Zacharia Mutinda Muteti
Other projects
24 Jan 2023
Investigating Nutritional Factors that Drive Elephant Utilisation of Lake Jipe, Tsavo West Ecosystem, Kenya
Human-elephant coexistence is essential for the sustainable development of the Jipe area. By involving the community in monitoring and mitigating interactions, the project fosters ownership and responsibility towards wildlife conservation. Citizen science initiatives empower locals with skills for data collection and analysis, improving incident reporting and mitigation strategies. Environmental education raises awareness about climate change and its impact on ecosystems, teaching sustainable resource management. This project combines citizen science, climate-adaptive agriculture, environmental education, and sustainable fisheries management to promote a harmonious relationship between humans and elephants, ensuring sustainable natural resource use for future generations.
Exploring fishing techniques with Thomas Odeyo of the National Museums of Kenya and a local fisherman's family. ©Zacharia Mutinda.
The Fostering Coexistence project, an innovative initiative by the Eco Jipe Program, seeks to promote sustainable human-elephant coexistence around Lake Jipe, located on the Kenya-Tanzania border. The project targets the Jipe community, which resides in four villages adjacent to Tsavo West National Park, part of the Tsavo Conservation area, home to more than 14,300 elephants, slightly over 30% of the total population. The Jipe ecosystem is an essential dry season refuge for livestock and wildlife from Tsavo West National Park. Elephants, being water-dependent, spend significant periods in the ecosystem outside the park interacting with the Jipe community, leading to positive (tourism) and negative encounters as they compete for space and resources. Lake Jipe fishery serves as the primary source of livelihood for 85% of the local 7,008 community members in both Kenya and Tanzania. The community relies on the lake for ecosystem goods and services. However, the increasing human-elephant interactions threaten this delicate balance, posing challenges to both conservation efforts and human livelihoods. The project aims to integrate citizen science, sustainable fishing practices, adoption of alternative livelihoods and climate-adaptive agriculture to address these complex challenges.
Women processing fish at Kachero landing site, Jipe. ©Zacharia Mutinda.
The project's primary objectives are to achieve: 1. Enhanced Community Coexistence by June 2025; through increased accurate incident reporting by 50%, and reduced human-elephant conflict incidents by 30% from baseline levels. 2. Climate-Adaptive Agriculture: Introduction of one climate-adaptive harmonious garden and permaculture principles by November 2024. 3. Environmental Education: By March 2025 elephant behaviour, individual identification awareness is raised among 500 community members in 10 workshops and engaged 200 participants in community-led sustainable resource management projects by the end of the project. 4. Sustainable Fisheries Management: Establishment of fish exploit records for the two Beach Management Units through citizen science by December 2025. 5. Establishment of eco-tourism and beekeeping as alternative livelihood interventions by April 2025.
Mapping elephant paths along the Jipe community area. ©Dennis Mulinge.
Header: Zacharia leads citizen science sessions around Jipe. ©Dennis Mulinge.