Almost 400 kms in length, the Rhino Ark Aberdare Fence - one of Kenya’s most ambitious, entirely home grown, conservation initiatives was formally completed today.

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Hon Noah Wekesa, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife placed the final post into the ground at a ceremony attended by hundreds of forest edge farmers and well attended by Government officials and Rhino Ark donors. His act completed the construction of the Rhino Ark Aberdare Fence started 21 years ago.

Commented Colin Church, Chairman of the Rhino Ark Management Committee: “This is a historic moment for literally millions of Kenyans who are either benefiting from the stability that the fence has given the forest edge farmers, or the wider elements of society and those friends of Kenya abroad who over 21 years have raised over ksh 750 million to see the fruition of this fence.”

“At this time of severe drought and considerable turbulence over indigenous forest conservation in the 4000 sq km Mau forest, the Rhino Ark fence is a beacon of hope and a proven management tool to ensure Aberdares 2000 sq kms of vital water catchment, precious indigenous forest and irreplaceable flora and fauna are better secured.

The project is a blue print for other threatened forest ecosystems in Kenya and the wider Eastern Africa and tropical Africa regions”, said Mr Church.

Its secret of success has always been that forest edge farmers have welcomed the fence since it has resolved human wildlife conflict on a grand scale. In turn as full crop off take is secured and land values have risen, the fence line farmers have turned to become the guardians of the indigenous forest inside the fence. They are now playing a key part monitoring the fence, reporting illegal and corrupt activities, planting indigenous trees inside the fence, developing forms of sustainable activity on their shambas and providing trained fence scouts who daily walk the fence and help manage it.

In 1989 under the inspiration of Rhino Ark founder the late Mr Ken Kuhle and the early supporters of Rhino Ark, the first ksh 250,000 was raised from their brainchild Rhino Charge. This enabled the fence project to start. Today Rhino Charge – a world unique off road event – raises Ksh 60-70 million (about USD 1 million) annually. Rhino Ark attracts considerable further support from corporate and bilateral grants annually too.
During the past three years realisation of the benefit of the fence as a management tool for Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service has convinced the Kenyan Treasury to invest in the fence as well. To date over ksh 100 million has been provided for wire and posts via KWS and KFS.

Amongst the forest edge farmers at the ceremony today were groups from Gatamayiu, Kekika (Keraita/Kieni/Kamae) and Kipipiri all whom have won the prestigious Michael Werikhe Award for services to conservation in the Aberdare ecosystem. The award is donated by the East African Wildlife Society and selected by the Rhino Charge Committee annually.

The final post was placed on the elephant corridor section at Geta, thus completing the elephant corridor and the final Kipipiri Extra section of fence started in October last year.

Elephants have ranged through forest land that links the two mountains for centuries. KFS, KWS and Rhino Ark reached a comprehensive agreement on the corridor alignment last month enabling the final 13 kms of the entire fence project to be completed before the end of August, 2009. It is the first such elephant corridor linking the Aberdares with a neighbouring elephant range area.

Seven rivers flow from the highly threatened Mt Kipipiri through the Kinankop farmland and into Lake Naivasha. It is a precious water catchment zone of indigenous forest.

Rhino Ark’s project has created the largest wildlife fence successfully resolving human wildlife conflict in Eastern Africa. It contains 8000 kms of wire – sufficient to stretch from Nairobi to London; and 100,000 posts of which 20,000 are made from plastic waste.

Along it entire length, forest edge farmers have participated in its construction and in its maintenance. Every 8 kms of the fence is daily patrolled by fence scouts employed from the forest edge communities.

The Aberdare fence is in reality now a public/private venture and as such ensures that all who need its benefits are responsible for its long term management.

The Kenya Government has started to endorse the principle of shared investment by committing the ksh 100 million to the project to date. The principle of ‘a shilling for a shilling’ to ensure shared fiscal responsibility from both civil society taxpayers and the Treasury is taking route.

The formation of a trust with a mandate to manage the fence technically and to play an active role in the Aberdare’s ecosystem management generally is in preparation. It will bring this project to sustainability under a legally binding statute.

Last week the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hosted Rhino Ark and key Aberdare’s’ stakeholders including KFS/KWS/Greenbelt Movement/Kenya Forest Working Group to launch an environmental assessment of the now completed fence and to make recommendations for both the fence and the ecosystem’s management.