Protecting habitats together
The local Maasai community is the primary stakeholder in the restoration and conservation of the lands that make up the Enarau Conservancy. It owns the land and has leased it to the Enarau Conservancy Trust. It has significant ancestral and current connections with the land.
History
The Enarau Conservancy Maasai community is a part of the larger network of Maasai peoples based largely in Kenya and Tanzania.
Possessing a rich history deeply rooted in its pastoral traditions and customs, the Maasai history trace their origins to north of Lake Turkana - in present day southern Ethiopia and South Sudan. They are thought to have migrated southward circa 15th century, and by the 17th and 18th centuries had variously settled in lands between northern Kenya and central Tanzania.
For the next 150 years, the Maasai flourished, their territories stretching from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. However, this period was followed by what the Maasai call the time of 'Emutai', when the years between 1883 and 1902 were marked by epidemics of smallpox, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, and rinderpest, the latter wiping out an estimated 90% of their cattle and half of the wild species. To make things worse, the drought of 1897 / 8 meant a year of no rains.
The colonial government, notably the British, took advantage of the Maasai’s struggles and took possession via two treaties (1904 and 1911) of up to 60% of their lands. Evicted to make way for settler ranches, the Maasai were confined to present-day Narok and Kajiado districts or moved on. Indeed in oral interviews, elders in their 90s repeatedly mention that they were forced to migrate from Entoror (Laikipia) to N'gatet (Maasai Mara) by local government officials.
Despite these challenges, the Maasai have maintained their pastoralist lifestyle, resisting efforts to adopt a more sedentary way of life. In the Mara, that has meant communities migrating seasonally between the north and south of the Greater Mara ecosystem in response to changing rainfall patterns and to find grazing land for their cattle.
Culture
The local Enarau Conservancy Maasai belong to four clans that form the social structure of the community, giving its members a strong sense of belonging. They deeply respect their cattle, which have both economic and spiritual importance, symbolising wealth and prosperity.
Identity is rooted in the shared language Maa, which is derived from the Nilo-Saharan family of languages, and in traditional practices such as bead working, clothing, dancing, and shelter construction:
Bead working is primarily undertaken by women and serves as a form of expression and social positioning within the community.
Traditional shelters - circular or loaf-shaped houses known as Inkajijik - reflect the community’s nomadic heritage.
Music and dance hold a central place in Maasai society, with rhythmic vocal harmonies and polyphonic syncopation embodying the community and its heritage.
A monotheistic people, the Maasai’s systems of belief revolve around a deity named Enkai. The society is patriarchal: elder men play a significant role in decision-making, and a man's status is measured by his cattle and children.
Needs and wants
Like many traditional communities in Kenya, the Enarau Conservancy's local Maasai community is increasingly affected by the advances of modernity, the effects of population growth, and the pressures of adjacent non-Maasai populations.
With pastoralism its main source of livelihood, the community's basic needs include access to grazing lands for their livestock, reliable water sources, and healthcare services. While it holds to its traditional values, there is a growing recognition of the importance of sustainable development and conservation in meeting the community’s evolving needs. Education is becoming increasingly important as the community strives to balance its traditional way of life with modern opportunities for its youth. This balancing of the preservation of its cultural heritage with the demands of a changing world presents an ongoing challenge.
On top of this, the Enarau Conservancy faces additional challenges due to the increasing agricultural activities of the neighbouring Kalenjin community, which competes with conservation for land leasing.
A unique model for a long-lived agreement
The agreement
The Enarau Conservancy's local community is fully committed to supporting conservation efforts aimed at protecting their ancestral lands and preserving biodiversity in the greater Maasai Mara ecosystem: they are keen on restoring the area to a wildlife zone, just as it was several decades ago.
To achieve this goal, lease agreements have been established between the Enarau Conservancy Trust and the landowners from the community, and are registered at the Narok land registrar's office. The primary objective of these agreements is to conserve land, strike a balance between wildlife and livestock, and the landowners to earn monthly wages from the lease fee.
