Maasai mara

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The Maasai Mara is one of the pride and joy of not only East Africa but the entire Africa. This picturistic place is the home of the wild and where the magic happens. It is also home of the Maasai community and in the past it has caused feuds between the conservancy and those staying near it. Recently, the Maasai community joined together to donate their extra land to the conservancy. The community joined an initiative which was brought to life by the World Wide Fund for Nature as a bid to save the ecosystem and to offer members of the community a means of livelihood. By subdividing land into grazing blocks, livestock are placed together grazing a block at a time. Since the land is not being used at the same time, there now exists cultivated fields that have seeds and manure and are ready for a rapid growth with onset of rains. With this sytem, livestock farmers have adequate pasture during the dry and wet seasons without having to erect fences to exclude wildlife. The model was implemented in the Mara Serengeti Sustainable Water initiative by the Mara Siana and Enonkishu community. The suitable grazing model helps maintain the Mara ecosystem and enhances the local’s livelihood. The Maa community who are pastoralists used to graze livestock anywhere without anticipating the effect of their activities which included loss of lives, livestock and wildlife. By embracing the modernized pastoralist model the community co-exists peacefully with the wild life. The initiative started off with 29 families each donating lands towards the formation of the conservancy. As of today the number of families that have donated land is 31 and the acres set aside are 6000.


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