the entire range of the migratory herbivores and portions of adjacent ecosystems.
Total counts of elephants, buffalo, livestock and human settlements in Amboseli National Park and across the 600km2 Amboseli basin have been flown monthly since 1975.
Counts of wildlife and livestock numbers in the vicinity of the permanent vegetation plots have been conducted monthly since 1984.
Habitat monitoring and vegetation dynamics
A baseline vegetation map of the Amboseli basin was compiled in December 1967. Based on 28 vegetation zones and eight major habitats, the map is updated every five years.
A finer-scale monitoring program based on 19 permanent 300m2-plots tracks changes in the standing crop biomass, species composition, and use by ungulates on a monthly basis for each of the 8 major habitats. Additional studies have looked at changes in the woody vegetation and conducted long-term experiments to determine the cause of change. Several woodland restoration plots have also been established in the national park.
Studies have also looked at the ecology of the Amboseli swamps and their role in sustaining wildlife numbers in drought. Swamp restoration plots have shown the destruction of the coarse sedges by heavy sustained grazing has eroded the ecological resilience of Amboseli, leading to more frequent and sustained droughts and a growing risk of herbivore population decline.
Experimental exclosures
Jonah Western's research house in Amboseli prior to exclosure, 1967.
Several years after exclosure.;)
Now surrounded by vegetation.
Five permanent vegetation exclosures were erected in 1977 and are monitored yearly in order to track changes in species composition in response to climate and in the absence of herbivory. Additional exclosures have been set up to selectively exclude elephants and giraffes.
Land-use, drought, and socio-economic change
Landuse surveys and questionnaire studies are periodically conducted to determine the nature and rate of human change in the Amboseli ecosystem. Drought features prominently in pastoral societies and is a major topic of ACP research. The study looks at the changing vulnerability of pastoralists to drought and their coping strategies.
Attitudinal surveys
Surveys are an important part of the ACP work.
Maasai attitudes to wildlife are complex and changing rapidly. ACP has been conducting a large-scale attitudinal study in Amboseli and across the south Rift Valley to determine traditional views of wildlife and how they are changing with lifestyle and landuse, including settled farming.
Conservation activities
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Amboseli Tsavo Game Scouts AssociationACP has been involved in the conservation of Amboseli and its wildlife for the last four decades. Beginning with parks planning in the 1970s, ACP has been deeply involved in setting up community-based programs in Amboseli, establishing community wildlife sanctuaries, community scouts associations, and the Amboseli Tsavo Group Ranch Wildlife Association. ACP has helped established electric fences to protect irrigated farms at Namelok and restore woodland refuges in the national park.
In the last four years, ACP has worked with African Conservation Centre, African Wildlife Foundation, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, Kenya Wildlife Service, local landowner groups, and safari operators to draw up an integrated plan for the Amboseli ecosystem and create the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust to coordinate efforts among the collaborating agencies.
Funding
ACP has been funded by many organizations over the years, including Ford Foundation, Leverhulme, Wildlife Conservation Society, Little Family Foundation, Nichols Foundation, National Geographic and, currently, the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.
Products
ACP research and conservation projects have produced a large number of scientific publications, planning documents, articles, and books over the last four decades. Many of these publications have been produced by collaborators associated with ACP.
Please see Publications and Articles download pages; more will be added over time. See also our Bookshop page for a list of titles authored by Dr. David Western and others.