By Clifford Akumu
In Mara-Siana village in Western Narok, residents have traditionally depended on natural water sources for their livelihoods.
However, these springs, streams, and rivers have deteriorated and become polluted over time due to intensive human activities, including illegal sand harvesting, deforestation, intensive agriculture, and the effects of climate change.
Osero River was among those affected. Eight years ago, human activities including illegal sand harvesting, logging activities, and soil erosion caused by lorries transporting sand along river banks, posed a significant threat to its survival. This negatively impacted wildlife numbers and caused water insecurity among the community.
The sight of sand harvesters armed with their spades extracting the gift of nature that powered the rapid growth of urban areas in Narok County was an eyesore.
However, restoration initiatives undertaken by the Mara-Siana Conservancy and the local community to protect River Osero have paid off. Today, the river flows freely with both wild animals and the community enjoying its precious liquid.
Osero River depends on the Mara-Siana Hills as its catchment and snakes its way through the 10,000-hectare conservancy before joining Sekenani River, a few kilometres downstream.
Osero and Sekenani rivers are the main water sources for the wildlife and the community that borders the conservancy. The two rivers are the lifeblood of the Mara River -the lungs of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem as it serves mega wildlife, biodiversity, and thousands of livelihoods along the basin before it empties its water into Lake Victoria.
Mara River is the only river that flows permanently and serves as a reliable water source for wildlife in the Mara-Serengeti area. Keeping the river flowing is critical in increasing wildlife populations.
The Mara-Siana community voluntarily abandoned sand mining and moved out to pave the way for conservation. They are reaping the fruits of these conservation efforts.
When the region recently experienced drought and pastoralists were counting losses from livestock deaths, the community had enough water and pasture for their animals. They even hosted other communities from neighbouring Kajiado and Tanzania who came with their livestock to look for pasture and water.
“During drought, we host people especially from Tanzania, Kajiado, and Narosura who come to live in this community or the villages of Sekenani, Olelentia, and Nkoilale because this is the only place they can easily find water,” said Victor Mukabana, Manager at Mara Siana Conservancy.
Mukabana explains that restoring the river has led to an increase in wildlife population, reduced cases of poaching, and benefited the local communities with clean water for domestic use.
“When we started the conservancy, we had very few numbers of zebras and Thompson gazelles. The conservancy has grown because now you can find up to 100 elephants in one place, 200 to 300 zebras,” he observed.
Mark Ololosho, Sekenani River health champion who has been assessing the water quality for the last three years narrates how restoration initiatives have impacted the river’s life.
“Where people are concentrated you find that the water is not very clean because there are so many human activities going on in the river-especially sand harvesting. In this part of the river, the water is clear and you can even drink it,” noted Ololosho, a member of the Sekenani Water Resource Users Association(WRUA).
However, getting the local community to stop sand harvesting and deforestation was not a walk in the park. Mukabana narrates how restoring the river took a series of community sensitization forums, and lobbying to bring to life the region’s tapestry of natural beauty.
The conservancy and other environment experts trained the community on the importance of river conservation, its impact on the larger Mara ecosystem, and the community’s livelihoods and health. Mara-Siana Conservancy partnered with the WRUAs to mobilize the locals on the importance of ecosystem restoration and planting trees.
He notes that the community also got involved in the catchment restoration of the forest.
“We started with catchment restoration. By putting in place measures to control soil erosion along the gulleys that has enabled us to minimize river erosion,” added Mukabana.
Gradually, the sand harvesting sites were abandoned, the road that used to pass through the conservancy was blocked, and the result: flowing clean water downstream.
“We used to tell the community that we are not only doing this for the wildlife but also for their benefit. After a few years, the community fully embraced the idea because they started getting clean water downstream,” Mukabana said, pointing at the road that lorries used for ferrying sand.
“We used to get between 10-15 lorries daily coming to load sand in this river. The impact caused by the lorries ferrying sand from the river led to soil erosion affecting the downstream users of the river. This was a big setback to the conservation of the entire ecosystem,” added Mukabana.
“There was a lot of regeneration, the river regenerated naturally because now there was no disturbance in the river flow line, and that helped the river to heal naturally and with time water started to reappear again and it gave birth to the flow of the river.”
A recent tour of River Osero painted the true impact of restoration. A herd of buffaloes grazing in the expansive grassland occasionally locked horns playfully as they gazed at our presence. A few meters away, elephants, elands, waterbucks, and zebras quenched their thirst with the undisturbed waters of the river.
Truly, the community and conservancy are playing a lead role in tackling some of the biggest environmental threats, from climate change to species loss and pollution threatening the river.
The efforts to save the rivers along the Mara basin are led by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Kenya (WWF-Kenya), which is working with several WRUAs including Sekenani, Morijo, Naikarra(sand river), Leshuta, Olderkesi, and Parkitapu to conduct river health assessment.
Paul Ronoh, Secretary Mara River WRUA noted that the association is promoting sustainable agriculture, and livelihoods among its members to boost the conservation of the Mara River.
“Conserving the rivers should start with the community. We have set aside areas where the farmers practice beekeeping along the river to enhance their livelihoods. We also have programs that train the farmers on sustainable agriculture to avoid soil erosion of the river,” said Ronoh.
Kevin Gichangi, Coordinator Projects and Program in Greater Mara Sub-Landscape at WWF-Kenya confirms that the Mara basin has been undergoing degradation for several decades.
“The state of the Mara Basin 50 years ago and now is very different. We have lost close to 40 percent of forest cover, mostly in the Mau catchment, and the water quality has deteriorated over the years,” said Gichangi during The Mara Day Celebrations under the theme, “Flowing Forward Together: Conserving the Mara Basin Ecosystem for Sustainable Biodiversity and Climate Change Resilience”.The day aims to highlight the significance of the River Mara- a vital transboundary water resource shared between Kenya and Tanzania.
He notes that the enactment of the Water Act in 2002, which gave the local community a voice in collaborative water management through the establishment of the WRUAs has led to a new chapter in water resource management and restoration.
“We are seeing a lot of changes by the community being central to water resource management. We are working with the WRUA’s on restoration initiatives through deforestation, promoting sustainable agriculture to reduce soil erosion and in effect reduce the sediment load in the river,” he added.
He notes that Mara River is quite vulnerable to climate shifts. “In 2009 and 2017, when we had severe drought, the flow rate of the river was almost one cubic metres per second which is considered a critical point. All these can only be reversed if we restore the entire catchment,” said Mr Gichangi.
Christian Chonya, Head of WWF Fresh Water Lead, Tanzania noted that collaboration between the two countries is critical in conserving the Mara ecosystem.
“The future of this critical ecosystem depends on the actions we take today. One of the initiatives that we are developing is the shared water allocation principles to help guide water use,” said Chonya.
Shared water allocation is the process of dividing water resources between different uses and sectors, such as human consumption, food production and industry. It boosts water management and protection. It is also vital due to the ongoing water scarcity, climate vulnerability and increasing demand for water.
