This community-based organization has worked since 1990 to conserve wetlands and biodiversity in and around Saiwa Swamp National Park, home to approximately 25 per cent of Kenya's vulnerable Grey Crowned Crane population. During the 1980s eucalyptus cultivation resulted in drainage of the swamp and damage to habitats.

The catalyst for reversing these trends came from a leader of the local Catholic parish, who mobilized community members to conserve a five-kilometer stretch of swamp – actively abandoning smallholder plots within the area and voluntarily planting a range of native tree species, including acacia varieties, around its border. This has allowed the wetlands to regenerate, and enabled the maintenance of a healthy crane population - the most recent count within the Kipsaina wetlands, in December 2009, found 35 individuals.

 

Key Facts 

Equator Prize Winner: 2006

Founded: 1990

Location: Western edge of Great Rift Valley, Kenya

Beneficiaries: Kipsaina and other surrounding villages

Biodiversity: Saiwa Swamp National Park

 

Case Study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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