Woodlands 2000 Trust, Friends of Conservation (FOC) & Basecamp Masai Mara

Background:
We feel priviliged to be a part of the most spectacular ecosystems on earth. Yet, even an impressive place like the Mara has its problems. One serious threat this ecosystem faces is the destruction of its woodlands. Most often the elephants are held to blame. But human beings are also responsible. Traditionally, the Maasai have used the trees in their environment for medical use, cooking, house building and for the construction of fences around their settlements. Estimates indicate that the basic survival of each individual depends upon some 20 trees per year. The human population of the Mara area is increasing and in some places this off-take is not sustainable. The uncontrolled exploitation of trees by tourist camps and lodges in the Mara is having a significant effect on the woodlands too. Each year for construction, water heating, cooking and campfires tourist facilities are together responsible for cutting down an estimated of 55 000 trees! The result is an ever-increasing amount of wood taken from an ever-decreasing number of trees. If the destruction of the woodlands continues, the survival of the Mara will be at stake, and the lives of the next generation of Maasai will be impoverished.

Aims:
To act as role models for the tourism industry in  being self sustainable with firewood.
To recreate the riverine forest along Talek River for biodiversity conservation.
To build awareness and increase the knowledge about natural resource management to the local community.

The results:
The non-profit Basecamp Treeplantation project helps alleviate these problems. In the year 2000 land was made available for this purpose by Talek Primary School and the Taek family. 6000 fast growing  indigenous trees were planted, another 4 000 were planted by Basecamp and our  treeplantation caretakers in 2001, many of which are donations from our guests.

The continuation of the Woodlot project 2004:
The plantation was started in May 2000, having different sections planted in steps in order to maintain and manage with water and nutrients.  By the end of 2004 the first harvesting will be done only by thinning out some trees, leaving most of them to grow. The trees sorted out will be used either for firewood for camp and also as construction materials for the neighbouring Maasai families.

The continuation of the riperian zone Talek River project 2004:
A  second  phase of recreating the areas of Talek and in particular the riperian zones of the Talek River, involved the planting of up to 30 000 trees. An area as wide as 80 metres and three kilometer long have been decided in co-operation with the local landowners to see indigenous trees being planted. This will increase the biodiversity as well as decrease the erosion of the river banks.

The way forward

• continue the  awareness and capacity building programme introduced in 2001, training and educating  young local Maasai forestry entrepreneurs, now running tree nurseries adjacent to the camp and supervising the treeplantations.
• intensify the  co-operation with Talek Primary School on bidiversity awareness and capacity building broadening the knowledge of the community
• develop Basecamp Treeplantation Project into a training site  for the local Maasai and the tourism sector
• interact with the Basecamp network of destinations reducing the CO2 emissions globally.

A key goal to BasecampExplorer A/S is to develop a model project for tourist ventures where concerns for conservation issues and local cultures are fully integrated. Basecamp Masai Mara Treeplanting Project is one way we aim to make a difference. Your contribution will help us to make a positive impact in our small corner of the Mara and inspire others to follow.