The Milgis Trust

Category: Conservation Awareness, Desert warthog, Livestock, Samburu | Date: Sep 11 2009 | By: milgistrust

Paula, thank you for putting my last blog on!… Weldone you!…You are right!.. After our disappointment of not getting the money, after weeks of work!, for a Rabies programme, and then the proposal was declined.!

!..Because this dog is starving and thirsty, people tend to think it has rabies, so will throw stones at it… In stead of helping it… Right now there are thousands of dogs in this same trouble..

Paula wrote me a note saying keep positive and keep those blogs flowing…The following is what I wrote back to Paula!.. I am sorry about my lack of blogs, I find it so hard when I really know the reason for all this suffering is abit beyond every one who reads thems’ help… natural cycle of weather event, although the over population of the land is not helping, but its not our readers fault!…BUT I suppose I have to remember that the readers are not enduring a drought, so they may feel more positive… Although they are experiencing their own kind of drought in the financial world!…

Talking about Droughts… We’ve seen them before, as I’ve mentioned in a earlier blog in July, they come in about ten year cycles here, and and its upon us again, but this time it seems the noose around our necks has got alot tighter than last… But maybe the reason is there are so many more people living off this semi desert land… Actually a land of plenty if the balance is right… I’ve said it once and I’m saying it again… Why aren’t we doing something about the overpopulation of our world, why is it a subject that people are scared to talk about, what do they call it? P.C.?!! But in the meantime we are going to strangle our selves, the suffering is going to be so severe, its too frightening to think of… why can’t we see it coming.??.. The suffering is already awful, you guys in America, Europe, the rest of the world must feel so helpless, in situations like these as all the blogs from Kenya are along the same lines, but sometimes maybe we need to help ourselves, when it comes to ‘THE FUTURE of this beautiful land its people and its wildlife’… Also this is the reason the Milgis Trust was started, and your support is invaluable….. We are trying!

At the last scout meeting at the end of the month of course every scout had sad stories of how animals are not coping well, as I said, funnily enough the desert warthog is suffering the most of all the animals… Many reports of them coming in to look for help from the humans, one Samburu guy reported a family of four that literally moved in with his herd of goats, ate and drank with them, but even these four have diminished to one…. Several reports of the Baboons and Monkeys dieing, but more of disease, obviously not helped by the dry times, any one have any ideas on what is killing the monkeys, in Northern Kenya.. But there is somebody out there in the dust, that is doing well!!… The predators are having a field day… They don’t know which animal to eat first…

We went for a walk to Latakwen, a small village north of the base of the Milgis Trust, and all the way there we came across dead and dieing animals, Samburu livestock that could not keep up with the herd, so have been deserted, but even worse on our way back we came across the carcasses of around 50 goats and sheep all strewn around a deserted manyatta, all perished from disease, lack of water, and food.. We were told the people left with 3 animals….. This is where our proposal for the new vet unit, with which we will be working with the people on ‘quality rather than quantity of live stock’ and this will include the Rabies programme, mentioned in the last Blog..

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Lions, Livestock, Milgis lugga, Water holes | Date: Sep 09 2009 | By: admin

 We are trying to raise funds for a very important project

Vaccinating and ensuring the health of just one domestic dog in northern Kenya can help save a family from rabies, help protect their livestock from predators and in doing so prevent the predators from being hunted and killed.

Our aim to run a sustainable yet basic pilot mobile and stationary vaccination unit that will immunize a new class of community guard dogs, which will not only benefit the communities, wildlife and dogs but help balance and conserve the whole ecosystem by helping to resolve the human/wildlife conflict.

Please consider supporting this work.

We are experiencing a terrible drought in Northern Kenya. We are watching in dismay in the North, as the poor people are slowly loosing their stock, to disease and drought, but too proud to admit it.. Its amazing how brave they are.   iI is so difficult to blog with so much hardship around. Sadly our lions are definitely no more, at least the ones in the higher Milgis area, we have no idea how they died, as it is so thick the bush, but no more tracks or sounds. I am very sad about it, but you can’t win as they kept on taking stock every day. We are trying very hard to keep the wells open for the Elephants, so at least every one can have a drink. The poor desert warthogs are the real ones that are suffering. It’s  terrible shame.

