The future's green

Think of Kenya and you’ll probably picture the classic safari landscape of wide open plains and muted, burnt shades of the savannah. But the country possesses a whole other range of natural settings, among which is lush tropical forest – and it’s this particular environment that a current project by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) is setting out to protect.

The KFS, which is responsible for ensuring the sustainable management of forestry resources across Kenya, has set in motion an ambitious tree-planting project to replenish the Mount Kenya and Aberdare Forests. Both of these forests were depleted by recent wildfires. Forested areas have been under threat more generally across East Africa by illegal logging for many years.

The planting project is part of a wider aim to increase the coverage of forest in Kenya from the current level of less than four percent to ten percent. Protecting and enhancing Kenya’s forests is an important for the safeguarding these ecosystems’ rich biodiversity and also because of the vital contribution forest resources make to people’s livelihoods and the Kenyan economy.

As well as engaging in planting tree seedlings itself, the KFS has set aside three million tree seedlings for distribution to various community groups, including schools and hospitals, to carry out their own planting projects.

Seven fascinating facts about the majestic Maasai

1. The Maasai, who live across Kenya and northern Tanzania, are Probably Africa’s best-known tribe, and are the embodiment of a quintessentially traditional way of life in East Africa. They have become a symbol of African culture because of their strong identity and the preservation of their unique lifestyle but are by no means one of the biggest tribes in the region. In fact, the Kikuyu and Luhya tribes are among the most populous of the 40–70 tribes living in Kenya, this total count varying according to how the groups are classified.

2. Cattle have always been at the centre of the Maasai way of life. Cattle-herding remains the primary occupation for many Maasai and the tribe shares a religious belief that all cattle were given to the Maasai by their god. Some Maasai people’s diets consist entirely of meat, blood and milk provided by their cattle.

The Maasai in their bright and intricate dress

3. The Maasai are a multilingual society. As well as speaking their own language, called Maa, the tribe speak English and Swahili, the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania. The rich tribal diversity and assortment of historical influences in East Africa have endowed the countries with a plethora of languages and dialects.

4. Their brightly coloured clothing is one of the most striking and distinguishing features of the Maasai. The loosely wrapped robes worn by both men and women are called shuka and are usually a vivid red, a colour the tribe associates with power – although other colours are worn too, with orange, blue and black being popular. The Maasai’s look is usually completed with beautiful and intricate jewellery, which includes multi-coloured beaded necklaces and wood bracelets.

5. The ‘jumping dance’ for which the Maasai are famous the world over is called adamu. The men of the community form a line or circle and take turns to jump in the centre, the height of the leaps denoting their strength as tribal warriors. The music of the Maasai is traditionally performed with the human voice alone, the harmonic chanting providing the rhythm while one singer performs the melody. The dance and music of the Maasai are one of the most memorable and life-affirming things to experience when visiting East Africa.

6. The Maasai continue to live a semi-nomadic life, despite pressures to settle in one spot. They travel with their beloved cattle, and other livestock such as goats and sheep, moving the animals seasonally to supply them with fresh pastures. When they’re not on the move, the Maasai live in inkajijik, houses built from earth, sticks, grass, and the dung and urine of cows.

7. The Maasai are renowned for the warm welcome they extend to guests and love to talk and to share ideas. Arranging a cultural encounter with the Maasai tribe as part of a safari allows you an unforgettable insight into the lives of these vibrant and inspiring people.

Poaching upsurge causes concern

An alarming increase in rhino and elephant poaching across Africa recently has sparked renewed concerns about the future of these fragile species. A sharp rise has been recorded in the number of animals that have been killed, despite both elephants and rhinos being protected and their hunting being strictly outlawed.

The Kenya Wildlife Service reported that 278 elephants were killed in Kenya alone last year, the highest figure for 11 years. The international trade in ivory was banned in 1990 but an illegal market has flourished over the last year years.

Also of grave concern is the sharp rise in the poaching of both black and white rhinos. These species, which numbered tens of thousands across Africa in the 1970s, were hunted almost to exinction, reaching lows of only a few hundred individuals. Thanks to committed conservation work, the populations began to grow and stabilise.

However, this trend is threatened by the recent upsurge in illegal poaching, which has been attributed to a growing black market in rhino horn. The demand comes largely from some traditional Chinese medicine systems, which assert, without any scientific basis, that the horn possesses therapeutic properties. The high demand has led to the value of rhino horn outsripping that of gold by weight.

To combat this rising trend in poaching, a crisis meeting of politicians, wildlife groups and NGOs met in Nairobi last month to formulate a response. The parties present pledged to tackle poaching through increasing and integrating surveillance, empowering national wildlife bodies and taking steps to persuade governments of the main consumer markets for poached products to take firm action against the illegal trade.