The Milgis Trust

Category: Grevy's Zebra, Samburu, Turkana, Water holes, elephants | Date: May 15 2009 | By: milgistrust

It started at 6 am with the scouts down at Kudup, [please see my last blog] having had an eventful night, but no sign of the youngsters mother, nor of any herds…sadly, but the lugga came down in a massive flood in the night, so luckily the baby was safe and not still in the well….They stayed the night near
the well in the hope the mother would be back but just one old bull came in to drink, he took a long thirst quenching drink at the well, and did not show much sympathy for the little boy, who was calling, and just wanted to go to him, but there were also lots of Hyenas around keen to have a nice tasty baby
elephant!!, and the scouts stayed awake all night… I strait away got on to the phone to tell DSWT, who were ready at any moment to help… I have just received news from Angela, that he arrived in good form, thirsty for milk, and ‘full of nonsense’! The scouts tell me that he was like that for the whole night!!

As we were settling down to a cup of coffee, We had not slept too much either, hoping that the guys would come on the radio with good news!, The dream outcome.. ‘ The mother is here, and the baby is safely back!’ BUT so such luck…one of the scouts in the western slopes of the Ndotos, piped up on the radio, ‘PLEASE I need help, I am being hunted down by a mad man who wants to kill me because I caught him shooting a greater kudu, I have been hiding all night, he went to my manyatta, and luckily I was not there, but he is looking for me… Please send the home guards to help me, call the chief, come quick in the car’… I quickly answered that the car was miles away in a nother direction, carrying an Elephant!, and that he must find some elders, to help, hope fully there will a home guard,or he must run away to safety, and as soon as we can we will send a team of home guards to help, and have a meeting with the elders on what to do next… Later on he came on the radio to tell me he was safe, the elders had come out ‘en mass’ to help!! Yesterday, the 15th, the team went up to the area, had a long meeting and resolved the problem… last news I had was they will be late because the elders had given them a goat to eat!! [ Who are the Home Guards… they are police reserve, its a wonderful way of keeping the peace in these remote areas, certain responsible people are given a training, and a gun, they live amounst the communities an ordinary life, do not have a uniform and they are called up when there are problems like this or attacks like the next report!]

Next to come up was there had been an attack in the early hours of the night, on a Samburu boma with alot of cattle, near the Suiyan Lugga west of the base!.. One person was shot dead, and one wounded, but the owners of the cattle with the home guards managed to fight off the attackers, and save the cattle from being stolen… Unfortunately unrest between the tribes has reared its ugly head again and there has been quite a few skirmishes north of us, between the Samburu and Turkana… Mostly about cattle rustling, but also old quarrels that have not been resolved.. We had an important meeting that was supposed to take place on the 19th may in Baragoi, on the plight of the Grevy Zebra, which of course is always caught up in these skirmishes.. The meeting has been cancelled..

Last but not least their was alot of relieved talk about rain.. alot of excitement, but its the 16th today, and the rain has gone again… At least we had one good flood down the luggas..And the desert is bursting into life.. little bits of greenery popping out of the ground all around us!! Soon lots of flowers! Today we will be an emergency meeting with the scouts responsible for the wells.. We need to think again of what to do about wells… Its a complicated problem..

The Genet is old enough to be released.. which we did a week ago at Elkanto.. He is very happy in his new home, learning the tricks of the wild again… Hes found all the good places to hide, and we see him every night… He looks forward to his food, but slowly he will disappear off into the wild..

No pictures as we are using a satellite phone, but will put some up asap…There are some great ones of the two baby Elephant rescues!..

