Education Kenya Project #60236

Support education & conservation with ecobursaries

by A Rocha Kenya

Support education & conservation with ecobursaries

Project Report | Apr 8, 2025
Empowering the young generation to take action through Conservation Education

By Patrick Chogo | Assets Programme Coordinator

Community members during mangrove planting

2025 First Term Engagements and Initiatives

The first term of the 2025 school calendar has been marked by active engagement with students and community members. The payment of first-term bursaries was successfully completed, and school visits and conservation initiatives were carried out to meet the program's objectives.

Conservation Education in Schools

A Rocha Kenya's Environmental Education Program has been operating for over 20 years around the Arabuko Sokoke Forest (ASF). This program has successfully fostered a sense of appreciation and ownership, imparting valuable knowledge about the forest to hundreds of students living nearby. Many students who have benefited from this program have gone on to pursue careers in conservation, demonstrating its significant impact.

In the first term of the 2025 school calendar, the Environmental Education team visited 10 schools around ASF, engaging a total of 720 students (420 girls and 300 boys). This year’s theme is 'Pollinators', where students are learning about the crucial role pollinators play in ecosystems and how to protect them.

Bursary Payment

A total of $6,274 was paid to 67 students across 47 secondary schools in the country. The bursaries were allocated to students in forms two to four, as there are no form one students this year due to changes in the education system. Of the 67 students, 38 were male and 27 were female.

Mida Creek Mangrove Restoration Awareness Drive

In collaboration with the Mida Creek Conservation Community, Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Wildlife Service, and other conservation groups, A Rocha Kenya conducted a mangrove awareness campaign to educate local community members on the importance of conserving mangroves. During the event, 2,100 mangrove seedlings were planted to help restore and protect the mangrove ecosystem.

Livelihoods Initiatives

A Rocha Kenya continues to support the livelihoods of communities surrounding ASF by promoting environmentally friendly farming practices, specifically Farming God's Way (FGW) and kitchen gardening. These practices provide sustainable alternatives to traditional farming methods.

The Mijikenda communities, who predominantly live near ASF, rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood. Many are church members who resonate with a biblical message of tending to the garden as described in the creation story. Since 2020, A Rocha Kenya has been implementing FGW and kitchen gardening with local community members and now plans to expand these practices. FGW maximizes crop yields using techniques such as soil conservation through mulching, crop rotation, and natural pest control. Kitchen gardening, which requires minimal space and capital, offers low-cost, low-labor solutions, enabling individuals to grow vegetables in sacks, pots, or small plots of land.

Plans are underway to establish FGW demonstration plots at A Rocha Kenya’s center, where community members can receive training and then apply these techniques on their own farms. This will provide long-term benefits, especially for those receiving eco-bursaries.

Tree Nursery Project

The tree nursery project is progressing well, with active participation from both parents and students in establishing and maintaining the nurseries. Currently, eight tree nurseries are operational, hosting about 8,000 seedlings. These nurseries are managed by the parents of students supported by the eco-bursary program. Once the seedlings mature, they will be distributed to these families, who will plant them at their homes during the upcoming long rains. This initiative will provide additional livelihood opportunities while contributing to the restoration and protection of the local environment.

Final Thoughts

The combination of educational, environmental, and livelihood initiatives is fostering sustainable development in the communities around Arabuko Sokoke Forest. With continued support, these programs will not only enhance conservation efforts but also improve the quality of life for local families, especially those directly benefiting from the eco-bursary and tree nursery programs.

Environmental Education session in progress

Ark Staff with a student during bursary payment

A photo of a tree nursery

student drawing a flower during a pollinator class

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Dec 16, 2024
Empowering the future generation through Conservation Education

By Patrick Chogo | Assets Programme Coordinator

Students posing with rangers

Scholarships

The year has been very encouraging; indeed, having successfully paid bursaries and engaged students and parents benefitting from the ASSETS Eco-bursary fund in exciting environmental awareness and livelihood activities. With a record of 38 students graduating from the programme expecting to proceed with their education in higher learning institutions come next year. During this period, we disbursed $18,348 to over 100 students across 50 secondary schools nationwide. This support has enabled students to remain in school, positively impacting their academic performance. Additionally, their parents have been actively involved in various conservation initiatives including rearing and planting over 20,000 trees in their shambas which not only contributed to the increase of tree cover but also contributed to the president's National tree planting campaign, which aims to plant 15 billion trees by 2032

