Project Detail

Solar-Powered Fence as a Mitigation Measure for Human/Wildlife Conflicts in Mt. Kenya East.

Human-wildlife conflict is one of the issues causing much anxiety among the residents close to the forest boundary and contributing to food insecurity. Just before the harvest season, elephants living in the Mt. Kenya forest raid farms and eat most of the food crops and trample on the rest. Left with no crops to harvest and no income from sale of surplus crops, the villagers resort to activities such as illegal logging, wildlife poaching and charcoal burning. To minimize the human-wildlife conflict, the project will erect a 14km, solar-powered fence along the boundary between the forest edge and the farms. It is expected that the fence will increase food security, raise incomes, and reduce illegal activities within the forest.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Beera Community Environment Conservation Group

Country:

Kenya

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 49,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 9,111.00

Project Number:

KEN/UNF/01/06

Start Date:

11/2001

End Date:

11/2005

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Gender Focus

Both men and women suffer great economic losses annually through crop raids. They will therefore both participate and make the necessary contributions.

Notable Community Participation

Community members will provide the necessary labor; they will do the line clearing, dig holes, and pull wires. They will contribute money to purchase sand, ballast and cement. Once erected, the community will maintain the fence by regular monitoring and by contributing an annual fee to pay for new equipment such as batteries, and for general rehabilitation. The community will also monitor gates along the fence and report illegal activities within the forest to the relevant authorities.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Discussions with the community will draw attention not only to the benefits of crop protection, but also to the opportunity offered by the project for farmers to participate in forest conservation activities in a site as important as the Mt. Kenya World Heritage Site.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

Every year, farmers lose a lot of money due to crop raids by elephants. The solar-powered fence will be an effective barrier against crop destruction. Farmers can therefore look forward to increased income from sale of farm produce.

Capacity - Building Component

Several members of the committee will undergo a training programme at a Kenya Wildlife Service base, to learn about electricity and how to maintain the fence.

Project sustainability

The electric fence uses plentiful solar energy as it's power source ensuring that the fence will have a constant source of electricity without relying on non-renewable fuels to generate electricity. Also, the fence will help reduce destruction of crops from animal raids, thus increasing the income from agricultural activities. This will decrease the reliance on income from forest resources such as charcoal, firewood, and illegal logging, thus conserving the Mt. Kenya Forest ecosystem.

Project Results

The project has erected a 14 km, solar-powered fence along the boundary between the forest edge and the farms of the Beera community. The fence has resulted in many fewer wildlife incursions onto farms neighboring the Mt. Kenya forest, resulting in much less destruction of crops. This has increase food security and raise incomes. Furthermore, project sensitization efforts have resulted in increased awareness of environmental conservation, especially related to the forest ecosystem, for communities living near the Mt. Kenya Forest.

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