Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes Kenya’S Ewaso Ecosystem

Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press smithsonian contributions to zoology • number 632 Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press AConserving Chronology Wildlife of Middlein African Missouri Landscapes Plains Kenya’sVillage Ewaso SitesEcosystem Edited by NicholasBy Craig J. M. Georgiadis Johnson with contributions by Stanley A. Ahler, Herbert Haas, and Georges Bonani SERIES PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Emphasis upon publication as a means of “diffusing knowledge” was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry outlined a program that included the following statement: “It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge.” This theme of basic research has been adhered to through the years by thousands of titles issued in series publications under the Smithsonian imprint, com- mencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series: Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Smithsonian Contributions to Botany Smithsonian Contributions to History and Technology Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences Smithsonian Contributions to Museum Conservation Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology In these series, the Institution publishes small papers and full-scale monographs that report on the research and collections of its various museums and bureaus. The Smithsonian Contributions Series are distributed via mailing lists to libraries, universities, and similar institu- tions throughout the world. Manuscripts submitted for series publication are received by the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press from authors with direct affilia- tion with the various Smithsonian museums or bureaus and are subject to peer review and review for compliance with manuscript preparation guidelines. General requirements for manuscript preparation are on the inside back cover of printed volumes. For detailed submissions requirements and to review the “Manuscript Preparation and Style Guide for Authors,” visit the Submissions page at www.scholarlypress.si.edu. smithsonian contributions to zoology • number 632 Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes Kenya’s Ewaso Ecosystem Edited by Nicholas J. Georgiadis WASHINGTON D.C. 2011 ABSTRACT Georgiadis, Nicholas J., editor. Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes: Kenya’s Ewaso Ecosystem. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 632, vi + 123 pages, 37 figures, 10 tables, 2011.—During the last two decades, conservation strategies in Africa have changed from an almost exclusive focus on large mammals in protected areas to an emphasis on conserving ecological processes at the level of entire landscapes and on the role of human communities. The papers assembled in this volume address diverse aspects of conserving the Ewaso landscape in northern Kenya, where concerted and prodigious efforts to conserve wildlife and natural resources have achieved substantial progress. Topics range from interpreting evidence for continuity and change in patterns of human settlement in the region to describing ecological interactions between wildlife, people, and livestock that are harmful or helpful; from the challenges of adapting livestock management in the presence of predators to legal mechanisms for conserving wildlife habitat on private land. In the final chapter, results of a strategic planning exercise are described for conserving essential elements in the entire landscape—the first of its kind in Kenya. Today, national policy and political will are still insufficiently aligned with this landscape conservation imperative to effect the changes that are necessary to conserve Kenya’s biodiversity. We hope this volume will help propagate awareness about the importance and threatened status of Kenya’s ecosystems and promote confidence that a policy can be crafted that will reverse their decline. Cover image: Giraffes in the Ewaso landscape of Kenya. Photo by Nicholas J. Georgiadis. Published by SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SCHOLARLY PRESS P.O. Box 37012, MRC 957 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 www.scholarlypress.si.edu Text and images in this publication may be protected by copyright and other restrictions or owned by indi- viduals and entities other than, and in addition to, the Smithsonian Institution. Fair use of copyrighted mate- rial includes the use of protected materials for personal, educational, or noncommercial purposes. Users must cite author and source of content, must not alter or modify content, and must comply with all other terms or restrictions that may be applicable. Users are responsible for securing permission from a rights holder for any other use. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Conserving wildlife in African landscapes : Kenya’s Ewaso ecosystem / edited by Nicholas Georgiadis. p. cm. — (Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; no. 632) Includes index. 1. Wildlife conservation—Kenya—Ngiro River Watershed. I. Georgiadis, Nicholas. QL84.6.K4C664 2011 333.95’416096762—dc22 2010042306 ISSN: 0081-0282 (print) / 1943-6696 (online) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48–1992. Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v Introduction: Conserving Wildlife in Kenya’s Ewaso Landscape 1 Nicholas J. Georgiadis An Outline of the Later Holocene Archaeology and Precolonial History of the Ewaso Basin, Kenya 11 Paul Lane Reassessing Aerial Sample Surveys for Wildlife Monitoring, Conservation, and Management 31 Nicholas J. Georgiadis, Nasser Olwero, Gordon Ojwang’, and George Aike Ecological Importance of Large Herbivores in the Ewaso Ecosystem 43 Robert M. Pringle, Todd M. Palmer, Jacob R. Goheen, Douglas J. McCauley, and Felicia Keesing Pathways for Positive Cattle–Wildlife Interactions in Semiarid Rangelands 55 David J. Augustine, Kari E. Veblen, Jacob R. Goheen, Corinna Riginos, and Truman P. Young Living with Lions: Lessons from Laikipia 73 Laurence Frank Attitudes Toward Predators and Options for Their Conservation in the Ewaso Ecosystem 85 Stephanie S. Romañach, Peter A. Lindsey, and Rosie Woodroffe Conserving Wildlife on Private Land: The Legal Framework for Landownership and New Tools for Land Conservation in Kenya 95 Nyokabi Gitahi and Kathleen H. Fitzgerald iv • SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY Landscape-Scale Conservation Planning of the Ewaso Nyiro: A Model for Land Use Planning in Kenya? 105 Karl A. Didier, Alayne Cotterill, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Laurence Frank, Nicholas J. Georgiadis, Max Graham, Festus Ihwagi, Juliet King, Delphine Malleret-King, Dan Rubenstein, David Wilkie, and Rosie Woodroffe Acknowledgments his book was made possible by a Lone Mountain Fellowship to me at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana, where I was a resident fellow during its development. I Twas also supported by a Senior Fellowship from the Mpala Wildlife Foundation. Nicholas J. Georgiadis FRONTISPIECE. Typical assemblage of herbivores (giraffes and zebras) in the Ewaso landscape of Kenya. Mount Kenya is in the background. Photo by Nicholas J. Georgiadis. Introduction: Conserving Wildlife in Kenya’s Ewaso Landscape Nicholas J. Georgiadis he papers assembled in this volume are disparate in subject, discipline, treatment, and outlook, but they have two unifying threads. The first is that directly or indirectly, they all address aspects of what in recent Tdecades has become a global environmental imperative, generally re- ferred to as “landscape conservation.” The second is that all chapters focus geographically on the Ewaso landscape in northern Kenya (defined in Box 1; outlined by a rectangle in the inset of Figure 1), where concerted and prodigious efforts to conserve wildlife and natural resources over the last 20 years have achieved substantial progress. This work is not a “how- to” handbook, nor does it aim to cover all aspects of this increasingly complex and multifaceted endeavor. Rather, it provides an opportunity to document progress in ways in- tended to facilitate further advancement toward landscape conservation in this and other regions like it. In this introduction, a brief history recounts how conservation strategies at global, national, and local levels have changed from an almost exclusive focus on charismatic species and protected areas to emphasizing landscape- level processes, human communities, and economic incentives. The structure of the book is described, with sketches of the rationale and content of each paper. The final section sketches the outlook for wildlife in Kenya’s landscapes. CHANGING PARADIGMS IN CONSERVATION Nicholas J. Georgiadis, Property and Environ- ment Research Center, 2048 Analysis Drive, Suite The late 1980s marked a turning point for conservation in a district of A, Bozeman, Montana 59718, USA. Correspon- northern Kenya, across much of Africa, and throughout the world in distinct dence: [email protected]. but related ways. In the Laikipia rangelands of northern Kenya, ranchers who Manuscript received 7 January 2009; accepted 18 had once regarded wildlife as a liability began to collaborate with each other May 2010. in the conservation and management of wildlife on their land. At the time, the 2 • SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY BOX 1. Defining the Ewaso ecosystem. For the purposes of this book, the Ewaso ecosystem is arbitrarily

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