Camp Tsavo Project: Introduction

Rukinga Sanctuary is a superb, privately run conservancy offering national and International visitors extraordinary experiences and activities. But more importantly, it has turned thousands of acres back to wildlife conservation from previously degraded and overgrazed landscapes, devoid of wildlife, and offered significant, tangible benefits to the local communities that live along its boundaries. Rukinga Sanctuary, and the projects run by Camp Tsavo and Wildlife Works have improved the productivity of the landscape and provided employment and financial support to thousands of families, as well as contributing to the preservation of Kenya’s natural and cultural heritage.

 

 

Location

 

Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the area adjoining the two southern arms of Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks, along with many other privately owned plots of land that are mainly used for livestock grazing or limited agriculture. Camp Tsavo is located in the centre of Rukinga Sanctuary. This area forms an essential passageway connecting Tsavo East and West to allow wildlife to migrate between the parks in search of food and water. Yet historically, this has brought the wildlife perilously close to humans, where conflicts of interest and competition for space and resources inevitably resulted in the disappearance of wild animals from this area.

 

 

History of Rukinga Sanctuary

 

Not so long ago, this 80,000-acre piece of land was home to a slowly failing cattle ranch. Overgrazing of cattle turned the fields to dust, poachers slipped on and off the ranch with ease, and squatters settled in, farming and building mud and thatch huts along the ranch’s critical rainwater basin.

 

Then in 1998 Wildlife Works took over the management of the ranch. They immediately moved the cattle from the land, began unarmed patrols to remove any snares set for wildlife, and worked with the local community to peacefully move the illegal squatters onto more prosperous farmland located outside of the wildlife corridor.

 

In only a few short seasons, the wildlife began to return; elephants first, then ungulates and then finally the predators, and Rukinga Sanctuary is now a healthy and balanced ecosystem with an abundance of wildlife that can live in relative security.

 

 

Camp Tsavo and Wildlife Works

 

Camp Tsavo (formally Taita Discovery Centre) is situated in the heart of Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary and is one of several wildlife projects run by Camp Kenya. Camp Kenya has committed to a minimum 10-year conservation plan in partnership with Wildlife Works to conserve this important area of wilderness and its wildlife. Camp Tsavo is dedicated to supporting the existing conservation and community work done by Wildlife Works as well as implementing new conservation initiatives developed by Camp Kenya.

 

Our goals can be summarised as follows:

 

 

Our Projects - Protecting Wildlife

 

More than 50 species of large mammals inhabit the sanctuary, including at least four threatened or endangered species; African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Grevvy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). The sanctuary is also home to lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), spotted hyena (Crocutta crocutta), buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). As many as 450 elephants now call Rukinga home, but their numbers can swell to over 1,000 towards the dry seasons in October and March, temporarily giving Rukinga one of the largest populations of elephants on private land in Kenya.

 

In addition to the diverse variety of mammals found here, the sanctuary has more than 300 resident and migrant species of birds, dozens of reptiles and amphibians, and thousands of insect species.

 

However, last year, due to increased cattle grazing in neighbouring ranches, there has been a dramatic increase in poaching incidents. Between June and August 2008, the following animals have been poached from the sanctuary:

• 4 Elephants
  
• 3 Giraffes
  
• 2 Kudus
  
• 1 Zebra
  
• 35 Dik diks

 

The continued dedication of our anti-poaching patrols working together with the KWS has led to the arrest of 20 people, the recovery of tusks of one elephant, prevented the sale of up to 2,000 bags of illegally burned charcoal, and the confiscation of over 2 tonnes of illegally logged sandalwood.

 

The bush meat trade and poverty has caused demand for wildlife meat in the area. Sustainable economic development in the communities living with the wildlife will ensure that they do not entirely depend on the limited natural resources, but find ways to replenish them and find alternatives to poaching and burning of charcoal.

