Wildlife conservation & community projects, East Africa

This Kenya Expedition is making a difference by supporting our partners, including Kenyan Wildlife Services, in three focus areas; cetacean research, community development and Terrestrial ecology studies. Through education, environmental awareness and current wildlife monitoring studies, our collaborative work has been building capacity within the communities, assisting them in developing sustainable tourism practises and protecting cetacean and primate species within the area. Volunteers choosing to join this project will focus on the community development side of the program but will ultimately aid all aspects of this long term multi focused program.

The Government of Kenya has expressed a strong interest in developing a marine conservation area along the southern coastline, but lacks the finance and scientific expertise to do so. We support Kenyan organisations by examining how the local communities affect and utilizes the region’s natural resources. The expedition also assists communities in development initiatives, such as on how to use resources in a sustainable manner. We assist partners in promoting this local framework as the basis for a larger conservation-research initiative in tropical coastal waters and terrestrial areas around Shimoni. Volunteers live and work alongside local researchers, students and staff from the Kenyan Wildlife Service.

This new expedition combines a variety of both marine and terrestrial research together with community development projects within the tropical environment of East Africa. The expedition looks at the biodiversity of the immediate region around the Wasini island, utilizing bases on Wasini off the coast of Kenya and in Shimoni on the Kenyan border with mainland Tanzania.

The expedition examines how the local communities affect and utilise the region’s natural resources, and aims to assist these communities to profit from their resources in a sustainable manner. As such this expedition will focus on three main elements, wildlife research and the impact of development upon it, marine mammal research (specifically dolphins) to determine trends related to tourism and populations and community development projects which together with many other activities will include teaching English, working in the local orphanage, adult computer classes.

Through collaboration with local conservation groups, tourist operators, and local villagers, the expedition combines ecological research with grass-roots conservation efforts. The ultimate aim is the self-financing of conservation through regulated eco-tourism and resource use. Community interaction via English language and environmental education is central to the success of the expedition, alongside the scientific research itself.

Expedition Members will get the opportunity to be involved in some or all of the following projects: population and distribution data on marine mammals, determine residence rates and habitat relationships, assess current anthropogenic impact on cetaceans, assist partners in developing a ‘code of conduct,’ population and behaviour studies of Angolan Black & White Colobus, wildlife conservation and community development projects around the National Parks, community conflict with wildlife, community environmental education programmes, low-literacy TEFL teaching through games, activities, art etc.

Volunteers are helping to expand the marine mammal research projects. This includes the observation of Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins, Indo-Pacific humpback whales, spinner dolphins, and other seasonal mega-fauna such as whale sharks and manta rays. Due to extremely limited knowledge of East African delphinids, local and international researchers have initiated the project, and we are focusing on examining population ecology of the dolphin species inhabiting the Shimoni area and the Kisite-Mpunguti marine protected area. Once the basic data on population ecology is gathered, levels of anthropogenic impact will be assessed to identify potential problem issues, problem areas and (if required) propose appropriate mitigation measures. Subsequently, we will: a) identify species-specific critical habitats, b) identify sites that should be considered priority conservation areas (refuges with limited human impact), and c) map future dolphin-watch ‘hot spots’.

At present the marine research programme’s objective is to gain community management status, thereby limiting timber extraction and preventing clearing of forests – often by ‘slash and burn’ techniques – for agricultural land and property development. The terrestrial programme will also investigate the potential to support a CBO near Taveta in finding alternatives to illegal poaching and charcoal burning – the primary livelihood in an area that does not support agriculture well. Charcoal burning is probably the single greatest threat to forests and woodlands across East Africa, especially in rural communities where it exacerbates the problem of poorly irrigated land. The process of charcoal burning is inefficient in respect of the energy lost in conversion to charcoal, and contributes to greenhouse gases. Finally, the community development program undertakes environmental education with both primary and adult education classes which will incorporate issues of climate change on both global and local levels. The objectives of some of the CBOs the community programme works with, is to improve water catchments and storage facilities, as water availability is often highlighted as a priority area for concern.

We are dedicated to responsible tourism, and all of the projects that we support directly benefit the environment, the local community, or both. All projects are carefully chosen to offer our volunteers sustainable and responsible travel, with specific attention being paid to their involvement in the sustainability of all their practices / project goals.

All of our projects and expeditions issue the participants with clear guidelines on responsible tourism and ecotourism, all specific to the particular environment / region. These cover a number of issues, ranging from waste disposal in remote areas, recycling materials and buying from local businesses to not exploiting the area’s wildlife or harming the environment.