Together with local communities, ecosystems and their functions are protected, wildlife populations and endangered species are preserved and sustainable, nature-based economic models are developed.
This project is funded by our sister foundation, the Michael Otto Foundation, for the period 2020 to 2025. We, the Michael Otto Foundation for Sustainability, will support the project at an operational level together wit the WWF in the future.
When we talk about how to preserve biodiversity, it is essential to not only consider people as part of ecosystems, but to empower them to be active agents in shaping solutions: only then will the developed solutions be sustainable. This is the goal of the cross-border conservation initiative of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) called "Unganisha" (Swahili for "together, connected") in the two countries of Kenya and Tanzania. The program consists of a strategic umbrella program and several sub-projects with different funding sources. An important component has been supported since 2020 – from the very beginning – by our sister foundation, the Michael Otto Stiftung: the integrated nature conservation and development project in the Amboseli-Kilimanjaro landscape, one of the three cross-border landscape and protected area complexes in the region.
In theory, many ideas sound great on paper and worthy of support – but if they have not yet proven to be effective in reality, many funders and investors are hesitant to back complex projects. This is because often public or private funds are involved, not venture capital. This is where foundations come into play, and help providing the much-needed bridge financing. In the case of the Unganisha project in the Amboseli landscape, with the support of the Michael Otto Stiftung in the initial phase, strategic foundations were laid such as establishing a WWF Landscape office and leveraging additional funds from sources such as the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU). The preparation for implementing these funds and important model measures with a signal effect for the entire landscape played a key role in the project development. Today, a variety of partners are involved, above all the BMZ. In a second phase of financing, the Michael Otto Stiftung is supporting the development of a model landscape program with new corridors and community conservation areas that connect and preserve habitats across borders.
While state protected areas such as Amboseli National Park generally enjoy a high level of protection, parks alone are not sufficient to preserve ecologically intact landscapes with their functions and species on a large scale. This is exactly what many wild animal species need for survival: large complexes of protected areas connected to each other by ecologically intact migration corridors. However, the current trend in many parts of Kenya is moving in the opposite direction: vast Maasai communal lands are being divided into plots and privatized. As a result, fences and other barriers are increasingly interrupting the migration routes of wild animals and limiting their habitats.
For centuries, people in Kenya and Tanzania have been living alongside elephants and other wildlife. However, as more land is being used for agriculture and fences block the traditional migration routes of elephants, conflicts between humans and animals are increasing – with devastating consequences for both sides. The goal of the WWF's work in the model project in Nasaru Olosho, supported by the Michael Otto Stiftung, is to improve the living conditions of local communities and secure habitats and migration corridors for wild animals. This benefits numerous species such as lions, elephants, and giraffes. Additionally, the area will be restored where necessary, and community wildlife rangers will help prevent poaching or unsustainable practices like overgrazing, as well as mitigate conflicts between humans and wildlife. Furthermore, the WWF is working with the local population to develop alternative sources of income such as ecotourism or milk and honey production, and to devise strategies to increase the resilience of the communities in the face of the climate crisis through adapted economic practices and improved land and water management.
In this process, women within the communities are specifically supported: Currently, 14 community groups in Nasaru Olosho, consisting of a total of 210 women and 210 young people, benefit from over 300 beehives that serve to improve their livelihoods. Additionally, self-managed community conservation areas, known as conservancies, provide income alternatives to agriculture and livestock farming for the people in the region. For this purpose, communities allocate ecologically valuable areas that are to be used exclusively in a nature-friendly manner. Fences are removed and animal migrations are facilitated once again. In return, farmers and landowners receive lease payments for their land from the conservancies, financed by ecotourism.
Source: WWF / Photo credits: © WWF