 

Project	Situation	Activities
Wildlife Monitoring	The sanctuary acts as a safe haven for many endangered animals. Therefore, it is essential for us to know the number and distribution of the animals within the sanctuary before any other conservation work can commence so that we know what we are working with. We can then use this information to improve wildlife habitat management, observe population trends over time, set conservation priorities, increase productivity of wildlife-based enterprises like Elephant Dung Paper production, and improve problem animal management.	• Regular wildlife counts • Species identification
Water Projects	Rukinga receives sunshine almost 365 days a year, so when the natural waterholes dry up we provide water in the old cattle tanks. This water is essential to the survival of the animals here, especially if you consider that a single elephant can drink 50 gallons a day and will continue to search for water until it finds some - even if this means tearing up water pipes or raiding surrounding communities where elephants come into conflict with people.	• Maintaining and repairing existing water tanks • Digging out dams or natural waterholes & improving water catchment
Habitat Protection	A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that the delicate ecological balance of the sanctuary is maintained for the benefit of the wildlife that relies on it, and we are constantly striving to improve and protect this land so that it can be a safe haven for our wildlife for many years to come. This enables more effective management of the sanctuary, e.g. improved wildlife monitoring, animal welfare, de-snaring and anti-poaching efforts.	• Removing invasive species • Road repairs and clearance • De-snaring and anti-poaching patrols

 

 

Our Projects - Helping Communities

 

Today more than 12,000 people live on the edge of Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, yet there is little paid employment in this area. Typically, in one of the villages consisting of some 2000 inhabitants, there may be seven teaching jobs, five or so kiosk owners, selling general items, and perhaps someone with an old vehicle making a living out of transportation. A few others earn a modest living from casual work as carpenters, builders, or tailors etc. For the vast majority, their time is spent bringing up a family and carrying out subsistence farming. The semi-arid environment often leads to drought and in so doing, leaves families with precious excess produce to sell. Some families may have relations working outside the area who support them, but for the majority there is little or no regular income.

 

 

Project	Situation	Activities
Reforestation	Deforestation is a major problem in Kenya. In this area, poor households use forest resources to provide themselves with short-term survival through charcoal production and selling of firewood and woodcarvings. Kenya loses up to 12 million trees annually to charcoal burning alone. Not only does this level of deforestation destroy important wildlife habitats, pushing animals and plants to the brink of extinction, but it also triggers environmental degradation, reduced agricultural productivity leading to long term food insecurity, lowers water tables and changes microclimates leading to worsening effects of floods and landslides. Therefore, household food security is very much dependent on environmentally responsible and sustainable use of the forests.	• Developing community tree nurseries • Promoting the ‘Good Woods’ scheme to ensure long-term job security for woodcarvers
Alleviating Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC)	As human populations increase throughout Africa, wildlife is being forced into smaller areas, which inevitably creates conflict over living space and food. The impacts are often huge. People lose their crops, livestock, property, and sometimes even their lives. The animals, many of which are already endangered, are often killed in retaliation or to ‘prevent’ future conflicts. Human wildlife conflict resulting in snaring, shooting or poisoning is the main threat facing our predators. Working directly with the local communities, especially the children, is essential to try and change attitudes and perceptions of wildlife, as well as offering better income alternatives to the community instead of poaching and other unsustainable and illegal activities.	•Community surveys • Creating alternative income generation schemes like EDP, arts and crafts • Conservation courses for volunteers • Environmental Education for local adults and children
Improving Educational Facilities – Sasenyi Primary School	Education is the key to a better standard of life in Kenya, such as the opportunity to go on to university, securing stimulating and well-paid employment, achieving a better standard of living, being able to support siblings to receive their education and more. It also equips the young to deal with a rapidly changing world and gives them the ability to take up positions of leadership and responsibility within the community. Despite this, many schools in the area surrounding Camp Tsavo and Rukinga Sanctuary are in varying states of disrepair and cannot provide adequately for the number of children that are enrolled due to lack of financial support. A poor education often leads to frustration, boredom, poverty and poor health. All too often this will drive people into involvement in crimes such as poaching, charcoal burning etc. A partnership between our volunteers and the local community has enabled us to work on improving facilities at the local primary school. To give the local economy a boost, we employ tradesmen from the surrounding villages. Here carpenters, builders and masons work on classrooms being constructed with volunteer funding and participation. The local community gives up their time to provide free labour for the project. They help carry sand, rocks and water to the site as well as assisting tradesmen.	• Building and refurbishing classrooms and utility buildings, and building school desks • Provision of school materials and learning aids • Teaching assistance • Sports coaching