Taz, generally speaking you are right, but here we are talking about the Masai Mara. KWS has nothing to do with it. The Masai Mara is owned and taken care of by the Masai communities themselves.

I don't have precise figures but would expect that half a million tourists visit the Mara for at least 2 nights. That would add up to 60 million US dollars!!

It doesn't sound like the correct approach to say: " oh well, those 60 million have been pocketed by some corrupt Masai leaders so we need to donate even more money to protect the wildlife."

Some investigation into where the money has gone would make more sense to me.

Hello all

I've just started working for the Mara Conservancy to help them with their campaign to raise funds while tourism is low, and have been in communication with Carsten via email about this subject; I think it raises some important questions. With regards to the campaign launched by the Conservancy to raise extra funds for operations, it's probably best to clarify first the background, why the conservancy is different from the rest of the Maasai Mara, and why we find ourselves in this situation now.

The Masai Mara is a National Reserve, not a National Park, which means that it is held in trust for the people and managed by the local county councils, as opposed to the Kenya Wildlife Service.

In the year 2000 some of the local leaders became concerned about levels of mismanagement in the Mara Triangle and as a result the Mara Conservancy, a non-profit management company, was established in January 2001. In May of the same year the County Council of Trans Mara approached the Conservancy and asked them to manage the Mara Triangle on their behalf.

This created the first public/private sector partnership of its kind in the region and has led to an active and cooperative partnership between conservation professionals and the local Masai community, and introduced an initiative to improve the conservation and overall management of one of the most visited and well known protected areas in the world.

When the Mara Conservancy became responsible for the management of the Mara Triangle, the infrastructure, equipment and roads in the area were absent or decayed. There were no operational vehicles, staff morale was extremely low, revenue was not being efficiently collected and poaching was out of control.

Only one third of the Mara Triangle was considered secure, with the remainder unvisited by security staff and tourists. In these areas poaching and illegal grazing were completely out of hand, with thousands of animals being killed annually. Cattle theft from the neighbouring Masai was a monthly occurrence.

The Mara Conservancy is a non-profit organization and 100% of its share of gate revenues must be allocated to the management and development of the Trans Mara portion of the Reserve, and projects undertaken with the neighbouring Maasai communities. Ultimately, it was intended that all recurrent and capital costs relating to Mara Conservancy operations would be funded out of gate revenue.

However, although the Conservancy has achieved a considerable amount they have never managed to establish significant reserves, and so when the post election crisis hit at the end of last year they had only $50,000 as a buffer zone, which was used up in January. This is why we have launched an appeal for all those interested in saving the Mara Triangle to help financially if possible, as well as help spread the reach of this appeal.

The structure of the Mara Conservancy is so that accountability, transparency and efficiency is ensured, which makes it even more important that we do what we can to make sure that this kind of management system is able to succeed in Kenya.

I know that this doesn't answer some of the questions raised in this thread with regards to money received by local communities and how this is spent, and also the lodges and campsites that benefit from the Mara, but we can only hope that this desperate situation will raise important questions and some change will come about. In the meantime, we still have to continue with the conservation work here in the Mara before it is too late, and so this is why we call on friends of the Mara to help now if they can.

William, thank you for your detailed clarification and welcome to Bushdrums.

William:

Thank you for your thoughtful explanation of the Mara Conservancy.

You stated:

the County Council of Trans Mara approached the Conservancy and asked them to manage the Mara Triangle on their behalf

I have been trying to read between the lines and want to understand completely. Is it the Maasai people you are concerned about and collecting for or the protection of wildlife? This might make a big difference to people who are thinking of donating. If you have a chance please elucidate further to help us understand better.

Hello Jan

The Mara Conservancy works to protect all of the wildlife in the Mara Triangle.

Hope that helps.

If I may add my two cents: first of all we must stop being so dichotmoized in our approach. This is not about one or the other (i.e. the people OR the animals). This is about an ecosystem and all things are interdependant. It is only with the advent ofwestern logic that we began to force our ways on what were once upon time very holistic approaches to thinking.
Whilst, there are a lot of issues as to WHO should be responsible and yes, those that financially benefit from this ecosystem should be more responsible. Although I work for WildlifeDirect, I would like it to be clear that I am not blowing our trumpet but rather stating that we are trying to approach the matter as holistically as possible. Whilst we are targetting online communities to support the campaign, we are also targetting the economic stakeholders to take more responsibility - but that takes time and that is why WIll has gone to work with the Mara Conservancy on the ground.
THis is all good and I want to thank everybody for presenting their thoughts because this certainly helps all of us who are interested in shaping a system that works best for environment, people and wildlife...