(Posted 02nd January 2025)
Courtesy of African Elephant News and Evans Jaola & Barnabas Bii, The Nation
The Mt Elgon National Park is a unique tourism destination in the Western region [of Kenya and Eastern region of Uganda] owing to its unique attraction sites with forest elephants being a major attraction component.
“Holidaymakers visit the park to see which animals are roaming within the caves. Jumbos (the elephants) go into the caves to drink water and you can spot them licking some minerals. These are specific caves and are key points for tourism within the Mt Elgon National Park,” noted Mr Collins Omondi, the Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director in charge of the park.
He disclosed that December is the best season to visit the park for the experience. Something else also happens here—the elephant maternity. It is a section in the forest where elephants give birth.
“The elephant maternity is something we have not marketed a lot as well as the Caves scenarios but we are gearing towards positioning these two unique features at the park as attractions that can help us maximize returns through visitation,” said Mr Chongwa.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and security personnel in the Mt Elgon region have launched initiatives to restore elephant maternity caves where the world’s largest terrestrial mammal bring forth their calves.
The environmentalists say that the sites where the jumbos consider the safest place to breed in face serious threat due to encroachment by illegal settlers who now use the section for agricultural purposes and grazing of livestock, wanton harvesting of logs and poaching activities.
“What we are witnessing is massive environmental destruction, especially at the riparian lands inside the forest where there is availability of salt licks and soft food for the young elephants. The destruction of the ecosystem fuels the impact of climate change, threatening both the survival of the forest and the maternity homes for the jumbos,” said Moses |Ndiwa, a local environmentalist.
Mt Elgon, one of the country’s five water towers is shared by Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties and extends to the neighbouring Uganda.
“The five water towers of Cherangani, Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Mau Complex and the Aberdares that are a lifeline for Kenyans are experiencing declining water volumes because of the prolonged drought and destruction of water catchments by human activities,” explained Richard Yabei, Mt Elgon based environmental expert.
Trans Nzoia has much bigger caves where elephants go to lick the minerals but wildlife freely crosses to the three regions in search of food and water.
“The riparian areas have plenty of sticky-clay-swamp mud, which is essential for smearing over the bodies of the young ones to protect them from insect bites—from tsetse flies, bees, safari ants and others. It is now facing destruction by illegal settlers who have encroached to cultivate food and graze livestock,” added Mr Chebonyo.
Among degraded areas include Kaberwa, Labot, Kapkatany, Kaboiwao and parts of Chepkitale.
Apart from the Sabaot who form the majority of people occupying Mt Elgon, other inhabitants of the mountainous area include the Ndorobo-Mosopisyeek, the Bok, Someek, Ogiek and Koony communities.
The environmentalists have petitioned the government to enforce measures to save the forest from further destruction by illegal settlers, saw millers and poachers.
“We are alarmed with high levels of degradation, especially on the Mt. Elgon and Cherang’any water towers which are facing massive encroachment,” said Joshua Kipyego from Kaptama area.
The European Union (EU) and the national government have however launched a Sh42 million project to rehabilitate Mt Elgon and Cherangany water towers to mitigate against climate change and enhance productivity of ecosystem services.
The programme, to be coordinated by the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEMFRI) will cover include Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Trans-Nzoia counties.
The project will run for five years and will involve four key components activities— diversifying trees and farming methods, helping farmers to plant trees, assisting farmers in conservation efforts and educating communities involved in environment protection.
Further, environmental experts argue that the country’s forest cover which was estimated to be about 15 per cent decades ago, is now approximated to be less than 10 per cent due to indiscriminate destruction.