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Category: Grevy's Zebra, Matthews range, Water holes, elephants | Date: May 05 2009 | By: milgistrust

Yes I have not been blogging lately, as if I use too much energy writing I will chase off those clouds…[ not a good excuse but feasible?? also I have been away!] and one just keeps on thinking it will rain and then we can talk about good news rather than bad… But no…. not yet… Yes there has been the odd sporadic storm, and of course this is helping the very worrying situation because luckily the people are still nomadic…People with their livestock and wildlife are moving from here to there, to keep themselves, alive… Thank goodness they still are nomadic, and the land has not been divided up, and fenced… But the situation is quite grave, as far as water for the wildlife is concerned… In 20 years, since I have been in this region, we have never got to May, and not had a huge flood or 20 down the big luggas, Laana Nikan, Parsaloi… Milgis.. We keep hoping, that because they, [the rains], are late, that it will come with vengeance!! … The other evening, while the scouts were opening up the well below Elkanto for the Elephants to use during the night, they suddenly saw a group of eight elephants, who were thirsty, and were not going to wait for the night… Every one scattered, and they moved in to drink…The site of a hot thirsty herd of Elephants taking a long cool drink is extremely satisfying, especially when you’ve spent the after noon digging!! This was the managers comment!!… It has been hard work keeping the wells for the Elephants as they do tend to destroy them every night… Not their fault they are so big!!…

Little snippets of news… The mini matriarch Lesanju, our first elephant that was rescued out of a well, and taken by helicopter to DSWT back in October 2006, has been taken to Voi, on her path back to freedom…We are delighted with this news!!.. The little Elephant mentioned in my last blog is also doing well, which is such great news considering the well water was very deep, but we keep our fingers crossed for her… Last week we had another young elephant about two years old, that was deserted by its herd down at the same place as the last one was rescued.. It was still alive, desperately thin, when the scout arrived, sadly it died before our team could get there…… We do not know if its mother was poached or he was sick..

The Grevy Zebra are in trouble again, to the west of the base, with another disease outbreak in the donkeys, the main symptom being constipation, they have found one Grevy dead so far.. One more bit of bad news, and almost can’t bear to bring this up, as so far we have not been part of this, but the bush meat trade has reared its ugly head in the area, with the scouts reporting, dikdiks, and guinea fowl being killed and sold in the towns, and missionaries buying warthog meat… This is not the first time we have heard of the missionaries involved in killing and eating wildlife…!! ?? YES, Im afraid so..

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Category: Desert warthog, Grevy's Zebra, Matthews range, Water holes, Wild Dog, elephants | Date: Mar 31 2009 | By: milgistrust

Just wish we had our dam project up and running, but thank goodness this morning there are exciting clouds billowing over the Matthews Range.. Finally we REALLY hope for rain throughout.. All I am getting news of, is wild animals desperately in need of water… Just to mention a few of the problems…. Two young Grevy Zebras died trying to get to water, on the east side of the Ndotos… And many more animals falling into wells, and not being able to get out .. On the lower Milgis a big elephant spent the night battling to get out, which it did luckily as we did not enjoy the thought of having a repeat of the one in September! Elephant in desperate situation is saved…. PHEW!!! I have added some pictures on the blog which you may like to see….. Another very pregnant Elephant that was going down a very steep path having drunk in the Langata Nanyuki to the south of the Ndotos, slipped down the rocks and landed badly, her front legs were under her body, all her weight was on her neck, and she could not get up… She died before the scouts could find help.. A warthog, which died sadly but two wild dogs where pulled out of a well in Nairimirimo, and released I am happy to tell you… Unfortunately we have got no further with our investigations on our wild dog that was tied up for two days, and supposedly taken by KWS?? [See my last blog] I’m afraid the plot is thickening, and please be patient, we are determined to find out what is going on… But have discovered that there is a trade in wild dogs, going to markets where rich people want these beautiful animals as pets!!..Which explains why we have heard of people looking for puppies… Going back to our ‘poor’ dog… It sounds like she was pregnant, somebody who tried to get a job with us a few years ago, with a letter from the KWS, [ who knows how genuine] suggesting we took him on to look after the wild dogs!!, He made the phone call, and refused them to let it go… What we haven’t managed to establish is whether the dog died or was taken… Our scout has been taken on a ‘wild goose chase’ and he will go back to investigate… He was told the dog died, but when he asked to see the body it did not seem to exist!!… Yesterday a young genet cat was found in a well near the base, which was brought in…Its too small to release but we will as soon as its ready to go… LETS HOPE IT POURS WITH RAIN… PLEASE EVERY ONE WAVE YOUR MAGIC WANDS!! We need the rain so badly..

