Project area
Curious in which area and with which community we’ve been digging bunds? Please scroll down! Do you want to go back to the regreening platform? THEN CLICK HERE.
The Enkii Area
Collaboration with partner MWCT
Do you see where the shovel is pointing at? That’s the area we’ve regreened: Enkii, 400 ha (4 km2) of land which is part of The Kuku Group Ranch in the south of Kenya. The Kuku Group Ranch is home to around 19,000 people, 114,500 ha in size and acts as a critical wildlife corridor.
Due to overgrazing and climate change, the Enkii area was very dry. See it with your own eyes by checking this 360-degree image of the area. But we’ve changed it! By digging bunds and protecting the area for a certain period of time, we brought back vegetation, making it useful again for the Enkii community.
The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust
Within the Enkii area we work together with The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT). They help to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity of East Africa through conservation that directly benefits local Maasai communities. They are responsible for the coordination of all activities and actors on location in the Kuku Group Ranch, including the Enkii area.
Enkii community
Maasai
Southern Kenya is the home to the Maasai people, who mostly depend on the land as a main source of income and food. The local Maasai population used to be nomadic, moving from one area to another, so that areas could recover in the meantime. Nowadays they no longer travel around, which means that soil can no longer recover. For this reason and due to climate change multiple areas in the Kuku group Ranch are degraded and a difficult environment for the inhabitants.
Therefore the Enkii community in the Kuku Group Ranch is really eager to restore their living environment. 140 Maasai farmers of this specific community joined the regreening project and are trained to dig bunds. This not only brings back nature, it also gives them an extra income.
COVID-19 measures
Digging while staying safe and healthy
Due to COVID-19, the project was temporarily on hold. Together with our local partner MWCT, we looked for an alternative way to pursue the digging activities. We developed a protocol that ensures the safety of all people involved:
* The digging takes place in small groups (max. 50 people within the area);
* There is a distance of at least 2 meters between the diggers, which will be easy to follow with the bund circle around them;
* No physical contact between the people in the field;
* Mask wearing from arrival onsite until departure;
* No sharing of digging equipment (or other materials);
* And encourage people having flu-like symptoms to stay at home.
With these measures, the farmers can regreen the Enkii area while staying healthy and safe.
