Community members from IL Ngwesi have vowed to be at the forefront to ensure that the Loiragai spring remains protected, functional, and serves its members.
Led by the area Chief, community representatives were grateful for the efforts that both Laikipia Forum and World Vision made to ensure that they enjoy their fundamental right to access clean, safe, and affordable water while at the same time mitigating human wildlife conflicts in the area.
The WCS/Disney Conservation Fund provided the money to rehabilitate the water project, along with funding from the Forum and Il Ngwesi Conservancy. Over the last three years the emphasis of this funding has been to find the right balance between meeting the water needs of people and wildlife in a manner that reduces Human Elephant conflict.
The Project was initiated in February 2018 with the focus of reducing human-elephant conflict within and around Mukogodo Forest, particularly along the community owned lands of the elephant corridor between Samburu and Mt. Kenya. Communities, partners, and KWS MIKE reports guided the selection of this project area.
Through the Project, there are testimonies from community members at the reduction of human elephant conflicts, especially over access to water where springs have been protected and alternative sources of water provided for elephants.
The support from ILMAMUSI CFA in the implementation of the Project was key. Their involvement in all stages of Project development and implementation ensured continuous engagement between the Forest, the water sources, and the community custodians.
In the final phase, a partnership with World Vision was secured to help complete the Loiragai Spring part of the Project. The scope and scale of the spring protection provided an opportunity to support rehabilitation of a reticulated, gravity-fed water system that would aid the three priority uses – livelihoods, livestock and wildlife. The World Vision-Imara Project was able to provide the additional resources to complete the entire reticulated piped water system of ~5.94 kms, with storage tanks, and livestock/wildlife troughs at a total construction cost of more than USD $30,000.
The Project also installed camera traps to monitor these protected springs and to document their many uses.
The successful implementation of this project made possible through the support and partnerships of
