For millennia, humans have fought against nature, trying to beat it back in our attempts to create a comfort zone for humanity. Time and time again we have lost, as evidenced by the ruins of various civilizations across the world, reclaimed by forest, bush, and sand.

Modern agriculture is one frontline of this battle, and with the various chemicals and poisons available ‘we’ are actually starting to emerge on top. But no-one seems to understand that by defeating nature we are defeating ourselves. The pesky insects killed by insecticides are no longer there to pollinate the crops. The soils that we are ‘enhancing’ with synthetic fertilizers are no longer able to sustain the yields they once did.

It’s a common story from farmers across Amboseli: “This soil used to produce lots with little input, but now I get little unless I add a lot (of chemicals)!”

We say, enough. These chemicals are destroying the land, poisoning people, and poisoning animals.

Through the ‘One Heart Farm’ project at Enkijape Primary School, founded by Rhona Mitra and her supporters, Big Life is hoping to inspire children with the knowledge that there is an alternative. Over the course of three years, students have seen this patch of barren soil become a lush garden, and not one synthetic chemical has contributed to this success, the fruits of which are being used in the school kitchen when available.

A farm club exposes children to how natural systems work, and how humans can maintain a sustainable place within them. When you spot more birds and insects within a farm than out, that’s a sure sign that something is going right.

We intend to continue to grow this farm, and the project with it, to create a model that can both supply schools with healthy vegetables, as well as teaching children that you can work with nature, rather than against it.

As always happens this time of year, we are looking forward to rain. While the seemingly biblical rains of last spring held us over for longer than usual, the landscape here has long since turned to dust. And with it have come the usual complications.

During the third quarter of this year, there were 94 crop-raiding incidents, all involving elephants. Bushmeat poaching spikes as well during the dry season, but thanks to the hard work of our community rangers and field partners, we had fewer incidents this quarter than at this time last year. We also found, confiscated, and destroyed 42 snares this quarter, two of which were designed to target rhinos.

There is no keeping the Chyulu Hills rhino population, of which there are now eight, a secret. Thus, Big Life has 51 rangers stationed in seven outposts—an almost 1-to-1 ratio of outposts to rhinos—throughout the rhino territory, all dedicated to protecting this incredibly small but important population. The enforcement and security measures done in tandem with Kenya Wildlife Service are working, and the rhinos are increasingly more secure. For the first time in decades, two rhinos were photographed out in the open this quarter. That is a success worth celebrating!

The weather and the wildlife are not the only things about our landscape that have changed this past quarter. Our Area of Operation (AOO) did too. Management of our conservation initiatives on Olgulului Group Ranch were handed over to the local community at their request, which has freed up resources to expand to other areas needing our assistance. Conservation initiatives are expanding to the north of our core AOO in Eselengei, as well as to the south in Enduimet on the Tanzanian side of the border. We’ll be reporting on both communities as operations pick up moving forward.

As always, there’s a lot a stake here and much to be done. Thank you to our partners and supporters from around the world for making our work possible.

Richard Bonham
Director of Operations, Big Life Kenya

READ THE FULL 3RD QUARTERLY REPORT

We’re in the home stretch: the race for the gold is on! Only one last regional event stands in the way of the 2018 Maasai Olympics Finals.

Since August, the four main manyatta (warrior-village) teams have competed in five regional sporting events, accruing points and prestige along the way. The last regional event, to be hosted by Mbirikani Group Ranch later this month, is the final test of strength before the main event in December.

And because no sporting event is complete without spectators, we’re happy to report that over 2,000 warriors, men, women, and children have journeyed across the ecosystem to support the regional competitions, loudly cheering from the sidelines. Their participation is testimony to the shifting mindset of local communities: from lion killing, to lion conservation.

Simultaneously, there is another gold rush happening. This one is a bit furrier. The Chyulu Hills’ lion population is continuing to grow. One pride now totals 16 lions, with 10 cubs. This this the largest pride and highest number of cubs recorded in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem in years, potentially even decades.* Given that African lion populations have declined by about 50% in the last 20 years, this is absolutely joyous news.

As we enter the final stretch of this year’s Maasai Olympics season, our hope is that both local communities and local lion populations will continue to come out on top – now, and far into the future.

*This information is made possible by Big Life’s ecosystem partner, Lion Guardians, who undertakes lion monitoring work.

It was probably not an easy decision, but she was suffering from pains, and her child was sick. So, she made the 7 km journey to the rural village of Kalesirua.  Luckily, the journey was time well spent.

Big Life Foundation was conducting its second mobile health clinic of the year, and the woman was able to access medical treatment, family planning services, and take-away nutritional supplements for her children. She was one of the 271 people - men, women, and children - that received health services that day.

In the more remote parts of Big Life’s area of operation, there are Maasai communities that are very isolated from healthcare. Consequently, children often go unvaccinated, serious health issues are regularly ignored, and testing and counseling are a rarity.

Realizing healthy families result in healthy communities, Big Life has been stepping in to help fill this lifesaving gap. Thus far, in 2018, Big Life and the Kenya Ministry of Health have provided 527 people access to healthcare, de-wormed 1,107 children, and provided long-term family planning to 23 women.

While the clinics are mobile, for the hundreds of community members who are able to receive medical services, the impact is lasting.