• Forum harnesses their potential in economic and leadership roles in the Mara
Image: CHARLENE MALWA.
Due to growing pressure on land and lack of sufficient benefits, significant portions of the greater Mara ecosystem have been sold, fenced or converted to other land uses, rendering them inaccessible to wildlife.
The Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA) envisions a greater Mara ecosystem where various land uses are zoned and planned to serve the growing needs of the community and the conservation of wildlife, thereby minimising conflict while optimising conservation and ecosystem integrity.
The ability of the Greater Mara Ecosystem to provide its vital ecosystem services is currently under threat. The threats are from increased agriculture, fencing and associated impact, exponential human population growth, increasing livestock numbers, declining rainfall and increased infrastructure. Others are unplanned settlements and their impact, tourism and infrastructural developments, and incompatible land uses.
These threats in totality lead to land-use changes, human-wildlife conflict and reduction in wildlife numbers and change in the pastoralist way of life.
For now, the priorities in the Mara Conservancies include working with conservancies and landowners to renew the leases, improving infrastructure (roads and conservancy structures) and securing and protecting more land that is critical for wildlife conservation.
Other priorities include establishing enabling policies through working with the government and other relevant stakeholders, working closely with women and youth in conservation, exploring other revenue sources to the conservancies, for example, carbon credit, and strengthening conservancies through capacity building and governance training.
WHAT A MAN CAN DO...
As one way of ensuring that women are not left behind, the Maasai Mara conservancies’ women forum was established in 2015 and consists of representatives of women leaders from across all 15 member conservancies.
The role of the forum is to harness the potential of women across the Mara to enhance their capacities in economic as well as leadership roles.
A gender analysis was undertaken and a gender strategy was developed. The strategy aims at consolidating the gains made so far on gender mainstreaming in the Mara.
Some 90 women from across the conservancies have been trained on leadership governance and entrepreneurship skills.
They are expected to pass on the knowledge and skills to other women in their respective conservancies, and to utilise the knowledge to influence decision-making in conservancy boards.
To further entrench aspects of gender mainstreaming in the Mara, MMWCA organised gender awareness training sessions for conservancy landowners’ committee members and the provincial administration.
This was in order for male counterparts to discuss the important role played by women in society, and why they need to be given more prominent roles.
As a result of the efforts, women are represented in nine out of the 15 conservancies. They now constitute 17 per cent of all landowners’ committee membership in the Mara.
With the ongoing reforms in conservancy boards, this percentage is expected to increase in the coming years.