Wildize Foundation

Mt. Kasigau is the most northeastern mountain in the Eastern Arc
and Coastal Forest Biodiversity Hot Spot in Kenya and a priority for
conservation. These ancient crystalline mountains have a high species richness
and compared with other hot spot locations have a high concentration of endemic
species and among the highest degree of habitat fragmentation and loss (Newmark
2002). Moreover, the Taita Wildlife Corridor between Tsavo East and Tsavo West
National Parks has long been a focus for wildlife conservation, however without
coordinated efforts. Perhaps because of the mountain's isolation and the very rigorous
climb to its summit (from 600 m to 1641 m in about 2 km), little is published
about Mt. Kasigau and the Kasigau, Taita, and Kamba people living around its
base.

 

This
region consists of 5 local communities- Jora, Kiteghe, Rukinga, Bungule and
Makwasinye- tucked between Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks. These communities struggle to meet
their continued needs, while also facing escalating human-wildlife conflicts. Each community on average is around two
thousand citizens, and collectively they are trying to eke out a living in
trying conditions.

 

The residents of Kasigau
are subsistence farmers whose food security is frequently hampered by increasing
droughts and frequent wildlife incursions. The inability to rely entirely on
their farms has forced these people to resort to other modes of survival such
as charcoal burning, sand harvesting, gemstone prospecting and illegal hunting,
all of which threaten their habitat. Ironically, the surrounding Tsavo National
Park and other privately owned ranches have been making good businesses from
eco-tourism activities.
 

In
this vein, WildiZe is coordinating an extensive Kasigau Regional Initiative,
focusing on additional greenhouses, water catchment systems, improved
accessibility to existing schools, and implementing Waste Management systems. These efforts will help to improve the
quality of life throughout the Kasigau region, while affording greater accessibility
to food and water resources, which in turn would provide food security for
people, while providing the further benefit of reducing human-wildlife
conflicts.  Furthermore, WildiZe is
attempting to make this a full corridor project, by not treating each community
in isolation from the other, but rather as a larger whole, to bring positive
impact for the entire citizenry, both human and wildlife, in the Mt. Kasigau
region.