Mountain Dispatches – News from Mount Kenya Trust

(Posted 02nd September 2023)

Rutundu Hill from the Lake Alice Crater
Photo: Susie Weeks

MOUNTAIN DISPATCHES
April – July 2023

We’re a little late in sending this quarterly report as we wanted to send it out on the day of our NEW WEBSITE launch! We know you’re going to love it just as much as we do.

Our 2022 Annual Report is also ready to view here!

As you read about our projects and progress, please support our Wildlife Challenge Rangers, who are training so hard for the final challenges and the funds we receive will all go towards keeping our Horse Patrol Team active.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Click here for the Mt Kenya Trust Annual Report 2022

Above: The Sukuma Twende team present sewing machines, water tanks, guttering, piping, agricultural tools and footballs for a range of our community projects in May.

A big shout out to Sukuma Twende Trust, who we have been working with for many years. Not only are they one of our main forest restoration donors, they assist with our social and community projects. In May, Sukuma Twende Trust visited us and some of our projects and planted trees with the forest restoration team. They kindly donated 4 sewing machines, 11 water tanks, gutters, pipes and fittings for our water harvesting projects and agricultural tools for one of the Community Forest Associations we work with. They also donated 30 footballs for the schools we work in.

The sewing machines will be used once we have trained women we work with to make reusable sanitary towels for young adolescent girls. They will also donate materials to process 1000 dignity packs that will consist of 4 reusable sanitary towels and a bar of soap. We love this partnership and are so grateful to all their members and business relationships that help the passionate group to help organizations like us – to help others.

Asanteni Team Sukuma!

Our 2023 WILDLIFE RANGER CHALLENGE team have completed two of the challenges on the World Ranger Challenge calendar to date, scoring high in the ranks for both challenges. They scored 86% in the quiz and were in 12th position for the push up challenge out of a total of 53 Ranger teams across the whole continent! Our rangers are training super hard for the next two challenges: the sit up challenge and the final 21km run on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy with other teams for the region.

Let our community rangers feel the love for the incredible work they do to protect our wild spaces and water catchments by making a contribution today. Donations are matched. Go on and click the button below! For more information about the WRC Challenge and how it supports Rangers and conservation all over Africa click HERE.

Support our Rangers Today!

FOREST RESTORATION

We have huge targets for planting during the next short rains, and hope they are plentiful! with the predicted El Nino on the way. Our grant from Darwin is going to cover the largest amount of the planting. Humphrey Munene, our Field Coordinator, has been putting in a great deal of work to prepare for this.

It takes months and months to prepare for the tree planting seasons with meetings with KFS, KWS, Community, propagating seedlings, visiting sites and much more. We are planning to plant over 170,000 trees in Marania and Imenti and we are excited to get lots more trees in the ground. Not only do we plant trees but we have over 90 per cent success rate in survival rates. All planting sites are carefully planted and monitored for years after planting, to ensure that our seedlings turn into forests.

Above: Inspection of a forest restoration site in the Imenti Forest Reserve.

RANGERS & SECURITY

As well as regular patrol from the teams bases, there were camping patrols carried out at Mawingu in April as well as joint Operation in Burguret after desperate calls from the area residents. KWS, Eburu, community members and MKT Imenti patrol team combed the area jointly. The final riparian patrol was also carried out in April along the Teleswani River. In May, a two-week camping patrol was carried out in Thambana. In June most of our community rangers were called to help with security for the Lewa Marathon.

A total of 22 arrests were made and all these suspects were arraigned in court of law. The team followed their cases and attended court proceedings. Most of the suspects were found guilty and were fined an amount between KSH 5,000 – 20,000 or were imprisoned between 1 – 6 months. In some cases, the culprits were given Community Service Order and in one case the culprit was set free due to a misunderstanding between the arresting officers and the prosecuting officer. Five elephant carcasses were recorded, and 46.02kg of elephant tusks were recovered from these carcasses.

MKT Ranger Severely Injured

On a patrol in July, Charles Nyaga the lead Ranger for the Imenti Patrol Team was was hit over the head with a panga by a poacher. He was rushed to Kiruua Mission Hospital where he was stabilized after losing a lot of blood. He was given more blood and seemed to get better and then an MRI found a bleed that was causing huge pressure on his brain. He is now stable and recovering.

Another reason to please support our Rangers who risk life and limb every day to protect the last remaining wild places.