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Forest, Grevy's Zebra, Samburu, Wild Dog, elephants | Date: Feb 20 2009 | By: milgistrust

Uh oh, Luca you are going to be busy!!…You cut these trees down in Samburuland, now you have to pay back the traditional way! Its one goat per tree and and a cleansing ceremony, in which … you need to slaughter the goat/sheep, mix the stomach contents, with the fat and pour the contents round each tree… Then you have be smeared in fat, and this can only be done by somebody who is ‘unclean’ … [Unclean meaning somebody who may have killed somebody, or has no home, a straggler lets say… In Kitchen Swahili we would call it a ‘tangatangera’…We have been delving further into the archives of the old traditional ways of conservation and its fascinating… WHERE AND WHY IS IT GOING WRONG?? … The Milgis Trust is going to try and ‘travel back down this old road’ and bring these strong rules back..

1… As I said above if you cut the branches off a tree, or cut it down you have to be cleansed, Moses Lesoloyia, our manager saw it in Baragoi area when he was a child… Woe betide you if you cut a tree that has been used for a big meeting, or special ceremony… Its just not done!

2… You can not kill an animal unless you intend to eat it… This is why the Zebras have survived in Samburu areas, as they will not eat any horse like animal..

3… If you hack the tusks out of a dead elephant, you will NEVER be able to go to a traditional Samburu ceremony again… You have to wait for the Elephant to rot, and you pull them out.. When the two Elephants died near the Milgis base in may, when the KWS [ kenya wildlife service ] arrived to check on the situation, and to take the tusks, they had to go back to base to find somebody of a different tribe to cut the tusks out, as the three men who came happened to be Samburu!! They could not risk leaving them on the elephant just in case a poacher or person looking for tusks to sell on, took them..

4.. If you kill a black animal you are unclean… IE if you kill a wild dog, then your children can not wear the traditional black skin during the circumcision time.. Also If somebody in your family kills an ostrich, then forever the children can not wear ostrich feathers in their head band after being circumcised..

The traditional black skin worn after the circumcision ceremony, and the ostrich feathers, LABARTAC, in the head band… possibly the guy on the left, comes from a family that killed an ostrich!! The Lesoloyia family can not wear these feathers because someone way back they don’t even know who, killed an ostrich…

This is a strange one!… If a grey animal comes into your boma/enclosure round your house.. This is a bad omen!… this includes dikdik, hare,warthog,elephant,rhino.. and any others.. They have to slaughter a goat… mix the blood, stomach contents, and fat together, and pour this mixture around the perimeter, and the elders will bless the boma… If you are knocked down by any of these grey animals you will be smeared with this same mixture, and again this has to be done by an unclean/hopeless person!! [literally translated] ie he is not going to lose any more by touching this concoction!!

We have a scout meeting at the end of tis month and will be talking about these traditions, and how we can bring them back… If you haven’t read the blog 21/12/08 it has lots more!!

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Category: Cheetahs, Grevy's Zebra, Matthews range, Ndoto Mountains | Date: Jan 07 2009 | By: milgistrust

All the very best to you all for the new year!… I do apologise for disappearing off the face of the earth… We have been busy over Christmas and new year with camel safaris, and the computer battery went flat after a couple of days!, and I forgot to take the charging lead..Oh well it was good to have a holiday!, from the blogging, it takes alot out of me, to write a good one!! …But don’t worry the scouts have been busy, and Pete and I have been able to meet up with quite a few of them and to check on their areas… We did alot of walking in the magnificent Ndoto mountains where sadly the November rains were not good, which will put a strain again on the wildlife..Unfortunately the worst to suffer will be the Grevy Zebra, that rely on the water, on the east side…..We have alerted the scouts to try to make sure the water available to these animals that walk so far to have a drink.. In the last week there have been a few signs that it may rain in the next few days… maybe at full moon?? lets hope.. Today we were in Ngurnit, and it was pretty cloudy.. Other wise, thank goodness the Matthews Range has had good rains, most of the rivers are flowing still…

