Loss of grazing habitat is the major threat to Grevy’s zebra, and healthy rangelands features as one of Grevy’s Zebra Trust’s three primary goals in our strategic plan.
We build on traditional livestock management methods used by pastoralists to address the root cause of land degradation, which directly improves the health of soils and plants.
Photos © Andrew Peacock
What does it take to grow a healthy plant?
- Sunshine
- Water
- Healthy aerated soil
- Enough time for growth and recovery after grazing
In northern Kenya plants have:
- Sunshine
- Enough Rainfall
- Hard, Compacted Soil
- Inadequate time for growth and recovery (due to constant grazing)
Because of the hard, compacted soil, only about 20-30% of rainfall can soak into it. The rest is lost to run-off (usually in the form of flooding) and evaporation. Our work aims to increase the effectiveness of the water cycle by breaking up hard, compacted soil using livestock hooves. This allows rainfall to soak in and nutrients to be assimilated.
In northern Kenya, the nomadic culture of the pastoralists is changing, with permanently settled communities across the landscape. As a result, their livestock is not moving like it used to, and there is continuous grazing of plants throughout the landscape. This limits plant growth and recovery. To address this, we are working with communities, to intentionally plan for recovery time, which requires identifying grazing areas where livestock is prohibited, to allow for their recovery.
Simply by modifying herding and timing, livestock can be transformed into an eco-tool.
“It’s just a matter of planning, of setting aside areas for dry and wet season grazing and giving grass recovery time, of clearing invasive species and reseeding bare land. We just need to plan. If we fail to do this, we will get more problems. Poverty will increase and the trees that produce forage for small stock will disappear and other plant species that are not palatable for livestock and wildlife will increase. I want to focus ahead because we cannot go backwards. If people really have the heart, that passion, about their area like I do, this area will recover its health.”
-Samburu elder, Lesachore.
See results of this work
Healthy Rangelands
