MOUNTAIN DISPATCHES:
FEBRUARY TO MARCH 2019
The past two months have been non-stop. We had our most successful 10to4 yet – raising over 8.3m KSh and the money will be used to support a whole range of projects from community to wildlife.
Fires continued well into April. The local and international support has been immense and we have raised over 15m KSH to put out the fires. With hundreds of hours of helicopter and fixed wing flight time, this money has been spent on the aircraft, fuel for vehicles and support for the firefighters on the ground with food and equipment. Further funds are being spent on new equipment for fire fighting. Rhino Ark have contributed the lions share of the aircraft bills.
Donations from 10KSH to over one million KSH were sent and we have been humbled by the collective support and encouragement from near and far. The generoisty of the commuity enabled us to help with the fires on the Aberdare Range as well as Mount Kenya.
We are immensely grateful to Tropic Air and their skilled pilots for being with us on the front line, every step of the way. They have donated hours of time or been flying at cost for the conservation of Mount Kenya.
As long as there are people in the forests with livestock and the freedom to cut down trees and burn charcoal, there will be forest degradation and fires. As civil society organisations, we cannot expected to continue to bear the burden of all the funds for fire fighting alone, until there is better policing of activity in the forest by the Government custodians of the forest, who in turn are not adequately supported or resourced by central Government. The Rangers from KWS, KFS, MKT and the volunteer communites worked in very dangerous conditions to put out the fires and need to be given all the support and respect they deserve for thier brave efforts to protect our water towers. |
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| "Jimmy is one of the rangers with the @mountkenyatrust. Never have we met a more entertaining ranger in all of our travels. The man is full of laughter and stories from his extensive experiences in the work he does. He can keep you laughing for hours on end as he recreates little memories from adventurous times.
On the other hand, Jimmy is one of the most dedicated rangers we’ve ever worked with and he is in a very committed relationship with the Landrover Defender 90 he drives coordinating ranger teams in the Northern sector which is donated by David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
His love for the mountain was so evident when we saw his rage at witnessing illegal water pipes halfway up the moorlands. His desire to protect this mountain that he calls home is something that we all can take lessons from. It’s individuals like Jimmy who put everything on the line to protect the places we take for granted. Even mountains need heroes."
Routes Adventure team. |
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| MOUNT KENYA COMPREHENSIVE FENCELINE UPDATE
Mt Kenya fence is now 174km long, thanks to the huge efforts of Rhino Ark and thier public and private partners. The team are currently based on the northeastern side of Mt Kenya.
Addressing human-wildlife conflict requires a range of approaches and requires close collaboration between all key stakeholders, in particular the local community.
Just last month, fencing was halted due to stolen fence posts. This undermines the security of the fence and discourages ownership of the project. Until the posts were recovered, the fencing stopped. The success of the fence rests entirely on the local community cooperation and ownership.
The impact of fence lines can be seen by the pionering Aberdares fence which has been powered for over 20 years. Farmers have greater food security and land prices have risen in some areas by 300 per cent. Forest cover has recovered with the knock on effect of protecting threatened species in their habitat. Through a tighter barrier, logging and poaching can be better controlled, along with protection of the water flowing from the rivers.
We work closely with Rhino Ark on the fenceline construction along with a whole manner of other projects such as tree planting, elephant gates, fires and wildlife protection. Information on Rhino Ark can be found here. |
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| New vehicle donated by African Fund for Endangered Wildlife – THANK YOU!
As our work and projects grow, our vehicles are working at maximum capacity. This limits our ability to expand projects further as all projects require reliable and capable off road vehicles – as we do work on a mountain!
We are most grateful to have received the funding for a new Hilux pick up from AFEW, Giraffe Centre Nairobi. The Hilux has already been incredibly valuable to our team for tree planting, fire fighting support and the 10to4 Mountain Bike Challenge. |
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| The vehicle already hard at work. Left: On the mountain delivering food rations during the fire fighting. Right: Loading up seedlings from the nursery ready for planting. |
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| In mid February, fires broke out on the northeastern slopes of Mt Kenya, around the Chogoria area. More and more sprung up all around the mountain side.
Fires on Mt Kenya are a regular occurrence at this time of year, but the size, number, and severity varies depending on weather conditions, along with the number of occurrences (natural or man-made). Some years, very little of the mountain burns, while other years there are large fires. Weather is a huge factor affecting risk. Under dry, windy conditions a small fire can easily spread and become difficult to extinguish. If this fire reaches the forest, irreversible damage can be caused.
Private institutions mobilised resources from the first day to help the KWS, KFS and the local communities in tackling the fire.
Helicopters were deployed the mountain each day of the most serious fires, dropping people and dousing the area with water and planes have been used for surveillance and planning. Spray Croppers were deployed to help with both the Mount Kenya and Abadare fires. Rations, equipment, vehicles and logistical support have been provided by a range of partners. Up to the end of March, over 20,000 hectares of moorland had been burnt. |
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| Over 400 people from East Africa and around the world took part in a ten challenging mountain events. On the Friday, running concurrently, was the Extreme, Altitude Horse ride and Enduro event, while the Classic, Rush and Slide were flagged off on Saturday, followed on Sunday by four Braeburn MINI 10to4 races for children 4 years old and up.
“Tropic Air is very proud to be to have been asked to be the title sponsor of the 10 to 4, and also proud to be in a position to do so, having established a solid business at the foot of Mount Kenya,” says Jamie Roberts, Managing Director of Tropic Air, this year’s headline sponsor. “Our association with the Mount Kenya Trust goes back more than a decade. We have always admired their work and commitment to conservation of the forests and the support they give to community projects.”
Join us next year 14th-16th February 2020! |
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TWO BY TWO – ELEPHANT FAMILIES AT THE ONE WAY GATE
Two families of elephants are now using the first one-way elephant gate!
When the gates were originally installed, there were months of no activity and we feared these unique gates, not used anywhere else in Africa or the world, would not work. However late in 2018 we saw the first bull elephants move through.
This is a win win for people and elephants and a reduction of human-wildlife conflict, and with families now using the gate, this shows that more elephants are finding out and feel safe to use the gate with young.
The new sensor technology has been developed especially for Mount Kenya Trust by Instarect here in Kenya. |
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| Thank you for your support!
Batian Level Donors ($50,000+)
Minara Foundation, CHASE Africa, International Tree Foundation, The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Friends of the Nairobi Sailing and Sub Aqua Club, Friends Of Environment Conservation Trust, African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Eden Wildlife Trust.
Nelion Level Donors ($25,000+)
Timaflor, Tropic Air, Tusk Trust via the Safaricom Marathon, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Hugh Sloane, Zurich Zoo, Disney: Reverse the Decline, World Conservation Society.
Lenana Level ($10,000+)
European Outdoor Conservation Association, Thin Green Line Foundation, Elephant Cooperation, BATUK, International Elephant Foundation, The Featherbys, Anonymous, Safarilink, Dormans.
Coryndon Level (<$10,000 & in kind)
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, The Rufford Foundation, Bunson Travel, Cookswell Jikos, Mountain Club of Kenya, Kisima Farm,
Marania Farm, Ol Donyo Farm, Steve Strong, Friends of Africa International
Thank you to everyone for visiting our tree nursery at Turaco Farm.
Our partners: We wouldn’t be able to keep up the good work without our most important supporting & operational partners. These include
The Kenya Wildlife Service, The Kenya Forest Service, Rhino Ark, Kisima Farm, Marania Farm, Tropic Air, The Woodcock Family, Greystones Development Company, Borana Conservancy, African Ascents and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
Special thanks to Anne Tissier for her time and support. |
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