On arrival at Elkanto, we were delighted find the young Cheetah in tremendous form, and it recognised me strait away as I walked in… It is doing very well indeed, its grown quite alot, and is very playful…Very aware, talkative, has a big vocabulary, and quite ferocious for his size!!… He looks even more like the ever fierce Honey badger…He is complexly free, but seems to like human company, and the dogs tip toe around him!.. At least hes stopped calling and searching for his mother, which was quite heart rendering…

This was a picture taken on the 23rd December

I was told that I should be careful not to leave him in the hands of the Samburu Warriors as they may kill it… But I certainly am not worried now, they all love it, are fascinated by him, and can’t keep away!!

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Forest Fires, Grevy's Zebra, Lions, Livestock, Mt Nyiru, Overgrazing, Samburu, elephants | Date: Dec 21 2008 | By: milgistrust

Before I start!… News on the cheetah cub is good, getting better… very playful…no more fits!!

This is written by the manager of the Milgis Trust… I like his traditional way of thinking… it may be quite long… but its interesting!!

Lately there has been a real increase in elephant’s movement to the north. For the first time in almost 30 years elephants visited Mpatpat area in the northern side of the Ndoto mountains, also keleswa to the west of the ndotos and are now permanently in Seren, Kasipo and Ura areas of the ndotos. A single elephant track was seen in the aparen area in the desert. He, the elders in the area said followed an old elephant route. This elephant could be a surveyor and could soon be leading others to this area. The north is now a strategically important region for the elephants as with the human population pressure and many fences being erected throughout Laikipia, the Elephants are beginning to feel safe in the north and are starting to “spread their wings”

It is because of this situation that our focus is on the north and a team of 9 scouts and the manager went for a 5 days awareness creation in the Ldonyo Mara area. The awareness involved community meetings, video shows and slides shows. The team conducted awareness in Tunguu, Arge, Kurungu, and Gorle and many informal stop overs in Keleswa, South Horr, Ngilai and Barsaloi.

All meetings started with a short traditional blessing, recited by one of the elders. The manager then introduced the Milgis team and the purpose of the meetings and started by telling the communities about the work Milgis Trust does, explaining why the conservation work is so important, and the communities that are trying will benefit from education, medical and water projects… The manager stressed that all these benefits are coming to the community because of wild animals. He then invited each of the scouts to talk about the animal he is named after. The approach is to talk about the animal, what it is like, and its importance in the Samburu community and its role in natural environment.

Elephants. Samburu.. Ltome . scouts name…Lentukunye.

He mentioned that elephants are the biggest land mammal. They can be friendly and will co-exist with human beings if not disturbed. He said they used to be almost everywhere within Samburu but were killed for ivory by the shiftas and the Lkishili generation of the Samburu, elders concurred on this and even pointed at places where some elephants were killed just near some of the meeting venues. He pointed out how important it is now to “welcome” them back in these areas.. They are under pressure in the south and they are starting to look for places where they can be safe, probing old routes and our predictions are that very soon they will be here in ldonyo mara, and Mt Nyiru.. We are here to announce their return so that you are prepared for them. He cautioned them that when the elephants return, please do not shout or shoot at them this makes them wild.. We have had reports from Ura that elephants are destroying trees. Of course they are a big animal and need food so they will break trees… thats their food…, but if they are not scared they do less damage…

Importance to the community; the manger asked the community what they know as the importance of elephants to their culture and the following were mentioned.

• When a Samburu marries the first fire is lite using elephant dung.
• Some families can not conduct circumcision ceremonies without a piece of ivory
• Elephants are useful in opening up routes in bushy areas
• Creation of water pans
• Seeds dispersal….

Lion, Lng’atuny—-Lolokuria

The lion is the king!! Please respect him!!…. Although we know the lion kills our livestock we need to take care of them, we must conserve wild animals so that the lion can find food in the bush. If you take your livestock into the bush, and you see predator tracks, or the birds warn you, then you are the one that needs to take precaution.. We need to avoid giving our livestock to very young children to look after, and at night we need to make proper fences around our homes to prevent them from getting in.

There used to be many lions in the old days but now there is serious reduction due to introduction of poisons, said an elder; though we use to kill lions with spears the impact was not as serious as the use of poison. We should stop using poison and report any person who uses it.

Importance to the community; one elder said though the lion is a killer to our livestock it is very important in our culture as follows

• No ritual can be conducted without a lion’s skin, be it marriage, or circumcision.
• If lions were not there wild animals would be too many and we would not get enough grass for our livestock.

Wild pig ,Lguiya…..Letura

The wild pig is similar to the warthog but according to the Samburu it is blessed, because of its colouring. This animal did not exist in many places but has been on the increase in the recent years and is now found in many places. There is no serious threat to him as the Samburu do not eat its meat. However destroying its habitat is a problem for any wild animal..

Importance to the community;

• The wild pig skin is used to make colours for cow’s bells.
• Its teeth are used as totems for certain families.

Grevys Zebra…Loibor kurum..Lenegwesi

This is one of the most endangered animals. Though the Samburu do not eat it’s meat loss or competition for essential resource is causing the deaths. This wild ass is endemic to the northern part of the country and the Samburu should be happy and feel lucky to have them within their area. The elders pointed out that they still have a lot of the grevys in the desert but they said the problem is water shortage.

Importance to the community;

• Early warning system. When the nomads do not see grevys where they are usually found they know something is not normal, either enemies or predators are there.
• Zebra hide is used as medicine for a certain cow disease caused by rats.

Gerenuk, Riko …..Lemagas

This is also a rare species. He asked how many people have never seen a gerenuk, the response was that all have seen but immediately said nowadays not so often. They said after the recruitment of a scout in the area there has been an increase and two months ago they came to feed on acacia pods near the villages. He said when he was young the elders use to say a prayer to NGAI that the herders, and travellers would stumble over an animal that has been killed by a predators. He says these days this is rare, and we must reverse this… He told them that should the gerenuk be extinct predators will be coming after the livestock.

• It is believed that if you keep a gerenuk with your goats you will become very wealthy.

The manager talked on general conservation in the area and asked the community to be serious on conservation as they are very lucky, they still have what the rest of the world does not have. They need to take conservation very seriously because the human population is increasing and very soon there will be no enough space to keep livestock in large numbers. He asked them to revert to their culture which was very rich in conservation education. Traditionally the Samburu have systems that ensure ecosystem balance. The Samburu have put in place taboos that prohibit the killing or eating of meat from certain wild animals and even cutting of certain trees. The elders in the meeting gave the following feed back on these taboos

Traditional conservation mechanisms of the Samburu

The Samburu community prohibits the killing and eating of meat from the following animals;

• All grey looking animals, donkeys, lesser kudu, wild pigs, elephants, rhinos, dikdik, hare, klipspringer, female ostrich
• All black animals and birds, male ostrich, wild dogs, crows,
• All gazelles with black patches on the sides, Thomson gazelles,
• It is a taboo for grown ups to kill a young animal that is still dependant on the parents or to kill a lactating animal. Usually young boys are allowed to kill them because it is known that they rarely succeed.

The manager cautioned that this culture is slowly eroding and is part of the cause for the disappearance of wild animals in the area.

He then browsed through the following areas which he said will be part of the video and slides shows.

Erosion…… Pastoralists are entirely dependant on the environment for survival. The livestock that they depend on for food entirely depend on the environment. Conserving the environment for the pastoralists is conserving their life. Destroying the vegetation is the major cause of soil erosion. Vegetation is destroyed in the following ways

• Over grazing…keeping too many livestock
• Careless cutting of trees— for fencing, for fodder
• Forest fires
• Human settlement-clearing land for farming.