Please support the project to vaccinate dogs and keep the project going    

Tags: drought, Helen dufresne, Milgis, Northern Kenya, wildlife, WildlifeDirect

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Category: De-brazza Monkeys, Eco-tourism, Livestock, Matthews range, Water holes, elephants | Date: Jul 08 2009 | By: milgistrust

Why?…. I suppose its because there are more people on the world??….. IE More trying to live off less… In Northern Kenya we can expect a pretty bad drought every ten years, but its worse each time… And this time its no exception… I’ve just come back from another beautiful safari in the Matthews, we climbed to the top, but we could not avoid seeing the people and animals enduring hard times…. And doing more damage just to stay alive… As in the pictures below…

Two valuable trees cut down for hungry livestock to try to keep them alive… But then what will they eat tomorrow?… We have so much work to do on this issue..

During our safari we saw plenty of Elephants, but every time one could not but think … Where is the nearest water?, for this beautiful herd of Elephants… Most of the wells we came across are over 20 feet deep, not even a chance for them, but we found flowing mountain water, thanks to the beautiful forest above on the slopes of the Matthews range, in the Ngare Narok Lugga, where the De Brazza monkeys frequent.. Indeed two herds of Elephants came into drink, at the same time, just behind our camp, plenty of trumpeting went on, which made our little camp with the camels all hobbled abit restless!!..

Huge tree in the Matthews range… Strangler fig, growing up a Newtonia..

Below is a positive note from a geologist who comes out to Kenya a lot… and he seems to be giving us some bright news!

Lets look at the forecasts at the Climate Prediction Centre and the
International Research Institute for Climate and Society. We are
currently moving into an El Nino year, slightly anomalous sea-surface
temperatures in the W Pacific, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation is
coupled with the Indian Ocean Dipole that influences E African
rainfall. They are not yet sure about the strength of the El Nino if
it comes later this year. El Nino means more intense short (oct-nov)
rains for most parts of E Africa. The prediction maps do not show any
difference in the rains from other years except for Oct-November where
there is a 40% probability of heavier rains in this time of the year.
Well, get an umbrella soon!!!

Our Milgis Trust website has been updated, If any of you have got time to read whats going on, it out lines all our plans and goals…

Finally a little note on how Pete is doing!! Hes walking!!… But the Doctor is still working on getting all the dead tissue, killed by the Snakes poison, out of his foot… What a palaver… but hes in good spirits, and looking forward to getting back to the bush…

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Education, Errosion, Livestock, Overgrazing | Date: May 26 2009 | By: milgistrust

As I watch a herd of cattle crossing the lugga below us, with over half of the participants hardly able to put one foot in front of the other, and they still have miles to go, as the owners have decided to cut and run to try to save their ‘ love of their life ‘ [ cows] lives, by looking for greener pastures, is a very difficult situation, even the hardest person can not be happy to see that… Again three weeks ago there was a bit of rain on the west side of the Ndotos, and ‘every one and his goat’ left for the area with their livestock, on a last resort run to save their bank account from collapse!!! or to put it into context, try to save their lives,…They could not stop to wait for the stragglers, they had to leave them behind to fend for themselves, in this harsh country side… knowing that there was not much hope…who’s going to give them water out of the deep wells? and then when it gets dark, the predators will have a field day… I am not sure when it is that us humans will realise that our environment just can not hold any more??

Up here this year, thousands of trees have been cut down to save the animals, and to make new bomas [Koral’s] ,unbelievable over grazing until there is not even a spike of dry grass left…and then comes the erosion…

which leads to the thick, thick mud in the luggas..

It is an indication, that its time for the MILGIS TRUST to start a very controversial project, NOW… We need to start talking, and immediately after this dreadful drought I feel is a good time..’ QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY ‘ of livestock is the way forward, although to persuade these Samburu people, is going to be interesting, BUT this year once again they have learnt their lesson, and plenty of people have lost stock… Out here a drought is like a bank robbery to us, the only difference is it slowly bites!!.. This problem, is a problem that we could ignore because it is controversial, it is untraditional, But it means in twenty years time we will call this area a desert… I have seen an unbelievable change in the last 25 years.. Imagine another 25 years with so many more people living off this parched land… Milgis trust is going to take the bull by the horns… so to say, slowly, gently, coaxingly…. Persuade… Funnily enough, already many people we have met lately under stand, its action that is needed, to move on!!

