Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria and Elementaita, and Fort Jesus National Monument, become World Heritage Sites naturekenya.org* August ‘11 Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria and Elementaita , famous for their vast numbers of flamingoes, are now internationally recognized as places of natural beauty and biodiversity after joining the coveted World Natural Heritage List in June at the meeting of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Paris, France. A flock of Pelicans at Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru was the first African Park to be branded as an Important Bird Area - areas of international importance to bird conservation Photo: G. Shorrock Lake Bogoria is known both for its abundant flamingoes and its boiling hot springs. The entry of the three lakes to the list is welcomed by Nature Kenya, as it will strengthen their status as critical sites for bird conservation. The lakes are globally important due to their vital role in providing feeding sites and refuge to most of the world's Lesser Flamingoes. Lake Nakuru, the first National Park in Africa branded as an Important Bird Area, is a major tourist attraction known for the thousands of flamingoes that turn its shores pink. Lake Elementaita, gazetted last year as a Wildlife Sanctuary, is known to be a vital wintering ground for migratory bird species and also a major breeding ground for Great White Pelicans. With an expected boost in tourist visitor numbers, communities * around the lakes will benefit from the opportunities that will come with the new status. Fort Jesus National Monument in Mombasa has also been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. This puts it on s the same level as other famous world heritage sites including Lamu . Island, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Pyramids of Giza. Receive the newsletter by E-mail Please send a request to Please indicate whether you also wish to get the newsletter by post." A Business - Conservation Model for South Nandi Forest, an Important Bird Area Throughout the world, where people are deprived of rights to a good livelihood, it is usually a Herculean task to preach the conservation gospel, and chances of getting any genuine followers are almost zero. It is for this reason that the idea to start conservation work at South Nandi forest through a business and people driven model was conceived. This concept was succesfully marketed to DFID, the British aid agency, by RSPB - the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who are our BirdLife International Partner in the UK. The model has several components, but possibly the most unique is the creation of a business entity by the forest user groups, identified through the establishment of community-government forest management structure. Tree seedlings at a community managed woodlot at the South Nandi Forest. Nature Kenya is involved in training the Chesumei Multipurpose Cooperative Society in business management skills to improve their livelihoods through sale of seedling while still being involved in forest management and conservation. Photo: NK archive Kobujoi Community Forest Association is the structure that engages Kenya Forest Service in the management of Kobujoi block of South Nandi Forest in the Rift Valley. The CFA is, however, not enabled by law to engage in commercial activities. Yet its building blocks, the user groups, require avenues to generate incomes for forest related activities and for their household use. Faced with this challenge, the user groups came together and after deliberations, the idea of forming Chesumei Multipurpose Cooperative Society was born. Today, the society is registered, has 500 members (300 women and 200 men), and has a bank account with the members' start-up capital of KShs. 6,000. It has succeeded in brokering a business partnership between tree growers and George Williamson Tea Estates for supply of wood for fuel. Patrick Meja the Society's secretary, says, "Nature Kenya trained us on governance, benefit sharing mechanisms, organizational development, business and products development & marketing, documentation & record keeping and resource mobilization, among other subjects". He attests that the trainings have improved marketing and leadership skills among the officials, while members are now more aware of their access and user rights to natural resources as communities. The work of the cooperative society, whose creation was inspired by conservation, is enormous and well cut out. There are some 52,700 mature trees in peoples' farm which require to be sold. The communities have, since the project started, established some 138.5 ha of woodlots which when mature will need to be marketed and sold. Currently, this seems to be no big task for the cooperative since George Williamson Tea Estates can consume a total of 15, 000M3 of fuelwood annually. This is a ready market identified. The communities are also engaging in production of high quality honey which needs to be marketed. Ecotourism is another income generating activity that the community is developing. The DFID project is helping to provide start up capital investment, including establishment of basic tourist facilities such as a camp site and traditional bandas. These and other troursit attractions at the forest will require a lot of marketing to start generating the desired income. The cooperative has however approached Rondo Retreat at Kakamega for possible business partnerships and the response has been positive. Clearly the cooperative is making headways. The foundation for sustainable conservation of South Nandi Forest has been laid using a business approach. Enormous local capacity has been achieved with regard to natural resource management and institutional development. Two CFAs have been established and have Started engaging the government in forest conservation. If these developments are anything to go by, then there is no doudt that the DFID investment will leave a permanent positive mark on the South Nandi communities and the forest biodiversity. Editorial team A^atAa At/fenje AleUr -Vg uoeno S&ra/t Mundent / Layout ArrusSt Mtoorx^e./a Front banner VK ArcJvve. ft Natu reKenya The East Africa Natural History Society ConnKE' T0UHKWEF1TS! • A dance to contribute to nature conservation campaigns ■ FREE entry to Nairobi National Museum and some museum sites • Participation in bird walks, nature walks, research opportunities, held trips talks & films ■ Monthly newsletter. 'Nature Net' and other publications For more information contact 020 3746090/9957 or 0750 14920C EmaiI:office« naturekenya.org Website: www.naturekenya.org // Sign up three (3) new members to Nature Kenya and enjoy Your benefits + 50% off on your next renewal. The membership types and annual costs are L {*! i'AiM'Jjt f W’l V7‘lCl a/a nn ^ in s at S a.m. ( c i- sect '°n, /Vat/i Corning We apologise for the mix-up in FONA's activities last month Wednesday Morning Birdwalks meet EVERY WEEK at 8:45 am in the Museum staff car park. The entrance is on Kipande Road. ft* *»£*(*?«* J*«m S Call us: +254 20 3501671/2, +254 733610753, +254733633988, +254722764643 sales®sollatek.co.ke Sunday Birdwateh (also called “Pot-luck Outings") meet the THIRD Sunday of each month at 9:00 am at the same location. Bring lunch. Mombasa Birdwalks Contact Taibali Hamzali through or call 0733980540 for more information. Contact the office for information on other birdwalks in Kakamega, Kisumu, and other sites Ngong Forest walks - 1st and 3rd Saturday at 9.00 a.m. Contact Simon 0729-840715 SUCCULENTA EAST AFRICA FIELD TRIPS Plans are ongoing for trips to Acacia Camp at Athi River with day trips to Lukenia and Maanzoni on the 30th of September/lst and 2nd October. Details to be circulated to members soon - limited numbers only. Please liaise with Sue Allan (0733 891721), Julia Glen (0722756647) or Gail Paul (0733630151) for more information. r — — — — — — — — — ^ L J Spiral-horned antelop K;r;diVjo- R.;ver -. 4