The community's participation in future ecotourism initiatives will be facilitated by these agreements, allowing them to benefit from the sustainable use of natural resources while also contributing to the preservation of their unique ecosystem.
The lease model
The Enarau Lease Model is a unique leasing arrangement that involves bi-monthly lease payments. Currently, the agreement is set for five years, but there is a plan in place to secure long-term leases of up to 25 years. The initial phase of the lease will end in 2029, which will pave the way for negotiations on extended leases. The goal is to establish a lease fee that is competitive and appealing when compared to those used in agriculture. Given the area's exceptional soil health and quality, conservation leases must provide a compelling incentive for landowners to convert their land from agricultural to conservation use.
Governance structure
The Board of Trustees consists of eight representatives who are selected from the landowners. They manage the lease as a landholding Trust and act as liaisons between the Trust, the local community, and other landowners. They play a critical role in key decision-making processes, building trust between management and landowners. They actively work to build networks and seek resources to help the conservancy achieve sustainability. Furthermore, the trustees investigate opportunities such as tourism concessions and other revenue streams by contacting appropriate tourism investors.
Partnering with tourist investors
Enarau aims to improve sustainability by creating a tourism model that will provide the needed resources for the conservancy's operations, leases, and infrastructural development.
The plan involves landowners selecting representatives to serve on the Enarau Conservancy Trust board. These representatives will advocate for the interests of the landowners and facilitate the establishment of tourist concessions with investors. The tourist investors will lease lands from the landowners and develop infrastructure - such as lodges, hotels, and tented camps - to support hospitality and wildlife viewing and other eco-tourism activities in a culturally sensitive landscape.
Conservancy fees will be introduced, which will be used to finance land leases, conservancy operations, and infrastructure improvements within the conservancy, such as staff housing, road upgrades, communication, and monitoring facilities.
Programme
Enarau is running a series of community-led livestock, human-animal conflict mitigation, clean water, and habitat restoration programmes.
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The conservancy is implementing a programme focused on holistic grazing to encourage natural regeneration. This involves allocating specific blocks of the conservancy for recovery periods, and the introduction of mobile bomas to enhance vegetation regeneration and so create wildlife hotspots.
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A plan is underway to address the issue of hyena entering Enarau villages. The plan involves collaring the hyena to track their movements. This will help prevent conflicts between humans and wildlife by creating geofences around the villages. Whenever the hyenas cross these boundaries, alerts will be triggered, prompting Enarau's rangers to respond swiftly and move the hyena back into their territories.
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A current project aims to map water sources, analyse their quality, and determine the distance between the community and collection points. The end goal of this project is to produce a detailed report that will include recommendations for The Maa Trust and Aqua Nirvana Foundation, partner organisations currently working to provide safe and clean water. The recommendations will help these organisations focus on specific areas and implement suitable systems for the benefit for the local and wider community.
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Enarau is currently working on removing invasive species from abandoned farmlands and implementing defences for wildlife corridors. The ranger team is carrying out 24-hour patrols to stop and eradicate destructive activities such as charcoal burning, timber harvesting, overgrazing, and cultivation.
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Livelihoods
Enarau places great importance on community engagement and is committed to employing local community members. The ranger team, temporary workers, and support staff, such as chefs and cleaners, are exclusively sourced from the local community. Enarau remains committed to prioritising local community employment opportunities and will continue to do so.
Education
We are committed to engaging with the local community through awareness campaigns and community development projects. In collaboration with our partners, we aim to educate, build capacity, and raise awareness among the local community about the importance of conservation.
As part of our efforts and through partnerships, we have launched the Football for Conservation programme at Laila Primary School. This programme is designed to teach children about wildlife and environmental conservation, using positive role models to inspire them, encouraging active participation, and promoting greater community awareness.
