Laikipia East Conservancies
Laikipia East Conservancies : Situated near the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province, Laikipia County is one of Kenya’s 47 counties. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan county with the number 31 designation. The two largest cities in the county are Nyahururu to the southwest and Nanyuki to the southeast. Rumuruti town is the county headquarters. .
Lewa Conservancy
One of the most prosperous conservancies in Africa today is Lewa Conservancy in northern Kenya, which has a multi-decade history. Threats to the black rhino population in northern Kenya led to the land’s designation as the privately owned Ngare Rhino Sanctuary in 1983. The region was renamed the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy twelve years later. Today, spanning 62,000 acres, it serves as a trailblazing example of effective conservation that strikes a balance between protecting natural resources and human usage, including wildlife and wilderness. The Lewa Conservancy and the Ngare Ndare Forest are now included in the limits of Mount Kenya’s UNESCO World Heritage Site as a result of the conservation efforts’ success.
One of the conservancy’s most innovative initiatives is the creation of a “elephant corridor,” which reduces the conflict between people and these migratory pachyderms. The Ngare Ndare Forest Authority, Lewa Conservancy, Mount Kenya Trust, Marania Farm, Kisima Farm, Borana Conservancy, and Kenya Wildlife Service all worked together to create the corridor. Constructed in 2010, the corridor connects Mount Kenya to the wide spaces of the Samburu region via Lewa and others.
Visitors to Lewa Conservancy have unrestricted access to an exceptionally stunning landscape that is home to a wide range of species, including antelope, giraffes, elephants, buffalos, and other herbivores. The area is also home to menacing lions, ferocious wild dogs, cheetahs, and other predators. At Lewa, conservation initiatives pertaining to black rhinos and grevy’s zebras are the most noteworthy. These efforts have been successful, as evidenced by the rise in the world’s largest population of Grevy’s zebras and a 6% increase in the resident black rhino population. Since Lewa has a robust patrolling squad, 10% of Kenya’s black rhinos can be found there. Because a percentage of all tourism revenue is allocated to both public development and the preservation of flora and fauna, lodgers who stay at or visit Lewa Conservancy significantly support both initiatives. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy also funds community initiatives to improve the lives of locals through conservation tourism. These initiatives include ten water projects, more than a dozen schools, a women’s microcredit program, and four medical clinics. Lewa offers a variety of activities that may be scheduled through your kenya safari travel advisor, including camel rides, horseback safaris, fishing excursions to Lake Rutundu on Mount Kenya, traditional game drives, bush walks, and visits to Maasai villages.
Borana Conservancy
Lewa and Borana Conservancy are adjacent conservation wildernesses. Together, two trailblazing Kenyan conservancies provide templates for a new generation of conservation strategies that have been shown to successfully balance human use with wilderness management. For the first three generations, the Borana Conservancy was a cattle and sheep ranch. The Dyer family decided to conserve a section of their land because of the dwindling numbers of Africa’s priceless biodiversity.
The family created the Borana Lodge to generate cash and increase awareness worldwide after realising that money was necessary to run the conservancy. To increase the impact of their conservation program, the Borana Conservancy collaborated with locals to create community-based conservancies, such as Tassia Lodge with its Lekurruki community and IL N’gwesi with the Maasai. Both initiatives offer a way to generate revenue that stays in the communities and helps fund regional conservation initiatives.
Similar to Lewa Conservancy, Borana Conservancy is now home to endangered species like grevy’s zebras, African wild dogs, and Jackson’s hartebeests, as well as more common prized herbivores and predators like buffalo, elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, hyenas, and many more thanks to the excellent management of its fauna, flora, and other habitats. Borana also has another project called the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, a highly recognised organisation that actively engages key stakeholders in safari conservation efforts.
Borana has also contributed to the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, a renowned group that actively engages key players in safari conservation efforts. The forum gives landowners of all sizes a place and network to discuss and find solutions to problems impacting Kenya’s wildlife populations. They are also capable of developing successful wildlife management programs in their localities. Borana Conservancy has effectively controlled its flora, fauna, and other habitats just like Lewa Conservancy. There are common many diverse animals here from the herbivores like giraffes, buffalo, elephants to predators such as lions, leopards, hyenas, and many more, as well as endangered species like Jackson’s hartebeests, Grevy’s zebras, and African wild dogs.
The conservancy offers Kenya safari visitors unique access to some of Kenya’s most breathtaking landscapes and amazing fauna. Due to its secluded location, the conservancy offers a wide range of activities, including horseback riding, mountain biking, walking safaris, day and night game drives, and much more, that are prohibited in national parks and many game reserves.
IL Ngwesi Conservancy
A local replication of the successful, self-sustaining conservancy model created by the Lewa and Borana Conservancies, the IL Ngwesi Conservancy was created as part of the partnership between the Maasai people of Laikipia outback and Borana Conservancy. The Maasai set aside 80% of their land to provide wildlife with protected grounds where the animals could roam freely without fear of poaching.
Today, the conservancy is home to endangered species including reticulated giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, gerenuk, black rhinos, African wild dogs, and others, and it is an essential component of the migratory trail that stretches south to Mount Kenya. Established as an Important Bird Area, the reserve is home to around 400 species of birds. Additionally, Kenya safari visitors can enjoy the unique safari experience by viewing some of Kenya’s most sought-after animals such lions, leopards, hyenas, and other carnivores, as well as buffalos, elephants, hippos, and other grazers.
Lekurruki Conservancy
The Mukogodo Maasai is in charge of the Lekurruki Conservancy, which includes more than 29,500 acres of the Laikipia wilderness. The Lekurruki Conservation Trust employed rangers to support the conservancy’s preservation efforts, raise awareness, and enforce regulations against cattle grazing and poaching. All interested parties will have a voice in conservation strategies if local communities are included in land management decisions. Herding methods and designated grazing areas are two of the strategies used in the Lekurruki Community. The overall environmental stability of the area depends on the ecosystems within the reserve.
The most commonly spotted animals during game drives are; buffalos, zebras, giraffes, and other plains species, including a variety of predators, Kenya safari visitors can witness big families of elephants. Near the conservancy is the 74,000-acre Mukogodo Forest, one of the biggest native forests in East Africa. More than 100 different kinds of butterflies and 210 different species of birds call the forest home. Through neighbourhood initiatives like the NRT Trading Program, tribal members of the nearby Maasai communities have also been given the ability to provide for their families and towns.
Through this project, local women receive essential training to earn money from the sale of crafts and artwork, as well as microloans and economic mentoring. Additionally, Tassia Lodge was built on the conservancy with assistance from Borana Conservancy in order to create a way to generate safari revenue that supports wildlife conservation and the local population.
