Soysambu Conservancy

Category: 1, Community, Conservation, Education | Date: Nov 14 2009 | By: victoria knyvett

” Clothes swap evening”clothes-swap-nov-11-09-004.jpg
Wednesday November the 11th, London - I hosted a “clothes swap evening” here at home to raise funds for the kids I taught at Mbogo Primary back in May. By the time I reached Soysambu I had already given away the pens, pencils, paper etc that I had brought out from England and therefore had nothing to donate to the children of Mbogo Primary School. I left them with a heavy heart but a determination to try and raise some money for them to buy the basics to keep on learning. I came up with the idea of a clothes swap evening in the summer for my girlfriends, something that was fun, a little bit different and would hopefully generate some money!

Everyone had to bring 3 pieces of clothing and hang them up on arrival. It was £15 a head and the idea was to have a fun girlie evening with wine and canapes, followed by a trying on session! The evening was great fun and a huge success, with everyone going home with at least one “new” item of clothing. I’m now well on track to raising £300 to wire over to Kat and the team at Soysambu by the end of November!

Tags: clothes swap evening

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Category: Community, Conservation, Habitat Preservation, Wildlife | Date: Nov 13 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

Here on Soysambu Conservancy we are not only working to protect and preserve the wildlife and habitat in our immediate vicinity, but the Conservancy land is a crucial part of a bigger wildlife and habitat protection project- The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project.

The aim of the project is to secure critical habitat for the free movement of wildlife between Nakuru Park and Lake Naivasha by connecting key community, private and public lands. Moving north to south, the long-term vision seeks to connect three nationally and internationally important water sources in the Rift Valley – Lake Nakuru, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Naivasha as part of a greater conservation area. The Project is involving land holders of small and large scale farms, businesses, properties already designated as wildlife sanctuaries, Kenya Land Conservation Trust; Kenya Wildlife Service; The Lakes Nakuru, Naivasha and Elmenteita Conservation Area (LaNNECA); and other conservation bodies.

As we look around us it can be disheartening to see forests and natural habitat being cleared to make way for more farms. However, a lion that recently roamed from Nakuru Park, through Soysambu all the way down to Lake Naivasha area was a symbol of hope that there still is hope in protecting this corridor. There is no doubt though, the window of opportunity is closing, which is why we are working right now to conserve this strip of precious habitat. So far the response and enthusiasm to the project has been very encouraging.

By supporting The Conservancy, you are not only helping to protect the wildlife, habitat and communities within and around Soysambu, but you are helping to preserve one of the last remaining wildlife corridors through the Kenyan Rift Valley. Please consider making a donation to Soysambu Conservancy, no matter how big or small, your money will go directly to protecting and conserving this land.

Tags: Rift Valley Conservation, The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project

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Category: Community, Conservation, Wildlife | Date: Nov 08 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

The day after I wrote the below article on the , our security team came across 30+ snares in one small area of Soysambu, proving that this really is a daily battle and something needs to happen now to stop it.

Pictured below is Soysambu Conservancy Community and Wildlife manager Charles Muthui with Mohammed, one of the security rangers unloading the snares yesterday (Saturday 7th Nov).  

Tags: Kenya bush meat trade, snares, Soysambu Conservancy

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Category: Community, Conservation, Education, Rothschild Giraffe, Wildlife | Date: Nov 06 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

Warning: The blog below contains links to some graphic images…

Poaching for the bush meat trade has long been a problem on Soysambu.

Trespassers break onto The Conservancy and set snares - nooses made from lengths of wire, attached to a tree, bush or fence and hung over animal trails (see image below).

The unwitting animal, be it an Impala, Gazelle, Zebra, Buffalo, Eland etc, walks into the snare and becomes trapped. The more it pulls or struggles the tighter the snare becomes, eventually leading to a cruel death by suffocation. The animal is then collected and either eaten, or the meat sold.

Continue Reading »

Tags: Bush meat trade, Kenya, poaching, Soysambu Conservancy

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Category: Wildlife | Date: Nov 05 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

Over the last two weeks the Conservancy has finally been getting some much needed respite from the drought. Below are some pics I snapped this afternoon on a drive through the Conservancy.

1. For the first time in 5 months there is finally some water in the Mereroni River, while it is not quite flowing into Lake Elmenteita yet, we are hopeful that with a few more showers the stream will reach to the lake shore.

2. Two young male Water Bucks enjoying the fresh juicy grass.

3. This Jackal and his mate stop mid Dikdik hunt to watch with curiosity as we drive by.

4. A Rothschild’s Giraffe enjoys the freshly budding leaves of a mathuthi bush.

5. Finally, the glorious site of The Nose and flamingos reflected in the lake water.

It is amazing that the colours in the landscape have changed so dramatically over the last two weeks. Incredible what a bit of rain can do!

-Kate

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Category: Community, Conservation, Great White Pelican, Habitat Preservation, Ramsar, Wildlife | Date: Nov 05 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

This article written by Beatrice Obwocha appeared in the Kenyan national newspaper The Standard today (5//11/09)

From the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, the shoreline of Lake Elementaita looks like a desert surrounding a small patch of water.

The western and eastern shores of the lake hold little patches of water from hot springs while the main basin of one of Rift Valley’s smallest lakes is turning into a dust bowl.

One gets the impression that they can walk right across the remaining muddy patch that stretches several kilometres.

When strong winds blow, a whirlwind of grey dust sweeps right across the lake whose water levels have declined to less than half a metre deep.

Not even water from the recent rains pounding Nakuru and its environs seem to have made a difference on the lake.

Thousand of flamingos that used to line its shores, giving them a pink hue, have migrated elsewhere as the lake’s water level has declined to its lowest in 20 years.
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Tags: , Flamingo, Soysambu Conservancy, The Standard

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Category: Community, Habitat Preservation | Date: Nov 03 2009 | By: Kate Jennings

Soysambu Conservancy has just entered in America’s Giving Challenge, which gives us a chance to win $$$! The competition is only running for another 5 days so we may be out of the running for the $50,000 major prize, but there are daily awards of $1,000 and $500 if we can get the most people to donate in any 24-hour period.

The great thing about this Challenge is that it doesn’t matter how much you give, but instead how much you do to encourage friends and family to get involved in our cause.We all need to come together and start promoting Soysambu Conservancy to win some money to help conserve this beautiful patch of land.

Each of us has tonnes of friends on Facebook who we can ask to donate to our cause. But let’s think big too—can you put our cause in your email signature, can you throw a party and get people to donate through the cause when they enter, can you organize other people to go out and fundraise from all of their friends? As you reach out to your friends be sure to tell them why Soysambu Conservancy matters to you. The possibilities are endless so let’s talk about what we can do to win on the Conservancy Cause Wall or by replying to this bulletin.I think we can do it! But it’s going to take all of us.

Check out the Giving Challenge ( www.causes.com ), then visit our cause to see how we’re doing so far and get involved.

You can donate right now by going to http://www.causes.com/donations/

Let’s win some money for Soysambu Conservancy!

Thank you

Kate Jennings

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