In November we were informed that the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund had kindly given WildLandscapes a grant of $7,000 towards a project being run by our partners, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in Laikipia County, Kenya. 

An Acacia Woodland in Need of Restoration

While still wild and connected to the greater landscape through wildlife corridors, the sheer number of herbivores that this landscape supports can take its toll – particularly during periods of drought as has been seen recently in northern Kenya. These dry times concentrate wildlife (and community livestock) into much smaller areas, the vegetation of which consequently need longer periods of recovery time when wildlife disperses again. A changing climate is reducing these periods of recovery which in turn affects the vegetation makeup.

The acacia woodlands in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, covering approximately 20% of the land, have experienced a steady decline due to high browsing pressure from growing populations of megaherbivores. Giraffes spend about 90% of their time browsing in the acacia habitat (Edwards 1998) and Birkett and Stevens-Wood (2005) attributed 40% of damage on Ol Pejeta’s Whistling thorns to elephants. Overutilization of acacia degrades the trees and can increase tree mortality, which in turn reduces the natural seedbank, leading to low recruitment rates - exacerbating the loss of acacia habitat. 

The site where restoration of the acacia woodland will take place - Photos by Ol Pejeta

Rewilding With Acacia Trees

We are working towards connecting the conservancies and community lands of Laikipia to create an uninterrupted landscape for wildlife migration, allowing greater adaptability and opportunity that comes with a larger protected area. But, in the meantime it is necessary to maintain ecosystem health in individual conservancies. Ol Pejeta is working on a pilot project to restore acacia woodlands by planting acacia trees in an herbivore exclusion zone (81 hectares or 200 acres) along the Ewaso Ng’iro river. 

Savannah management is a delicate balance between grassland, tree and fire management, but in areas where woodland has been degraded, its restoration helps to ensure good food sources for browsers, stores carbon in their structures and soil, binds soil together with their extensive root networks preventing erosion, undue water loss and water runoff and provides essential shade to countless species. In a nutshell – trees are really missed when they disappear!

The gifted funds will build on the pilot project, with the goal to further increase the impacted area over time. This will address the seedling recruitment and maintain a healthy food base for herbivores in the long-term, which will increase food resources for critically endangered browsers such as black rhinos and reticulated giraffes and prevent potential conflict animals such as elephants venturing into community areas in search of food.

As communities are essential in every conservation project, food trees will be grown and planted in communities, adding to food security and livelihood options while also transferring propagation and nursey skills transferred to adults and schoolchildren alike. 

A nursery full of acacia seedlings and the wildlife that can be found in Laikipia

Thank You ACTF and Miir! 

The ATCF developed an online platform to enable additional crowd-sourced donations with the goal of a total $10,000 for this project. We are ecstatic to be able to share that within a week, the $3000 gap was funded in full by one of ATCF’s main members, Miir. A dollar can go a very long way in Africa and with this grant and additional gift, there are many hundreds of trees that will begin their long lives in the open savannahs of this remarkable landscape. 

Support Landscape Conservation Efforts 

If you would like to add any additional donation to this total, no matter how small or large, the platform will be open throughout December. Please follow this link.

Vanessa Stephen is WildLandscapes International Director of International Operations. She is a conservation biologist, educator, and photographer with diverse and extensive experience in a number of ecosystems, predominantly fynbos and African savannah systems. She has a side obsession in seabirds, particularly in the Southern Ocean.