Conservation projects news from the World Land Trust, an international wildlife conservation charity working to protect threatened wildlife habitats worldwide.
The loss of grasslands is having a devastating effect on wildlife all over the world. These habitats are being lost to agriculture and development, and surviving grasslands are increasingly fragmented. The Kinangop Highlands of Kenya is one of the grasslands under threat. This area consists of largely unprotected grasslands which are vanishing at an alarming rate.
Top: Kinangop Grassland. Above: A Sharpe's Longclaw, an endangered species that occurs only in Kenya (photo © Charlie Moores/10000birds.com). Click on the images to see larger versions.The Kinangop Highlands are the stronghold of Sharpe's Longclaw, a bird endemic to Kenya that is seriously threatened by the loss of its grassland home. As much as three quarters of 'tussock' vegetation the Sharpe's Longclaws require may have already been lost in the Kinangop Plateau, threatening the survival of these birds.
The World Land Trust (WLT) are aiming to help our partners Nature Kenya buy a strategically important area of grassland consisting of 50 acres by December 2009. The reason for the urgency is that the price of land in this area is escalating.
Help us protect the Sharpe's Longclaws in Kinangop
This is a project with enormous conservation value, so please support this appeal now: You can donate via our fundraising page on Justgiving or by contacting the WLT office.
Learn more about the new Kenyan Grasslands Project »
Labels: Kenya
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World Land Trust (WLT) made a visit to East Africa in mid February, with John Burton, CEO and Ruth Canning, Conservation Projects Officer meeting two potential project partners.
For many years supporters of the WLT have been urging us to get involved in Africa, but despite several visits we have never managed to identify a suitable project or a suitable partner with whom to work, but that is now set to change.
Nature Kenya, and the Tanzanian Wildlife Conservation Society, are both relatively small, but very active locally managed conservation NGOs, who have a strong interest in community land-based conservation projects.
WLT's John Burton and Ruth Canning with Friends of Kinangop Plateau (FoKP), a local site support group for Nature Kenya.Protecting Grasslands in Kenya
Nature Kenya is developing a proposal to acquire small pockets of privately owned grasslands in the highlands near Lake Naivasha. These grasslands are rapidly disappearing and are home to endemic and endangered wildlife, and in particular, the few hundred surviving Sharpe's Longclaws. John was lucky enough to see this rare bird during his visit. Rather like a skylark with a yellowish breast, it is very difficult to see, and when flushed it flies off as fast as it can and immediately hides. But, just as the skylarks of Great Britain, they are important indicator species and should be protected at all costs. Their grassland habitat is being ploughed up for cash crops - which also displaces traditional cattle grazing.
With strong community backing this project has a good chance of success and every 6 acres will protect another breeding pair of Sharpe's Longclaws.
The "Bunduki Gap", which will be reforested thanks to funding provided by the WLT. Click on the image to see a larger version.A Forest Corridor in Tanzania
Meanwhile in Tanzania, we propose to use funds already raised for restoration purposes to create a corridor of 263 acres (106.5 ha) between two sectors of the Ulugurus Forest reserves. The Uluguru mountains are home to numerous endemics, the best known of which are the African violets: the ancestor of the popular house plant. The surrounding habitats are impacted by human population growth, and, in the long-term, help with community development is going to be essential to prevent encroachment into protected areas.
More information on these new project initiatives will be available on the website in due course.
Labels: Kenya, Tanzania
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