Mara Naboisho Conservancy To Assist Threatened Kenyan Ecosystem

02-04-2011

 New Mara Naboisho Conservancy Created To Generate Tourism Dollars for Kenya‚s Maasai Landowners And Assist Threatened Ecosystem of Maasai Mara National Reserve

 

Oslo, Norway, Feb. 3, 2011 -- The Mara Naboisho Conservancy is a brand-new, one-of-a-kind conservancy near the Mara in Kenya that envisions bringing tourism revenues to local communities while helping preserve wildlife. The founders are Basecamp Explorer http://www.basecampexplorer.com/ through its Basecamp Foundation and the community of Naboisho, with funding assistance from the government of Norway. The conservancy represents Basecamp‚s single largest undertaking.

 

„This initiative will change the face of community involvement in Kenya‚s tourism,‰ says Dr Lars Lindkvist of Basecamp Foundation. „Mara Naboisho Conservancy demonstrates an equitable and sustainable partnership between Maasai landowners, tourism investors and conservation interests.‰ In pursuing its objectives the foundation anticipates that Naboisho will become a showcase for sustainable tourism in Kenya. Naboisho in Maasai means „coming together.‰ Basecamp Explorer is regarded as one of Norway‚s leading eco and adventure tourism pioneers.

 

The conservancy will assist Kenya‚s continuing commitment to sustainable tourism. The 20,000-hectare conservancy in the Great Rift Valley and bordering Kenya‚s world famous but now threatened ecosystem, the Maasai Mara National Reserve, is said to have one of highest densities of wildlife in Kenya. The core objectives and benefits of the conservancy will be to support the biodiversity conservation and the socio-cultural heritage of the region while generating income and jobs for the community using tourism as the economic driver. It will offer additional benefits like health care, clean energy and empowerment of the local people through education and skills training.

 

The Naboisho Conservancy neighbors several other conservancy initiatives and together they will protect an area almost half the size of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

 

The establishment of Naboisho represents a milestone in the struggle for the Maasai culture and establishes a buffer zone to save and sustain the savannah ecosystem, which is linked to the Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania.

 

The outcome of 10 years of close collaboration with 500 Maasai landowners and their communities, this conservancy is set to safeguard the local community and the area‚s diverse wildlife. Each of the landowners earns rent every month based on the amount of land contributed to the conservancy. Furthermore, in the heart of the conservancy lies Koiyaki Guiding School, financed by Basecamp Explorer. The school provides the Maasai youths with training, enabling them to secure work and act as the future custodians of the region.

 

Basecamp Explorer currently operates three eco-lodges within the Mara:

 

Basecamp Wilderness

http://www.basecampexplorer.com/our_destinations/masai_mara/our_basecamps/125178/en

Five spacious and luxurious huts overlooking the Koiyaki River in a remote part of the Mara.

 

Basecamp Maasai Mara

http://www.basecampexplorer.com/our_destinations/masai_mara/our_basecamps/125177/en

Offering 12 spacious and luxurious thatched roof tents on a lush peninsula in the Talek River.

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