Location
65 kilometers southwest of Nairobi in the southern Great Rift Valley
Goal
Working with Maasai property owners, a community wildlife sanctuary of 12,600 hectares along a 15-kilometer stretch of cliff habitat favored by breeding vultures and falcons has now been established with a plan to increase its size in the future.
Field Partner
Kenya Bird of Prey Trust’s mission is to secure healthy raptor populations in Kenya. To achieve this they need to protect critical raptor habitats, manage and restore raptor populations and educate people on the value and importance of raptors.
Size of Area Involved
12,600 hectares
The Kwenia cliffs are approximately 140 meters high overlooking Kwenia Lake in the Rift Valley and serve as in important nesting site for the Critically Endangered Rüppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppellii). Kwenia is the most important (nesting and roosting) site for this critically endangered species (Gyps rueppellii) in southern Kenya. It serves as the central hub for Rüppell’s Vultures that venture out in search for food across the region. The proposed Kwenia Vulture Sanctuary is favoured by the local Maasai people who recognize that this unique and valuable piece of the Rift Valley is in critical need of protection.
Threats:
- Increased development
- For vultures: poisons found in cattle carcasses and electrocution caused by cement telephone poles
- Resource-based conflicts (overgrazing, commercial agriculture, poison applications, charcoaling, inter-community conflicts)
- Lack of awareness of the value of biodiversity and the need for better policies and planning
- Limited livelihood opportunities and unsustainable livelihoods
The project aims to: establish landowner and community consensus; document land ownership; map the sanctuary; formalize the Kwenia Vulture Sanctuary (KVS); prepare KVS Concept; conduct landowner forum; and register KVS with the Kenya Wildlife Service.
The Kenya Bird of Prey Trust is working with about twenty-five Maasai property owners to establish a wildlife sanctuary of 12,600 hectares along a 15-kilometer stretch of cliff habitat favored by breeding vultures and falcons. The cliffs are approximately 140 meters high overlooking Kwenia Lake in the Rift Valley and serve as in important nesting site for the Critically Endangered Rüppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppellii). In the first year of the project the KBPT assisted the Maasai to establish agreements among the property owners who have volunteered to establish this Conservancy with the Kenya Wildlife Service.
This unique project is establishing new approaches to reducing the current threats to the vultures and other birds of prey associated with poisons found in cattle carcasses and electrocution caused by cement telephone poles, among other problems. Ultimately, a vulture restaraunt may be developed from clean dead cattle to mitigate the exposure of these vultures to the toxic carcasses available within their foraging range.