Traditionally it is a taboo to completely cut or fell a tree, “in the old days if by mistake one cuts all branches of a tree a goat is slaughtered and fat is poured round that tree trunk”, said an elder. This culture is disappearing as sights of huge trees cut down are all over. It is important that we encourage these positive cultural practises. The main reason given for the destruction of the environment is livestock survival, the manager urged the community to start thinking of keep fewer livestock that have better value in terms of milk production and meat so that they can fetch better returns. He showed the community clips showing the effects of soil erosion in many parts of the district and warned that if they don’t take care their area will soon be affected too.

Fires…. The manager also talked about forest burning and the dangers that it causes to human survival. He gave examples of many places that used to have flowing rivers and now among the driest areas in the district. The elders gave further places and one elder of the Nkimaniki age group said when they were youths, about 1950s there was plenty of water everywhere unlike this days. The manager stressed that the main cause of water shortage is destruction of the catchments areas in the mountains especially by fires. He showed clips of fires destruction in the milgis lugga.

Human wildlife conflict……. In many incidents conflicts with predators is caused by human negligence or carelessness. Some of the circumstances that can lead to conflict are as follows;

• Poor/improper fencing
• Not taking precautions with livestock in dangerous places
• Using young children to look after livestock
• Leaving livestock to stray.

We desire to see a community that grazes their livestock with the wildlife together. In this way the community will start to benefit from both the livestock and the wildlife. The moment we start benefiting from wildlife then we will start to love them.

Conclusion…. The general feeling of the community was very positive and awareness on conservation is low but with very high expectations on immediate benefits of conservation. The leaders in the area were positive and already involved in the conservation effort through Lonjorin conservation group, which is in the early stages of forming a conservancy.

Our patrol trip to the sitan area of the desert was very good and there were many tracks of gazelles and grevy zebra in the lower muran area. This area needs another trip in the future especially Lonjorin area.

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Errosion, Forest Fires, Grevy's Zebra, Mt Nyiru, Northern Frontier District, Overgrazing, elephants | Date: Nov 18 2008 | By: milgistrust

Every things happening up in the Milgis this month!! Usually a quiet sort of place…except when the wind blows!…

2 weeks ago, ‘The Landrover’ left for the Milgis Lugga, from our workshops at Naro Moru… We were very kindly given this series 2 landrover by Marika Beckman, who came on a camel safari in March..She decided this was the place for this beautiful old car to spend her last days… We picked her up in April, she was a wreck as she had done many Rhino Charges with Donna Hurt!!.. But after a thorough going over, in the workshop, and a paint job, shes out in the bush again… What a lovely vehicle, just so quiet compared to these modern cars and yet so much power.. She cruises up Elkanto hill in second gear!!..

We want to find out more of the probably 40 year history of this car, I’m sure its interesting!..But what we know is its already done alot for CONSERVATION!!… Immediately the land rover got to the Milgis, we organised an awareness campaign up in the north…Ten scouts went ahead by foot to gather every one for meetings, all round Mt Nyiru, and Ol Donyo Mara.. The manager and some of our “clever talking” scouts from the Matthews area, have gone to meet up them, so as to inform the communities about the inevitable return of the Elephants, what its like to live with them, and please to welcome them home… They also have lots more to tell the communities…. water for the wildlife, erosion issues, the result of too much stock, tree cutting, the value of wildlife, especially the Grevy zebra and how rare they are, ideas of how to protect there bomas [ thorn enclosure] against predators, killing the predator is not the answer!! Of course one one of the major topics is the burning of the forests…He has a small inverter, which will work off the Land rover battery and he has many pictures on his computer to show them …and a small film on how to live with predators..

Last but NOT least… Andrew thank you for your donation….Its greatly appreciated….Lots more news tomorrow

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Education, Errosion, Grevy's Zebra, Livestock, Northern Frontier District, Overgrazing, Rendille, Samburu, Turkana, Water holes, elephants | Date: Nov 11 2008 | By: milgistrust

A REQUEST FOR

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR A WILDLIFE WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT….

