My name is Kathleen Morriss and I am a 3rd year university student at Princeton University. I’m spending 3 months studying ecology and evolutionary biology in Kenya.
“My life is not my own, it is my children’s – everything is for them.” This heartfelt statement from Teresia was the pervading theme throughout our conversation in the warm sun outside her boma as we discussed her feelings towards wildlife and Kenya Wildlife Service. Over the past week our class of 13 Princeton University students has been trying to understand how the Maasai people who live along the border of Nairobi National Park view the wildlife that the Park is increasingly struggling to preserve.
One of our teachers, Dino Martins, translating questions and answers during our discussion with Teresia.
On our first day of interviews we met Nixon, a participant in the Land Lease Program – a conservation initiative that pays US$4 per acre per year to land owners who agree not to fence the land they commit to the program. As Nixon described it, wildlife can be problem, but he understands the value of them and greatly appreciated the Land Lease Program because it provides money for education. He strongly believes education is key to future success, an attitude perfectly characterized by his brown t-shirt featuring the slogan “I <3 Wildlife.”
Nixon’s pro-wildlife shirt.
Like Nixon, Teresia is a strong advocate of education, especially for her children. Unlike Nixon, Teresia does not view the wildlife and government programs in a positive light. Teresia is not part of the Land Lease Program and her answers to our queries brought stories of long nights burning cow dung around the boma to discourage lion attacks and long delays associated with government programs. Teresia repeatedly told us how she and the other members of her women’s group struggle to pay school fees and feed their children while lions kill calves and zebras eat the grass she is carefully conserving for the high quality cow she hopes to purchase.
Burned cow dung piles around the calf boma.
Teresia told us that she understands that wildlife is an important part of the landscape and beneficial for Kenya as a whole, but that she only experiences the costs. She does not want anything for herself, she only wants education and a better life for her children. As of now, wildlife only hinders that goal by destroying her attempts at agriculture or killing her calves.
What struck me most about these two people, both of whom were open and welcoming to our group, was the contrast in attitudes that a simple compensation program produced. The wildlife cause similar problems for both Maasai, but for Nixon they also bring regular cash payments that pay his brothers’ school fees or buy food in times of drought. For Teresia the wildlife are a source of grief and expense – an obstacle to her efforts to better her children’s lives. After our discussions with Nixon and Teresia I am thoroughly convinced that successful conservation programs need to focus on bringing benefits to those suffering from the costs of preserving wildlife. The Land Lease Program’s success comes from its ability to provide economic benefit for a commodity (wildlife) that was previously viewed only as a nuisance.
Donations made here are
Feb 28th Liza H USD 11.00
