Productive Protection of Riparian Zones - Good Individual and Community Practices around Mt. Kenya Masterarbeit der Philosophisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Bern vorgelegt von Manuel Fischer 2014 Leiter der Arbeit: Prof. Dr. Hans Hurni Dr. Hanspeter Liniger Abteilung Integrative Geographie (AIG) Geographisches Institut Productive protection of riparian zones - Good individual and community practices around Mt. Kenya Masterarbeit der Philosophisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Bern vorgelegt von Manuel Fischer 2014 Leiter der Arbeit: Prof. Dr. Hans Hurni Dr. Hanspeter Liniger Abteilung Integrative Geographie (AIG) Geographisches Institut Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Hans Hurni, Dr. Hanspeter Liniger Institute of Geography Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) University of Bern Contact: Manuel Fischer Platanen 5 CH-4600 Olten, Switzerland
[email protected] Cover photo: View of Mt.Kenya from Naro Moru Town (M. Fischer 2012) Acknowledgement I would like to extend my thanks to all the people and institutions who enabled the conduct of this master thesis. I direct my special thanks to: - Prof. Dr. Hans Hurni and Dr. Hanspeter Liniger for the supervision and inspiring ideas, - Dr. Boniface Kiteme and Dr. Jeniffer Kinoti for supervision in the field, - WOCAT, AIG and CETRAD for supporting this master thesis, - Alvin Njuguna Githaiga for translations and guiding in the field as well as the excellent company beside work, - Mercy Mathai for her driving skills, - The Kenyan people for welcoming me warmheartedly, - Mats Gurtner and family for the pleasant and warm company in Nanyuki, - The IGFB for the allround support, discussion forum and the apéro after the presentation, - Gavin Roberts, Tobias Erhardt, Matthias Jochner and Rona Meins for the corrections, - My parents and family for supporting me in all kind of situations, - Last but not least my girlfriend Angela Falk who kept me motivated and helped me to overcome many obstacles.