Clockwise from top: SMART patrol map from MKT team patrols and fence management between January and March 2023. The Imenti Patrol team were called regularly to help with elephants moving onto farms during the first part of the year. Rescue of a live Suni from a snare.

EDUCATION & SCHOOLS

The Junior Ranger Project

We have finalised the second set of school outreaches of the Junior Ranger Project in July and have already selected the new schools for the third set of modules. With the full support of the education officers, the first sessions in each school are introductory ice breakers where the children and teachers go through the modules and expectations of the project. The first module introduces the ‘Web of Life’ and our ‘Felt Mountain’ is introduced to the students to give them some context of the Mount Kenya landscape and ecology.

Schools

On World Environment Day, June the 4th, our Education team went to Ruiri Girls school to help spread the message of beating plastic pollution, which was this year’s theme. The activities included discussions on the problem of plastic pollution and waste, a walk to mark the day, and a display of recycled plastic artwork. The students displayed a high level of creativity in their artwork.

Plastic Community Clean Up!

On June 5th, we held a cleanup in partnership with the Ngusishi Water Users Association members in Ngushishi center. The community members participated enthusiastically. Their greatest challenge as always in our towns is a complete lack of a waste management system and sites due to closure of the previous one that was right by the river. Following the clean-up there was a brief talk by the area chief, WRUA and one of the Trust’s rangers about managing waste in and around rivers.

Anti-clockwise from top: Paxton works through on of the Junior Ranger Project modules with the children The teachers from each school receive certificates for their assistance with the project. Badges are awarded to the Junior Rangers after each module

COMMUNITY HEALTH PROJECTS

In the last quarter, there have been impressive turnouts at all of the CHS project outreaches, with over 200 people attending a single organised event, indicating a high level of community engagement and demand for the services. In addition to the curative, family planning, cancer screening and counselling services provided there has been in increased focus on information sharing.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has been helping the identified needs or gaps in the community, as recognized by the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to raise awareness primarily about cancer screening, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). When there are large gatherings, they take advantage of the opportunity to discuss sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The CHVs have intensified their efforts in conducting door-to-door visits and participating in discussions on these topics.

Left: Ketty addresses a high-level Meru County forum to report on some of the findings from the Trust’s ASRHR project in schools. Right: Mentoring youngsters about issues in a safe setting with trained teachers and student peers about the facts of life as an adolescent.

ADOLESCENT SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROJECT

We paused all school activities over April and May as there was a directive from the Ministry of Health for all projects carried out in schools by third parties to submit applications to continue to engage with schools if approved. However no answer has been forthcoming so with the permission of the county level MoE we, like many NGOs, resumed our programmes in June.

MOUNT KENYA ELEPHANT CORRIDOR AND FENCING

Elephant Corridor

We have been replacing old batteries for the corridor fence and making sure that the existing short fence power supplies are independent of the main fence. The constructed short fences are in separate sections and therefore two power stations are needed in the Kamti and middle section fencers camps. All the work was completed in June.

Imenti Fencing

With funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service we have started a 15km section of inner ‘short fence’ within the boundary of the main Rhino Ark fence to help continue the double fencing. This is especially important near the tree planting areas as the short fences are are more effective in this area where the main fences are constantly broken out of by elephants to move to other areas.

Top: Visitors using the elephant corridor; a lion using the underpass and an elephant on the way into the corridor from the Mountain. Above: Constructing a section of ‘short’ fence in the Imenti Forest Reserve

Mountain Bongo Reintroduction and Recovery Programme for the Ragati and Chehe Forests, Mt. Kenya

Along with several other partners including Calgary Zoo/Wilder Institute, RA, KWS, KFS, Ragati and Chehe CFA’s, Ragati River Conservancy and BSP, the group have now successfully completed a security site and viewing platform within the Ragati Conservancy.

The team have been very busy, holding stakeholder meetings, finalising a management plan for mountain bongo at the site, giving presentations, supporting the Ragati and Chehe CFA’s, visiting South Africa to view other release sites and much more.

This exciting project would not have been possible without the generous support from AFEW and Calgary Zoo/Wilder Institute.

Clockwise from top: Meetings alongside the Ragati and Chehe CFA communities. The security site at Ragati water ablution block. Staff based at the security site. Students taking part in the Wildlife Club Introductory sessions. The viewing platform. A baby bongo at the Mt Kenya Wildlife Club Sanctuary. Photo credits: Donna Sheppard.