Category Archives: Conservation

“Clothes swap evening” raising funds for Mbogo Primary School

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Wednesday November the 11th, London – I hosted a “clothes swap evening” here at home to raise funds for the kids I taught at Mbogo Primary back in May. By the time I reached Soysambu I had already given away the pens, pencils, paper etc that I had brought out from England and therefore had nothing to donate to the children of Mbogo Primary School. I left them with a heavy heart but a determination to try and raise some money for them to buy the basics to keep on learning. I came up with the idea of a clothes swap evening in the summer for my girlfriends, something that was fun, a little bit different and would hopefully generate some money!

Everyone had to bring 3 pieces of clothing and hang them up on arrival. It was £15 a head and the idea was to have a fun girlie evening with wine and canapes, followed by a trying on session! The evening was great fun and a huge success, with everyone going home with at least one “new” item of clothing. I’m now well on track to raising £300 to wire over to Kat and the team at Soysambu by the end of November!

The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project

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Here on Soysambu Conservancy we are not only working to protect and preserve the wildlife and habitat in our immediate vicinity, but the Conservancy land is a crucial part of a bigger wildlife and habitat protection project- The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project.

The aim of the project is to secure critical habitat for the free movement of wildlife between Nakuru Park and Lake Naivasha by connecting key community, private and public lands. Moving north to south, the long-term vision seeks to connect three nationally and internationally important water sources in the Rift Valley – Lake Nakuru, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Naivasha as part of a greater conservation area. The Project is involving land holders of small and large scale farms, businesses, properties already designated as wildlife sanctuaries, Kenya Land Conservation Trust; Kenya Wildlife Service; The Lakes Nakuru, Naivasha and Elmenteita Conservation Area (LaNNECA); and other conservation bodies.

As we look around us it can be disheartening to see forests and natural habitat being cleared to make way for more farms. However, a lion that recently roamed from Nakuru Park, through Soysambu all the way down to Lake Naivasha area was a symbol of hope that there still is hope in protecting this corridor. There is no doubt though, the window of opportunity is closing, which is why we are working right now to conserve this strip of precious habitat. So far the response and enthusiasm to the project has been very encouraging.

By supporting The Conservancy, you are not only helping to protect the wildlife, habitat and communities within and around Soysambu, but you are helping to preserve one of the last remaining wildlife corridors through the Kenyan Rift Valley. Please consider making a donation to Soysambu Conservancy, no matter how big or small, your money will go directly to protecting and conserving this land.

The daily battle against the bush meat trade (follow up)

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The day after I wrote the below article on the , our security team came across 30+ snares in one small area of Soysambu, proving that this really is a daily battle and something needs to happen now to stop it.

Pictured below is Soysambu Conservancy Community and Wildlife manager Charles Muthui with Mohammed, one of the security rangers unloading the snares yesterday (Saturday 7th Nov).  

30+ snares found in the northern end of the Conservancy 

The battle against the bush meat trade

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Warning: The blog below contains links to some graphic images…

Poaching for the bush meat trade has long been a problem on Soysambu.

Trespassers break onto The Conservancy and set snares – nooses made from lengths of wire, attached to a tree, bush or fence and hung over animal trails (see image below).

A snare hung in a shrub waiting for an unsuspecting animal to walk through 

The unwitting animal, be it an Impala, Gazelle, Zebra, Buffalo, Eland etc, walks into the snare and becomes trapped. The more it pulls or struggles the tighter the snare becomes, eventually leading to a cruel death by suffocation. The animal is then collected and either eaten, or the meat sold.

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Saving a beautiful flamingo sanctuary from extinction

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This article written by Beatrice Obwocha appeared in the Kenyan national newspaper The Standard today (5//11/09)

From the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, the shoreline of Lake Elementaita looks like a desert surrounding a small patch of water.

The western and eastern shores of the lake hold little patches of water from hot springs while the main basin of one of Rift Valley’s smallest lakes is turning into a dust bowl.

One gets the impression that they can walk right across the remaining muddy patch that stretches several kilometres.

When strong winds blow, a whirlwind of grey dust sweeps right across the lake whose water levels have declined to less than half a metre deep.

Not even water from the recent rains pounding Nakuru and its environs seem to have made a difference on the lake.

Thousand of flamingos that used to line its shores, giving them a pink hue, have migrated elsewhere as the lake’s water level has declined to its lowest in 20 years.
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