The good news, this year the scholarship program has expanded to include 3 more schools. This increases the number of schools and the number of community members living around Arabuko Sokoke Forest benefitting from the ASSETS program and ultimately increasing the population involved in the conservation of the resource. As a result of this more environmental actions will be taken to conserve the Arabuko Sokoke forest. To make sure the program serves better, the team also has increased, with new 2 additional staff coming on board. An administrator who will be taking care of the administrative work of the programme and an Environmental Education officer whose role is to engage all schools and the beneficiaries of the programme to environmental-related themes and lessons to enthuse them to take action towards conserving natural resources

Holiday Camps

For the first time, this year beneficiary students were taken through a guided and educative tour of the Arabuko Sokoke forest. During our December holiday camps, we partnered with the Community Forest Association (CFA), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and Kenya Wildlife Service(KWS) to take students inside the forest just to experience the beauty of nature as they learn about the importance of the forest and how they can support its conservation as the beneficiary of the forest

Conservation and Livelihoods

Our tree nursery project is still on course, with active participation from both parents and students in establishing and maintaining the nurseries. All the over 20,000 trees planted were reared from these nurseries. These trees will in the long run provide livelihood opportunities since some of them are first growing giving the community members alternative options to get income from. At the same time, they contribute to the overall tree cover benefits.

This year, in collaboration with I&M bank, launched a tree planting campaign which targets to plant 31,000 by the end of this year. This again contributes to our overall goal of conserving the environment by empowering the communities to take action to conserve and restore the Arabuko Sokoke forest.

We are grateful to all our donors and supporters for touching the lives of these very needy community members in a very special way. We receive wonderfully encouraging comments from our beneficiaries who always express gratitude to you all.

Students lectured by a guide

Community member planting a tree

student looking for birds in the forest

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Aug 19, 2024
More Eco-scholarships, more fun and a focus on menstrual health

By Patrick Chogo | ASSETS Programme Coordinator

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Scholarships

It has been a very encouraging period indeed; having successfully paid bursaries and engaged both students and parents benefitting from the ASSETS Eco-bursary fund in exciting environmental awareness activities. During this period, we disbursed a total of $6,512 to 75 students across 48 secondary schools nationwide. This support has enabled students to remain in school, which has positively impacted their academic performance. Additionally, their parents have been actively involved in various conservation initiatives including rearing over 10,000 seedlings in 8 tree nurseries managed by the community.

Figure 1: Photo of ASSETS Students at Nyari Primary School

From floods to political protests led by mostly young people, famously known as "Gen Z", the period has experienced significant school down-time. A couple of school weeks were lost, for which schools had to devise a plan to recover.

Figure 2: Photo of Ngala Menorial Students Receiving Bursary Cheques

Looking ahead, plans are underway to expand the scholarship program to include more schools. This is designed to increase the number of schools and the number of community members living around Arabuko Sokoke Forest benefitting from the ASSETS programme and ultimately increasing the population involved in the conservation of the resource. Three additional schools have been identified and assessed for inclusion in the scheme.

Holiday Camps

In line with our conservation goal, five awareness meetings were organised for the programme's beneficiaries. These meetings which involved both the students and parents benefitting from the programme, prioritized discussions on the conservation of Arabuko Sokoke Forest and explored ways to contribute to its protection.

Members of the Community Forest Associations (CFAs) were brought in to shade more light on the various opportunities the communities living around the forest can explore to benefit directly from the forest. Additionally, students participated in mentorship training and mental health talks to ensure they remain focused on their studies.

Figure 3: (Motivational Talk)

Conservation and Livelihoods

Our tree nursery project is progressing well, with active participation from both parents and students in establishing and maintaining the nurseries. Currently, eight, tree nurseries are operational, hosting over 10,000 seedlings.

These nurseries are managed by the parents of the students supported by our program. Once the seedlings mature, they will be distributed to these families to plant at their homes, thereby providing additional livelihood opportunities whilst improving the environmental conditions.

Figure 4 Organising a Tree Nursery at Mijomboni

Menstrual Health Education

Following the positive feedback from our initial training on reusable sanitary towels, another session was organized to train beneficiaries in making and using these devices. Additionally, a sewing machine was donated to facilitate ongoing production and distribution, allowing beneficiaries to share these resources with the wider community.

Figure 5: Making Reusable Sanitary Towels

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