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Category: Cheetahs, Conservation Awareness, Education, Leopards, Lions, Livestock, Northern Frontier District, Samburu | Date: Jan 19 2009 | By: milgistrust

Its a difficult one when you tell the nomadic people… Do not kill the predators…. For them, if there was no predators life would be so much simpler!!… They could just send the goats/cows off and round them up when they are ready! They would not need to make such good bomas [thorn fences] around their homes, in fact life would be a lot easier with out them…They wouldn’t get into the perpetual trouble they get into because they have to cut trees down to make a decent fence!… OF COURSE THIS IS NOT EVEN A THINKABLE OPTION!!… SO ..What is the solution??!! Imagine a world with out the king of the jungle, cheetahs, leopards, Hyenas… and all the other unbelievably beautiful carnivores on this earth… We at Elkanto are experiencing the incredibleness of these animals with our cheetah… He never ceases to amaze all of us… Its a tough little critter… VERY clever, so aware, tough as nails… Despite its sweet ‘look’ !! Luckily the Samburu have to have lions, because they CANNOT have a ceremony with out a piece of lion skin!… Also If there was no predators then there would too much competition with the stock for grass, with the herbivores… And finally if there was no predators who would get rid of the rotting carcases… So really the answer is to find ways of living with them!!… Dogs and Live fences being two answers…??

A dog that is well looked after is one of the best answers.. Their acute sense of smell, and hearing can pick up predators from far, and warn the manyatta… Or when the stock are out grazing/browsing the dogs can warn the Shepperd’s when there is trouble up front…Every manyatta has a dog, or many, but most of them are desperately thin, worms and being erratically fed is the reason.. Samburu have this terrible fear of rabies, and this is why this poor dog was killed.. story below.. Also when there is a batch of puppies, the females are almost always left to die, only because they later will produce puppies…

Yesterday a Samburu man, somebody I know well, came to see me with his 4 year old daughter… She had a little scratch on her side, from his dog… She had picked up the after birth of a goat to give to him and he had snatched it off her, and scratched her on her side.. The father immediately killed the dog..bludgeoned him to death… His favourite dog… So sad and so stupid… Because now who is going to look after the manyatta??

So we would like to do a “get the dogs in better shape campaign” to help the people live with the predators… This would mean castrating and spaying dogs, worming and giving rabies injections… And giving a little’pep’ talk on how to look after them…To as many dogs in the area… It would be an ongoing thing as its vast… Is any vet out there ready to gain some pretty exciting experience!! .. It won’t be dogs only you treat!!.. Any thing from an Elephant to a squirrel!! , Camel to a goat! as well… We also need to find a way to fund it …..ANY IDEAS?

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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.

3 responses so far

Category: Forest, Livestock, Matthews range, Samburu | Date: Dec 05 2008 | By: milgistrust

The amount of time I’ve spent on my computer, due to this forest destruction in the beautiful Matthews forest, is ridiculous and sometimes one thinks… Its just a drop in the ocean, compared to some of the things that are happening.. But then I don’t sleep, thinking about it.. WHAT FOR?? WHY CUT THESE TREES?..Then who is this person who cut the trees, the university advisers, the person who gave out the permits, probably people who’ve never been to the northern mountains..which incredibly have managed to keep out of the charcoal problems, and logging..The main damage to these forests is fires, of which we’ve battled with, as you know, with very little support..Also when it is very dry, and there is trouble in the west with the Turkana, the nomads tend go up into the forests, and unfortunately, if there is no grass, tend to cut trees down to save there cows from starvation… But they do not win quite often, and when the rains come its quite often a disaster for the cow population… I know that Kenya has recently had a change in the forestry department, and we all hope its a good thing, but this permit being issued has really shocked us.. Any way… see below the MT manager, says he’s not going to be maligned.. He saw for himself and he did-not like what he saw…

Response from the Milgis Trust Manager…to comments made by Luca about his report!!