Project description

Following efforts from the scouts and the entire community within the Milgis ecosystem, we have observed a significant and rapid change in the behaviour and distribution of wildlife populations over the last few years. Overall, both wildlife and local communities appear to have become more relaxed and wildlife, especially elephants have been opening up old movement routes into the Matthews-Ndoto Ranges which they used historically. This has benefited local communities living near the mountains, providing them and their livestock access along these new elephant routes to areas in the mountains. Also the elephants are now feeling safe enough to probe the areas north of the Ndoto mountains, in the hope to go back to mounts Nyiru and Kulal.. where they were almost completely wiped out of during the tragic poaching of the 1970s and 80s..Those that were lucky enough to escape south, are the ones probing to go back… What they don’t know is that things have changed and human populations have increased dramatically, and the water sources are not where they were when they had to run for their lives…

As a result of the increasing presence and movement of wildlife under the protection of the community scouts within the area, the opportunity for conflict with people and livestock over water and pasture during the dry season presents itself. Conservation efforts now have to strike a critical balance: Wildlife and habitat conservation needs to be clearly understood, and the benefits need to be recognised.by the communities.. Our conservation efforts need now to be even more vigilant as a result of our success, which leads to an increase in demand for resources. One of the major sources of conflict in northern Kenya is over water, the resource is scarce in this region and the little that exists is needed by all.

In the northern frontier district, there are huge tracts of land that are unoccupied because of lack of water. Opening up such areas would ease the population in those currently occupied as the wildlife and even nomads would spread out and reduce the damage to the environment that is caused by over crowding. This will also ease over stretching of the available resources. Opportunities for accessing water to the communities living in the drier parts are enormous, there are numerous pans and dams that are no good, because of silting, while there are plenty of dry streams where flood waters during the rainy season can be harvested by developing new dams or Haffir tanks.

We are therefore requesting for support… A water project that will involve accessing water to communities and wildlife in northern Kenya… Some wildlife species like the Grevys’ zebra that are endemic to this region, are threatened by lack of water. The Trust will continue its security and monitoring operations which have been responsible for the encouraging change in the behaviour and distribution of wildlife in this region and in gradually building positive attitudes towards wildlife. This stability provides the platform from which the Trust can implement its other conservation activities which will ensure that for wildlife and natural resource protection to be sustainable there needs to be real development opportunities made available.This includes education, security, health care, livestock marketing and water development.

The specific objectives of this project are; De-silting pans and dams that are dry, and opening up new dams in arid areas. Creating water resource conservation, use and management awareness among the communities…

Benefits…

• Mitigating human wildlife conflict within the Milgis Trust area

  The Trust is dedicated to conserving the environment and wildlife in the long-term through the provision of real economic benefits to the communities…, To this end, the Trust is taking steps to make water accessible to the people to try and reduce situations that cause conflict with wildlife. By making water available to both the nomads and wildlife, opportunities for conflict will be reduced, and the communities will start to see wildlife as bringing benefits to them. This will strengthen our conservation efforts and the people will start to be more accommodating to the wildlife..

• Easing the elephants water problems, as the Umbrella species for all wildlife..

  ‘The Elephant’ is under pressure from fences and human populations to the south, so they are probing routes to go to places with less pressure.. The presence and movement of elephants within the area naturally increases the opportunity for conflict between people and livestock over water during the dry season..

• Especially easing the endangered Grevy Zebras plight of travelling huge distances to water …
• Accessing to water to communities, and solving overgrazing, and erosion …

  Through the Milgis Trust community scouts and the Manager, continued awareness creation on the importance of conserving the available water and other resources in sustaining human livelihoods is undertaken. Meetings are arranged… discussions take place on local conservation concerns with particular focus on water resource use issues especially during the dry season. The communities will be trained on catchments area protection, the relationship between the environmental destruction and water shortage among other conservation issues.

  Methods:

The Milgis Trust would do this by purchasing equipment to undertake this activity. Purchasing our own equipment will ensure sustainability of this project.

