The Ol Lentille Conservation Area
Located In the Laikipia Plateau
Ol Lentille sits in a beautiful, remote region, with a nomadic culture, where the land had no boundaries, and cattle rustling was a rite of passage.
Trying to keep the fragile eco-system of the unfenced Ol Lentille conservancy safe is a fine balancing act, which requires all the skill, resilience and courage of our team of community rangers. Our 25 rangers, half of whom are armed “national police reservists”, hail from our four partner communities (two Maasai, and two Samburu), and have a deep understanding of the land and extensive relationships within their communities.
They patrol the extensive conservation area, mostly on foot, because the rugged, mountainous terrain is largely inaccessible by vehicle. The rangers protect the conservancy from poachers and illegal herders. They handle human-wildlife conflict, deal with invasive plant species and provide general security to a sometimes unstable region.
While the rangers occasionally resort to force to protect the conservancy, arresting intruders who pose a threat to the wildlife or the flora, they primarily use diplomacy and traditional conflict resolution methods to handle illegal herders. They enlist the support of elders, to defuse situations with hostile intruding warriors. They hold education sessions to explain the benefits of conservation to the warriors. They build relationships with remote communities, so that they get early warnings about a possible cattle invasion, and then negotiate with the herders to choose a different grazing ground.
The team, made up of community rangers (with the exception of a professional Warden), is in need of professional training, observation posts to spot intruders early, access roads to rapidly get to hot spots, and better equipment (binoculars, night vision goggles, GPS trackers)