Luca…It is clear that you have done some damage to the forest, and you are now trying to reduce the magnitude of this destruction…

1. Plots size. I am certainly not the only one that came up with 50/60 meters diameter…To the best of my knowledge… Even the MP counted 50 steps to measure the size of the plots that were cut, and others that came in from Wamba.. I counted 56 long steps in one cut plot and 60 in one not cut but marked with tapes.But because of the damage to the trees around the plots, I felt that 60 is fair to say… Leadekei from KWS also visited the area and could also be asked to give his measurement. I think the photos show even that the areas are bigger that 24 m. diameter… Is this really the issue??.. What ever the size its not ‘on’, in this day and age….

2. Over 80% of the kitich forest is Lmargueet and destroying it alone is no excuse. Cutting indigenous forest is damage no matter what tree it is. .Every tree that was growing in those plots, was cut down, what ever kind of tree.. Luca should realise that all the cut trees are lying dead in the forest and should evidence be needed it is all there. Everybody who went there knows this.

3. In my opinion what luca says is his purpose of research does not match the activities of his research?. What does nomads way of life have to do with felling trees with power saws?. How does pollination or seeds dispersal relate to clearing of gaps in the forest?. Where will the birds he mentions in his notes live, if the trees are cut down…

4. To who did luca pay the research fees to and for what purpose and why after the community had chased him away?…. Luca you should be honest. You only came to the open and to get papers signed by the community after you were chased away, why didn’t you speak to the community before you started cutting trees down..

My comment today is… Luca you have replied to Anna, and told her that ‘remember people living in Northern Kenya are very poor’…Sorry but certainly the people living around the Matthews are not poor, compared to many many other areas in Africa, but they will be poor if their water flow, from the Matthews stops due to forest destruction..Also there are very few people living in these mountains permanently, so who are you going to evict… Yes the population increase in the world generally, is posing a threat to all mountains, and this is a very serious worry..

One more thing…If you have nothing to hide… Many people have asked me this same thing…Who were the other people involved, helping you cut the trees, and the way all the trunks have been cut into neat sized logs, and numbered.. What were you going to do with them… Finally please explain.. TO US ALL… IN AS SHORT AS YOU LIKE… WHY YOU CUT THESE GAPS IN THE FOREST… WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT, IN THESE GAPS…BECAUSE SO FAR WE DON’T UNDERSTAND…

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Eco-tourism, Education, Health, Lions, Livestock, Mt Kulal, Mt Nyiru, elephants | Date: Nov 19 2008 | By: milgistrust

As I’ve said before… Nomadic communities, to put up with living with wildlife has it trials and tribulations… There are numerous reports from the scouts of predators of all kinds killing the peoples goats, cows, and camels… Elephants break their wells, that have taken them hours to dig, they tear down trees, when we are telling every one not to cut them!!…etc… All those ” bad ” things that wild animals do!!!… So people need to see benefits, or they will not see the point in looking after them… We do camel safaris through out this area, and we pay camping and conservation fees to the communities, and lots of people get employment, but we are not big enough for every one to benefit…Other wise there is very little tourism in the area… Its maybe too remote…[suits me!] Anyway the Milgis Trust has many other projects… Schools, employing teachers, water development, we help with many health problems… It all seems to be happening at the moment…

The SOLAR PANELS ARE IN FINALLY!!…Justus O, Karen B, Nora L, Robert S, and Charlotte B…Thank you all of you from all the Elders, Women and Milgis Pre-School Students from Ilgwe Eldome for giving them water again… Nobody in this wild area ever in their wildest dreams thought that somebody could cut the frame and get away with 4 big solar panels… Although there was somebody looking after them he wasn’t too serious, they had no idea they were so valuable… To them they look like a piece of magic glass, that takes water out of a well and pumps it 4 kms up a hill… !! We are sure it must have been some visiting tradesmen who took them…This issue became a huge problem in the community… When Diane Terry from Private Journeys, came on safari in July they could not stand it either and pledged the money!! Thanks so much…But what a palaver getting them up there in their metal cast so that nobody can steal them again….. So we do apologise that it has taken so long…. The elders waited all day, while they were being installed so that they could put a spell on the panels, in there own way…We now have two serious watchmen!!…

The elders came to say a special prayer to stop the solar panels from ever being stolen again…

We are building TWO new class rooms, one in Latakwen, and one at the Milgis School… Plus a store for the MS and we have fenced the school, with live comifera trees…65 Women did it in one day… All thanks to TOTO TRUST UK….

