Teaching Conservation in the Taita Hills

Taita apalis survives in just 3 small forests and nowhere else!

The Taita hills in southern Kenya are one of the key area for the conservation of biodiversity in East Africa. Many species are endemic to these small mountains - that is, they only exist here and nowhere else in the world. Some species, such as the Taita apalis and the Taita thrush are restricted to a range of less than 500 hectares, which is more or less the same area as Central Park in New York. This is an extremely tiny range! For these reason, the IUCN and BirdLife International consider these two birds "Critically Endangered" which means an extremely high risk of extinction within less than 10 years.

Lawrence leading primary school pupils in the Taita forest

For many years, we have been involved in research and conservation activities in the Taita Hills. One of the key goals in conservation is increasing awareness, that is, making everybody know about the importance of conserving biodiversity. We must conserve it because these unique species are the common heritage of the entire world, and if we loose them, nobody will be able to to resurrect them.

Lawrence Wagura, one of the members of the Taita hills team, has been very active in teaching about conservation in primary and secondary schools in the Taita hills.

With support from the African Bird Club, Lawrence has recently embarked in an ambitious project that has involved more than 700 pupils from primary and secondary schools in the Taita. Lawrence visited the schools, and taught the students about biodiversity,, first in the classrooms, and then in the field, leading the students in a walk through some of the most interesting forests of the Taita hills. The students have been able to hear about the endemic birds, insects, plants and herps, and have even been able to see some of them with their eyes. For many of them, it was the first time, even though they all live in the Taita hills!

You can read more about Lawrence's project here.

Here are the Small Projects for Africa 2014! Hooooray! (scroll up for the Italian version)

Hello all!

here is the moment everyone was waiting for! Yes, the 2014 small Conservation Projects are here!
We will continue and expand the projects that we begun in previous years. We will focus on schools, teaching, the development of local communities, endangered animals and small eco-business activities that contribute to creating jobs and conserving the environment.

IF YOU WISH TO DONATE, PLEASE USE THE PAYPAL LINK ON THE RIGHT (CREDIT CARD NEEDED)

Some of the 2013 students from Ngilai Village: Lmintilas, Damaris, Melian and Jane

1) Scholarships for primary and secondary school students of the Samburu District, Kenya. The Samburu District is one of the poorest regions of Kenya. For many female and male students, school expenses, are just beyond reach: too many drop off school or never attend it because their families can’t afford school expenses. As in previous years, I propose to sponsor 7-10 students with small scholarships, of about €150 each: this sum is enough to pay school fees for one year. The students will be chosen by village elders and female students will make 50% of the prize winners.

   

Lawrence in the Taita hills with a class

2) Teaching conservation: at Ol Bolossat and in the Taita Hills. The Taita hills and Ol Bolossat are two key sites for conservation of Kenya's biodiversity, and both are severely threatened by habitat destruction and the rapid expansion of human activities. Teaching about the environment in primary and secondary schools is a key action to create environmental awareness and raise interest on biodiversity among the young generations. Two friends of ours, George Ndungu and Lawrence Wagura, with our help, will visit schools in Ol Bolossat (George) and in the Taita (Lawrence). George and Lawrence will visit the classrooms, perform field activities, distribute books, posters and brochures, lead birdwatching walks for hundreds of students of all ages. We will read about their experiences over the next year. Good luck!

A draft plan of the workshop, by J. Knausenberger

3) A land for Njabini (year 2)! Njabini woolspinning workshop is an eco-friendly business that creates jobs and contributes to the preservation of the highly threatened highland grasslands of Kenya. After years of work with this small grassroots group, the positive impact in terms of jobs created and of habitat conservation is undeniable, but the group's activities cannot grow any more in the small space where they have been working so far. Now, the group needs a larger and more modern space. In 2013, with a generous donation from Mr David Fox, we bought a plot of land in the Kinangop plateau. The next step is now to raise money to build a new workshop on the newly purchased land - that will be a challenge, due to the high costs involved. We'll keep you posted.

Terry built a pipe to bring water to Chopotwo school

4) The Mbara Community Project. Temow, Chopotwo and Kapsor Schools, near Mbara village, in Western Kenya, are three small primary schools where nothing is available. No classrooms, no desks, no playground for the pupils, no clean water to drink ... With my friend Terry John Hummerston, we want to help these schools to become a place where young girls and boys can get a real education for their future

New edition of the Mathews Range Plant Guide

Hello all!

This is just to let you know that a new edition of the small field guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Mathews Range is out! It is an entirely revised small book, featuring more than 50 among the
woody plant species found in one of the most beautiful and well-preserved forests in East Africa. The guide is illustrated by more than 120 full color high-quality photos and summarizes the most useful characters for telling the species in the field, as well as the interactions between plants, animals and the human communities in the region.

The guide has been produced in collaboration with the Cheli and Peacock Community Trust, and will be distributed free of charge to school students, villagers and tourists visiting the area - because awareness and knowledge are essential steps for loving and protecting our environment!

One of the colour plates - click to enlarge!

The front cover page

Teaching conservation in Kinangop plateau

Dominic Kimani, one of the students who received a fellowship in 2012-2013 has sent me some photos taken in the primary schools of Kinangop plateau, where he has been teaching about conservation and biodiversity to the young pupils.
Kinangop is a vast plateau about 70 km north of Nairobi. It is one of the of the most important sites in Kenya for Sharpe's Longclaw and for several other rare and threatened specie. Unfortunately, Kinangop is also a densely inhabited area, and agriculture is expanding at fast rates - between 2008 and 2013 alone, 25% of the natural habitats have been destroyed and converted to agriculture - and this adds to substantial habitat losses in the previous years.

Field class

Watching a nature film in Purple Hearth Academy

Tutti a scuola!!

Personalmente devo ammettere che io a scuola non è ci andassi con grande entusiasmo, e il fatto che adesso mi do da fare per mandarci degli altri forse suona un po’ ipocrita. Ma secondo me mandare gente a scuola è il modo migliore per risolvere i problemi del mondo. Sarà banale, però è vero che costruire ospedali o spedire container di cibo in fondo non è altro che mettere un pezza su problemi che si ripropongono immediatamente non appena l’ospedale chiude o il container è vuoto. Se mandi la gente a scuola invece qualcosa resta per rempre.

È per questo motivo che io credo che il più importante fra i nostri piccoli progetti sia mandare ragazzi a scuola.

Per quest’anno, avrei in mente di finanziare almeno 5 studenti delle scuole primarie e secondarie. Questi ragazzi vivono nei villaggi della regione Samburu, un’area a 300 km a nord di Nairobi dove svolgo la mia ricerca scientifica da molti anni e dove la maggior parte delle famiglie non dispone dei mezzi economici necessari per mandare i propri figli a scuola. Un anno di scuola costa circa 200 euro (questa cifra comprende il costo della scuola, dei libri ed in genere il vitto e l’alloggio nel collegio della scuola), quindi l’obiettivo in questo caso è raccogliere almeno 1000 euro. Se saranno di più, posso garantire che gli studenti meritevoli e bisognosi qua non mancano!

TOTALE PROPOSTA 2009 PER LA SCUOLA DEI RAGAZZI SAMBURU 1000 EURO