Enhancing Climate Resilience: People and Wildlife

The extended drought and the return of the rainy season have shown how integral water sustainability is for Ol Pejeta's conservation efforts and how vital it is to improve the Conservancy's water infrastructure. Whilst gratefully received, the rains arrived this year between March and April and had a debilitating impact on our infrastructure. Their intensity led to pipelines needing significant maintenance, several dams bursting their banks and requiring repair, and over saturated ground that washed away roads. The impact of this affects the ranger team and their ability to respond to threats or incursions quickly and effectively. It affects how our conservation team can attend to wildlife that might be in distress, or how our veterinary team intervene where necessary.

To mitigate the impact, Ol Pejeta has recently installed solar power pumps at Ngobit borehole with the aim of reducing environmental impact, to provide a sustainable water supply for the Conservancy. This offers a long-term solution, as water is pumped from the ground using solar panels, making it a reliable and clean energy supply, which will create a sustainable flow of water for communities relying on the Ngobit for their livelihoods, even during times of drought.

Ol Pejeta is also thrilled to share that the key areas of Kamok, Morani and Control are now officially on solar. This is a major milestone for Ol Pejeta in our efforts to reduce dependency and usage of diesel, and to ensure that sustainability is embedded in our operations.

In anticipation of El Nino and previous intensive rains, the team also constructed more than 26km of roads, and will dedicate resources to building a further 110km over the next three months. It is critical that Ol Pejeta's infrastructure remains resilient and will enable our ranger, logistics and conservation team to respond quickly and effectively to incidents around the Conservancy.

None of these milestones would have been achieved without the support of key donors who are helping Ol Pejeta become climate resilient. Together we are a team, and it is the combined effort of our global community and supporters, and those on the ground, which enables us to continue support sustainable development through nature-based solutions. Thank you for your contribution to this effort. 

We are grateful to the supporters of our project Drought Intervention: Protecting People and Wildlife who have enabled our teams to mitigate the effect of significant water shortages across the Conservancy. As drought continues to grip Kenya, Ol Pejeta has strengthened water monitoring efforts by measuring and observing rainfall, boreholes, streams, and water use. Typically receiving an average of 800mls a year in rainfall (double the rainfall of landscapes north of Ol Pejeta), average rainfall in the last two years has fallen to 600mls. Coupled with excessive water extraction and unsustainable use further upstream has resulted in dry riverbeds on Ol Pejeta, in particular, there is little to no flow of River Ngobit. To mitigate the fallout for both people and wildlife, we are working closely with the Water Resource Authority (WRA) to re-establish some level of flow. We have also hired additional water browsers to distribute water to tanks and troughs serving local communities and wildlife, as well as established short-term booster pumps in the Southern Sector of the Conservancy.

Now more than ever, analysis of grass biomass and wildlife population numbers and dynamics carried out by Ol Pejeta’s Ecological Monitoring Unit (EMU) is critical. The team has recorded a high influx of animals through the wildlife corridors from the northern and drier parts of Kenya into Ol Pejeta, which in turn leads to increased pressures on our vegetation and water resources. By analysing grass biomass the team have established the water shortage has caused grass biomass to dip below the minimum threshold of 1,500kg/ha for the first time since 2016. This analysis has informed strategic resource and land-use management decisions around grazing, to ensure the landscape is sustainably used.

Your support in recent months has helped us to mitigate the impact of water shortages on the Conservancy. With your gift, we have supplied water to ensure both people and wildlife can survive, we cannot thank you enough. Asante Sana!

An Update on the Drought:

Ol Pejeta and northern Kenya are currently experiencing the country's worst drought on record, with less rain in the March-April-May 2022 rainy season than the country has seen in over 70 years (European Commission, 2022). Rainfall on Ol Pejeta has fluctuated over the last few months, with slightly lower than expected levels in June and July, and comparatively more rain in September than is normally expected. This managed to fill two dams on the Conservancy, however it has not been sufficient to keep rivers flowing. In the month of October, which is usually the start of the rainy season in Kenya, the amount of rainfall recorded fell by 97% from an average of 200mm to just 6mm.

How Your Donations Have Helped:

Over the last few months, your donations have helped the team to respond to incidences of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC), repair fence breakages and continue supplementary feeding vulnerable wildlife populations as they continue to mitigate the impact of the drought. 

