Electric fence saves Buuri residents from elephant invasions
Electric fence saves Buuri residents from elephant invasions
The Star
March 28, 2024
The Mutunyi community in Buuri, Meru county, is happy after the
commissioning of a 2.5km electric fence to deter elephants from destroying
their farms as well as killing and injuring people.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza
thanked the Lewa Safari Marathon for funding the project, adding that it
was an initiative that marked a significant milestone in wildlife
conservation efforts.
She said the construction of the fence underscored a collaborative effort
between Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the local community to mitigate
human-wildlife conflict.
“With elephants often encroaching into human settlements, posing threats to
lives and livelihoods, installation of the electric elephant fence serves
as a crucial step towards fostering coexistence between humans and
wildlife,” Governor Mwangaza said.
Lewa’s chief programmes officer John Kinoti said one of the
responsibilities they have taken seriously as a conservation group is
building partnerships and the construction of the fence was a sign of good
partnerships that they have with communities and the government of Meru.
“We are building partnerships for people in terms of their livelihood
enhancement because Mutunyi is an agricultural community and having an
electric fence helps to mitigate human-wildlife conflict,” Kinoti said.
The conservancy launched registration for the June 29 marathon to celebrate
25 years with the clarion call of connecting generations.
“We are saying that it is time to connect generations and one way to
celebrate this is that we have done an electric fence that is going to
connect generations of young to old people in terms of farming and that is
the reason we are calling on everyone to support us in this marathon,”
Kinoti said.
Lawrence Riungu, the community development programmes officer at Lewa
Conservancy, said the Mutunyi community had for years struggled to deter
elephants from destroying their crops in vain but through the support of
the Lewa Safari Marathon Fund for the community in the 2022-2023 financial
year, it has been possible.
Since the completion of the fence in December last year, Riungu added, the
farmers returned to their farms and had a bumper harvest from the last
season’s rains.
“I am happy to continue supporting the community on development projects so
it can see the value and the benefits of what they do daily,” said Mr
Riungu.
Mutunyi community chairman David Mwiti said that in the past they had
serious challenges emanating from the invasion of elephants, which had led
to people abandoning their farms and relocating to the markets.
They tried to construct a stone fence along the routes that elephants use
in vain, until they got a partnership with Lewa Conservancy.
“When Lewa came in, they sat down with the community’s development
committee where we agreed that constructing an electric fence to deter
elephants from invading our farms was a priority. The community
participated in the project by providing labour while the conservancy gave
us the required materials,” Mwiti said.
He said with the establishment of the fence, the community members can walk
around safely and sleep comfortably.
Gladys Nkatha said they were happy that they could comfortably utilise
their farms and produce adequate food for both consumption and commercial
purposes.
“Since our relocation to this area in 1986, we have been having conflicts
with elephants which made it impossible for us to do any crop production in
our farms as they would eventually be destroyed by elephants,” she said.
“At the moment, we can now get back to our farms and stop leasing farms in
other areas.”