This week the water will be in Latakwen…Thanks to the VOSS foundation… The community are digging the one and a half km trench from the well to the town, schools and dispensary… All residents of the area have been given there quota of digging… great team spirit… I don’t dare try to put more photos on this page…

Three children were picked up by aircraft yesterday!!… thanks to East African Air Charters, and MEAK [ Medical and Educational Aid] and taken to Nairobi… Two with heart problems, and the other was the girl who was shot through her mouth… Dee Belliere of MEAK has decided that she needed further care and took her to the amazing Bethany children’s hospital in Kijabe for further treatment… Today she is undergoing a big operation.. Thanks to all…

Lastly… But very important for Milgis every day operations..VHF BASE RADIO moves to a higher hill for better communications…We are moving the radio room to a hill that is almost 1000 feet higher than Elkanto, just across the Parsaloi Lugga…. We need better communications to our VHF Radios to the North, and the radio will be on all day and all night…All the materials are being carried up with manpower!, or camels if they can, fit them on… Water and food will be delivered once a week by camel… Thank you Shikar Safari Club Foundation..for helping.. especially in our endeavour to see the Elephants safely home to the Northern mountains…

Tyeing the makuti [ palm thatch] on the New radio house on Orok Onyuki hill…The North end of the Ndoto mountains in the distance…The view from this hill is fabulous… I want to be the radio operator!!….

One response so far

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….

4 responses so far

Category: Livestock, Northern Frontier District, Samburu, Turkana | Date: Nov 06 2008 | By: milgistrust

Its a lovely thought, that here we are out here in the heart of Samburuland, the Americans have just voted in these historic elections, if you turn on the radio, its the topic to talk about…In fact I’m sure every ones talking about it… And yet these guys are quietly getting on with their lives, talking about the rains, and which Lugga is crossable at the moment, and when will the cows come back home!..The lovely thought also, is one things for sure is they will probably suffer least in the credit crunch!!

This is not a conservation story, but its a story that shows how amazingly positive, and proud these Samburu people are.. A couple of days ago a very nice man, called Lesarge, pitched up to the hill to see me, he had an envelope full of papers to show me… This was the man who’s manyatta had been attacked in April, by Turkana raiders….. He was in fine form telling me of how things were going in the area, that has now moved to… Don’t blame him, because then he went on to tell the story of the night of the attack… He had gone shopping at the little centre called Masiketa, that was about 5 kms away from his home… As he was heading home at about 8 pm, his bag of maize meal, sugar, tea leaves in hand, for his family he heard some shooting in the direction of his manyatta… He hurried along but nothing prepared his mind for what he was going to find…The raiders had aimed all their bullets into his house… The Samburu live in very low temporary houses made of thin sticks tied together with bark, and skins and woven mats that go on the roof… His whole family were inside…His wife with her little tiny baby, 12 year old daughter, and his 5 year old son.. plus 3 warriors… His son was dead, his daughter had had her lower jaw shot off, his wife had been shot through the knee, and 1 warrior had been shot through the calf … And all his camels had been taken… Unbelievable.. A night mare to beat all.. He was happy this day because finally he had managed to get his daughter out of the hospital, in Nairobi…So now all that was left is to pay the bill… He wanted to discuss how ‘ we ‘ could do it… What I can’t understand is why hes got a bill at all.??.. I asked him how the girl is…He said ‘ shes OK, and shes happy to be home.. she can talk, but shes still got many problems with her throat, and she can’t eat of course, the hospital really tried, but they could do no more to help her…They were very kind and caring to my daughter.. They even rallied together, with some Samburu people in Nairobi, to help me pay for the massive bill of Ksh 450,000/- , I only owe Ksh 131000/- now… ONLY!!.. and hes lost all his camels… I asked him if any one had followed up on the camels, and he mentioned that the government had taken alot of camels from other Turkanas, but he could not take them because they were not his, and they were taken off Innocent people… He told me he will build his herd up the Samburu way, he will ask his friends to give generously!!… His only worry is his bill… We decided that each of us would try which ever way we could.. He was going to ask his friends for goats… And I was going to ask my friends for ‘ Goats ‘!!!….

2 responses so far