Ol Pejeta's rangers are the first to respond to any incident of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC). As competition for food and water increases due to failed rains, the wildlife turns their attention to the farming communities outside the Conservancy. Crop raiding, trampled farmlands, cattle predation and more all have a disastrous impact on the communities livelihoods. Since July, the PAC responded to and handled all 32 incidents of reported Human-Wildlife Conflict, covering a total distance of 1,116km. Thank you so much for helping our team remain operational and react quickly to mitigate the impact of those incidences.

In their attempt to crop raid the agricultural lands outside of the Conservancy, the 120km fence surrounding Ol Pejeta is subjected to considerable damage from the wildlife (mainly elephants). Since July, the Radio Room have compiled 244 fence reports, of which 98 were confirmed as significant breakages from wildlife attempting to get in and out of the Conservancy. The remaining reports were thankfully not significant breakages. It costs $105,000 a year to maintain the fences, and with your support in recent months, the Ol Pejeta team have successfully continued to address the issues and repair the fences.

The two northern white rhinos, a small population of Grevy's zebra and Oryx, and one black rhino are protected within special enclosures (~700acre in size) because they are either vulnerable and/or endangered. As a result of the drought, the vegetation cover in these areas of the Conservancy has reduced significantly, and is not enough to sustain these herbivores. However Ol Pejeta has been able to continue providing these species with supplementary feeding (mostly hay), which helps ensure they receive enough food each day. Thank you so much for supporting our efforts.

Looking Ahead:

The team are predicting average rains in the coming months, whilst not sufficient, it will provide some respite. To monitor this situation, the Ol Pejeta team oversee 10 rainfall stations across the landscape, tracking levels of rain and establishing trends. The information is utilized to inform decisions around land-use, agriculture, water management, and more. In addition, the data will help the team model for the future and implement strategic interventions that mitigate the impact of climate change, enhance the resilience of local communities and support wildlife. As we hope for a wet rainy season Ol Pejeta commits to continue to respond effectively to HWC, repair damaged fences, and supplementary feed the vulnerable species that need our help.

Thank you for standing with Ol Pejeta and supporting us in our efforts to conserve and protect wildlife.

In March you answered our call for help. Ol Pejeta was experiencing a severe water shortage after the ‘short rains’ failed and a prolonged dry spell ensued. Stretches of the Ewaso Ng'iro river had run dry, and our dams and several watering holes had dried up. The grassland was diminishing and we were concerned that if the dry conditions were to continue, it could have a catastrophic impact on our wildlife and surrounding communities. 

In addition, a drought to the north of the Conservancy was exacerbating the issue by driving wildlife south in search of food and water. Our wildlife monitoring teams recorded a sharp net-increase in wildlife entering the Conservancy, causing increased competition for resources and a dangerous rise in human-wildlife conflict.

All of this created a wealth of issues and put huge pressure on our teams and resources. You gave generously and helped raise $30,000 which made a tremendous difference: 

• Protecting people, livelihoods, and wildlife by deploying Stephen and our Problem Animal Control team immediately to address reports of human-wildlife conflict.
• Providing essential materials to our fencers to fix breakages to our 120km fence, caused by elephants seeking food and water. Preventing human-wildlife conflict is vital as conflicts of this nature can cause hostility towards wildlife and conservation.
• Keeping the world’s rarest rhinos – Najin and Fatu – healthy by providing hay, carrots, and nutritional pellets.
• Beginning supplemental feeding for Ariemet and Mojo (the potential surrogates for the northern white rhino recovery program) and Ouwan (the teaser bull).
• Keeping our Grevy’s zebra population fed by providing supplemental hay.

Water continues to be an issue. As you’re no doubt aware, April and May are usually our wettest months here in Laikipia, our ‘long rains’ season. However, whilst there has been some rainfall over the last few months this has not made a significant dent. As someone who cares and is a protector of Ol Pejeta’s wildlife and communities, we thought you’d want to know of the situation on the ground. The drought in Kenya continues. Our grassland is deteriorating further, the river is once again drying up and we are continuing to provide supplemental food to the northern white rhinos, southern white rhino surrogates and Grevy’s zebra. Samuel Mutisya (Head of Conservation) recently stated that “the impact of climate change is being felt now more than ever before”.

This year’s dry spell, and now drought, are not isolated events. With your support, Ol Pejeta is committed to responding quickly to these situations but also preparing for the unpredictable and extremes of weather that are the new norm. 

Whilst we are striving to make our water and energy supply more sustainable, your gift has enabled us to act fast for the good of our people and planet. 

You have supported Najin, Fatu, and so many more of our wildlife, teams and communities with your gift. We cannot thank you enough.