Project Impact:

As an established field presence, the Milgis Trust scouts have made a significant impact on improving security for wildlife and natural resources within the Milgis Ecosystem, in the three year time frame they have been operating… The role of the scouts has therefore been instrumental in maintaining the momentum of conservation and awareness activities across the region. Once this program is under way the following benefits are anticipated;

ü Reduced erosion due to congestion in areas where water is available, once water is made available to other areas the community will spread out.

ü Reduced human wildlife conflict over water resource use.

ü Improved human wildlife relationship and co-existence.

BELOW IS THE FINANCIAL NEEDS….

Tractor, ripper and Dam Scoop, and Back up pickup…

1 x SAME LASER TRACTOR 125 4wd ..

1 x 3.5 cubic meter Dam Scoop

1 x Ripper

offer 7 free services to our customers however depending on where this tractor will be located we will negotiate what we are willing to do for you as soon as we have further details.

Training: We offer full operator training for your operators and service maintenance training for your mechanics. The training is offered free of charge with only incidental costs of transport, food and accommodation etc being charged.

1 x 4wd pickup backup vehicle..

Extras… camping equipment…

Total costs to set up the Dam unit… …………………………………………….aprox Ksh 10,750,000/-

aprox….. US $ 150,000.

Operating costs per month… Fuel, maintenance, wages, and food… aprox Ksh 200,000/-

per year x 12 = Ksh 2,400000/= US $ 32000.

I am putting this on the Blog, because especially after this last drought, we have decided this is one way we can hopefully ease many of the problems… I am not expecting just any one to come up with this sort of cash!, but if anyone knows of any organisation that may beable to help…We really want to get this project going…As a independent mobile unit… Run By Pete Ilsley.. a Milgis Trust Trustee….

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Category: Forest Fires, Greater Kudu, Grevy's Zebra, Lesser Kudu, Livestock, Ndoto Mountains, elephants | Date: Nov 01 2008 | By: milgistrust

Sitting at Elkanto, Milgis base, with all all the trees in leaf, grass growing all round me!…AND looking out on to our 360 degrees view, to see greenery every where, wet Luggas.. It seems almost impossible to think that two weeks ago it was so dry, you looked out onto a brown horizon, dust, wind.. Now you can hardly see out, the trees have all thrown out long branches, the growth is extraordinary… … SO amazing!!

At the scouts meeting, every one talked about, how bad things had got in the drought, and the wildlife’s battle to get to water… Especially the elephants who are just innocently trying to get a drink but are described as these ‘giant dragons’, doing something wrong??..Again many of them pointing out the Grevys plight of searching for water…also alot of them looking thin…Also reports of ..Animals dieing… Beautiful old greater kudu male just couldn’t make it, many warthogs, all over, some falling into deep holes trying get at water. More lesser Kudu deaths reported, after the rain? Also interesting enough the samburu and Rendille lost alot of goats and sheep, before the rain came and after… The issue of over stocking has has come to light in a big way… Every one talked about how desperate these fires have been, and what can we do about this…[Will write more in my next blog..] Several reports of Grevys limping…Any one got any ideas of what could be affecting their feet… Looking more closely it seems that they have a swelling around the hoofs..especially at the back.. Another report of an Impala, that has moved in with a group of female gerenuks! Two reports of hyenas killing alot of goats, in two different bomas/manyattas.. It seems we need to help them improve the fences, even try and push live fences… [using cuttings from comifera trees, is very affective].. Another report of a bush pig, that has killed many cows.. but this is not new news, this pig is has a fetish for cows!!

The distressing news, and this was coming from the scout!! There are several projects in the area, where water is being piped out of the mountains down to places that people and there stock can get to easily… Yes.. its true… In stead of checking out the reason for the stem or lack in water flow, they just go above and bring the water down in a pipe… Can you imagine what this is doing to the environment..Its happening and its shocking.. The latest one being in Arsim, east of the Ndotos… a place the wildlife, used to beable to get at the water, now it has been dammed, and piped down to a tank… All the scout from that area were distressed with these latest developments…

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