Possession of this plant can get you locked up for life in Hong Kong and the UAE, but it’s legally grown and traded across East Africa and into the Middle East: Catha edulis, better known as Khat, miraa, or as the wild version that grows in the Chyulu Hills is called, simply ‘Chyulu’.

The freshly plucked buds and soft leaves are chewed, producing a mild stimulant effect. These are also the parts of the plant that grow back fresh and strong after a fire, and that’s problematic.

Because for this reason, illegal miraa pickers frequently start the devastating fires that sweep the Chyulu Hills in the dry season each year, causing untold animal deaths, and destroying large areas of grassland.

Miraa pickers often work alone and leave very little trace, making these arsonists extremely difficult to arrest.  But sometimes they leave tracks, as happened recently.

Someone had started a fire in the northern reaches of the Chyulu Hills. While one of Big Life’s ranger units battled to contain the blaze, another unit followed the footprints down the hills and into a nearby village. There they were able to make one of our first arson-related arrests.

Meanwhile, the fire he’d started raged on, fanned by strong winds. 50 Big Life rangers fought the blaze, and were hugely grateful to be joined by teams from Ol Donyo Lodge, the Kenya Wildlife Service, and the Chyulu Hills REDD project. The teams worked to the point of exhaustion, eventually containing the fire after 5 days and 6,000 acres burnt.

The miraa picker has been charged with illegal park entry and arson and is in jail awaiting his next hearing at the end November. We hope that his penalty will deter other fire-starters in future.

📽️: Jeremy Goss & Toby Strong