MAASAI MARA CONSERVANCIES CULTURAL & NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN Photo: Daniel Hernández-Salazar © 2015 Oscar Iván Maldonado (Process Facilitator and Editor), Irene Amoke, Sean Anderson, Chania Frost, Helen Gibbons, Dickson Kaelo, Daniel Sopia, Stewart Thompson (Contributors) November 2015 Maasai Mara Conservancies Cultural and Natural Resource Conservation Action Plan Editor: Oscar Iván Maldonado, Consultant ([email protected]) With contributions from: Irene Amoke, Sean Anderson, Chania Frost, Helen Gibbons, Dickson Kaelo, Daniel Sopia and Stewart Thompson Cartography: Irene Amoke (CNR-CAP Scope Area) Other maps: ElephantVoices & Save The Elephants, and MMWCA Planning Core Team: Helen Gibbons, MMWCA Munira Anyonge, TNC Allan Earnshaw, MMWCA Daniel Sopia MMWCA Evans Mwangi PREPARED Edwin Tambara AWF Robert Ndetei WWF Apollo Kariuki KWS Dickson Kaelo KWCA Oscar Maldonado Independent Consultant Cover photo: Wildebeest in the Greater Mara. Daniel Hernández-Salazar © 2015 /MMWCA This Conservation Action Plan was made possible with the support of: The Nature Conservancy 2 a. Table of contents a. Table of contents ................................................................................................................... 3 b. List of Diagrams, Graphs, Maps and Tables ............................................................................ 5 c. List of Appendixes .................................................................................................................. 5 d. Acronyms and abbreviations used in this plan ....................................................................... 6 e. Foreword ............................................................................................................................... 7 f. Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 9 g. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 10 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 12 1.1. Rationale ..................................................................................................................................... 12 1.2. Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 13 1.3. The planning process .................................................................................................................. 14 1.4. The Scope of the Plan ................................................................................................................. 15 1.5. Vision for the Plan’s Scope ......................................................................................................... 16 2. Conservation Targets ........................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Conservation Target Description ................................................................................................ 17 2.1.1. Elephant (Loxodonta africana) ................................................................................................... 17 2.1.2. African lion (Panthera leo) .......................................................................................................... 19 2.1.3. Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) ......................................................................................... 21 2.1.4. Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands ........................................................................................... 23 2.1.5. Water… ....................................................................................................................................... 24 2.1.6. Maasai Culture ........................................................................................................................... 24 2.1.7. World Class Tourism Destination ............................................................................................... 25 2.2. Conservation Target Viability Analysis ....................................................................................... 26 2.3. Research Needs .......................................................................................................................... 29 3. Direct threats to Conservation Targets ................................................................................. 29 3.1. Threat description ...................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.1. Fencing ....................................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.2. Agriculture .................................................................................................................................. 30 3.1.3. Poaching ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3.1.4. Human Wildlife Conflict .............................................................................................................. 30 3.1.5. Unplanned Settlements and Urbanisation ................................................................................. 31 3.1.6. Uncontrolled/Unsustainable Grazing ......................................................................................... 31 3.1.7. Charcoal (Logging/burning) ........................................................................................................ 31 3.1.8. Loss of Maasai Culture ................................................................................................................ 32 3.1.9. Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................. 32 3.1.10. Sand extraction and pollution .................................................................................................... 33 3 3.1.11. Climate Change effects as new threat ........................................................................................ 33 3.2. Threat analysis and rating .......................................................................................................... 34 3.3. The Context: Causes and effects of Threats to Conservation Targets ........................................ 38 4. Stakeholder analysis ............................................................................................................ 40 5. The conservation strategies ................................................................................................. 43 5.1. Strategy 1: Land Use Planning for a Long-Term Functional Ecosystem ..................................... 43 5.1.1. Theory of change ........................................................................................................................ 43 5.1.2. Objectives, general activities and action to implement in the first year .................................... 43 5.2. Sustainable Grazing and Beef Production .................................................................................. 47 5.2.1. Theory f Change ......................................................................................................................... 47 5.2.2. Objectives, general activities and action to implement in the first year .................................... 47 5.3. Preserving the Maasai Culture ................................................................................................... 50 5.3.1. Theory of Change ....................................................................................................................... 50 5.3.2. Objectives, general activities and action to implement in the first year .................................... 50 5.4. Harmonious Coexistence of People and Nature ......................................................................... 53 5.4.1. Theory of Change ....................................................................................................................... 53 5.4.2. Objectives, general activities and action to implement in the first year .................................... 53 5.5. Financial Sustainability ............................................................................................................... 57 5.5.1. Theory of change ........................................................................................................................ 57 5.5.2. Objectives, general activities and action to implement in the first year .................................... 57 5.6. Risks and potential negative impacts assessment ...................................................................... 60 6. Monitoring Plan ................................................................................................................... 61 7. Zoning proposal ................................................................................................................... 73 8. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 74 4 b. List of diagrams, graphs, maps and tables Diagram 1: Scope Area Conceptual Model ....................................................................................................... 39 Graph 1: