Protect Mt Elgon’s elephant maternity habitats, experts urge
Protect Mt Elgon’s elephant maternity habitats, experts urge
Evans Jaola & Barnabas Bii, The Nation
December 30, 2024
The Mt Elgon National Park is a unique tourism destination in the Western
region owing to its unique attraction sites with forest elephants being a
major attraction component.
“Holidaymakers visit the park to see which animals are roaming within the
caves. Jumbos (the elephants) go into the caves to drink water and you can
spot them licking some minerals. These are specific caves and are key
points for tourism within the Mt Elgon National Park,” noted Mr Collins
Omondi, the Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director in charge of the park.
He disclosed that December is the best season to visit the park for the
experience. Something else also happens here—the elephant maternity. It is
a section in the forest where elephants give birth.
“The elephant maternity is something we have not marketed a lot as well as
the Caves scenarios but we are gearing towards positioning these two unique
features at the park as attractions that can help us maximize returns
through visitation,” said Mr Chongwa.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and security personnel in the Mt Elgon region
have launched initiatives to restore elephant maternity caves where the
world’s largest terrestrial mammal bring forth their calves.
The environmentalists say that the sites where the jumbos consider the
safest place to breed in face serious threat due to encroachment by illegal
settlers who now use the section for agricultural purposes and grazing of
livestock, wanton harvesting of logs and poaching activities.
“What we are witnessing is massive environmental destruction, especially at
the riparian lands inside the forest where there is availability of salt
licks and soft food for the young elephants. The destruction of the
ecosystem fuels the impact of climate change, threatening both the survival
of the forest and the maternity homes for the jumbos,” said Moses |Ndiwa, a
local environmentalist.
Mt Elgon, one of the country’s five water towers is shared by Bungoma and
Trans Nzoia counties and extends to the neighbouring Uganda.
“The five water towers of Cherangani, Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Mau Complex and
the Aberdares that are a lifeline for Kenyans are experiencing declining
water volumes because of the prolonged drought and destruction of water
catchments by human activities,” explained Richard Yabei, Mt Elgon based
environmental expert.
Trans Nzoia has much bigger caves where elephants go to lick the minerals
but wildlife freely crosses to the three regions in search of food and
water.
“The riparian areas have plenty of sticky-clay-swamp mud, which is
essential for smearing over the bodies of the young ones to protect them
from insect bites—from tsetse flies, bees, safari ants and others. It is
now facing destruction by illegal settlers who have encroached to cultivate
food and graze livestock,” added Mr Chebonyo.
Among degraded areas include Kaberwa, Labot, Kapkatany, Kaboiwao and parts
of Chepkitale.
Apart from the Sabaot who form the majority of people occupying Mt Elgon,
other inhabitants of the mountainous area include the Ndorobo-Mosopisyeek,
the Bok, Someek, Ogiek and Koony communities.
The environmentalists have petitioned the government to enforce measures to
save the forest from further destruction by illegal settlers, saw millers
and poachers.
“We are alarmed with high levels of degradation, especially on the Mt.
Elgon and Cherang’any water towers which are facing massive encroachment,”
said Joshua Kipyego from Kaptama area.
The European Union (EU) and the national government have however launched a
Sh42 million project to rehabilitate Mt Elgon and Cherangany water towers
to mitigate against climate change and enhance productivity of ecosystem
services.
The programme, to be coordinated by the Kenya Forest Research Institute
(KEMFRI) will cover include Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and
Trans-Nzoia counties.
The project will run for five years and will involve four key components
activities— diversifying trees and farming methods, helping farmers to
plant trees, assisting farmers in conservation efforts and educating
communities involved in environment protection.
Further, environmental experts argue that the country’s forest cover which
was estimated to be about 15 per cent decades ago, is now approximated to
be less than 10 per cent due to indiscriminate destruction.