What makes Kibodo so different is its combination of forest, coastline and sea. Elephants wander through the forests, and wild dogs, striped hyenas and lions all leave the bush to scavenge along the high water mark. Turtles clamber out of the sea to lay their eggs in the sand where they themselves may have hatched over 50 years ago.

The people of coastal Kiunga are Bajun, combining Arab and Swahili ancestry. They have long relied on livestock farming, fishing and mangrove harvesting to sustain them. Inland the Boni people live around the Boni and Dodori Reserves from which they have traditionally gathered food, medicine, building materials and fuel. Once hunter-gatherers, they now depend more on cultivating subsistence farms and harvesting wild plants and honey. The earlier inhabitants of Kibodo left behind intriguing monuments to their occupation. The origins of the 14th century walled city of Ishakani, on the Kenya / Somali border remain tantalisingly unexplained, and evidence of other early settlements is to be found near Kiunga Village as well as on outlying islands.

Kiunga is a mosaic of mangroves, sea grass beds and coral reefs, its coast edged with jagged cliffs of fossilised coral and the protected sandy coves which make ideal turtle nesting grounds. Almost as many species of coral as of fish have been counted in the waters of Kiunga Reserve (over 150 of each). On some of the 50 or so islets in the north of the Reserve, is the world’s largest breeding colony of roseate terns.

A large proportion of Kenya’s mangroves are pushing their way through the Kiunga swamps, which are far from being the sterile, uniform environments they may seem - at least above the surface of the water. There are nine species in the Reserve, each more or less salt-tolerant than the other. Their root systems create a vast nursery for young fish, filters for pollutants and stabiliser of the shore.

Sea grass beds are also crucial nurseries for smaller fish, and different grass species grow at varying depths. Many turtles, particularly green, feed on Kiunga’s sea grass, as do the remnants of a once thriving dugong population, now in desperate need of protection. Dugongs (Dugong dugon) particularly relish the roots, leaving sandy trails as they graze away the greenery.

Inland, Boni and Dodori National Reserves remain strangely under-researched. Boni is full of spectacularly tall trees, many of them commercially valuable hardwoods. The forest is also home to elephant, lion, hippo and buffalo, as well as rarer animals including caracals and the endangered hirola. Lake Ardhi, the Dodori River and a network of seasonal pools and marshes are vital stop-overs for migrating birds, also supporting an array of tortoises, terrapins, spiders, butterflies and other insects.

The surrounding communities depend on Kibodo’s natural resources for their livelihoods. It is therefore crucial to ensure these resources are harvested sustainably. So long as they were used locally, this was assured. Now, the seas off Kiunga have become of importance not only to those that live in and around the village, but also to visiting fishermen from as far away as Mombasa and Mogadishu. Their activities contribute nothing to the welfare of the on-shore inhabitants, the same being said for the long lining boats which also fish these waters and leave only dead turtles and unwanted fish carcasses as signs of their passing.

It is now clear that too many people are chasing too few fish and the exploitation of marine resources at current levels is unsustainable. In Kiunga fish, crabs and lobsters are already close to being harvested beyond sustainable levels, often by the illegal use of scuba equipment. The Reserve’s mangroves also need careful nurturing through managed renewable harvesting instead of indiscriminate clear cutting. Inland, in the forests, animals are regularly killed, both for meat and ivory. The very inaccessibility which has helped protect Boni and Dodori Reserves for so long, also makes them safe havens for poachers and other refugees from justice.

Lying where it does, security is a continual concern to the local people and to those engaged in the protection of Kibodo’s natural resources. The northern boundary of Boni runs along the Kenya / Somalia border. With the general state of unrest in Somalia and the proliferation of firearms around the border, both people and animals are living under constant threat of danger, and sometimes literally in fear for their lives.

Reserves, whether Forest or Marine, combine environmental protection with controlled use of the natural resources, and so provide complex management challenges. In overall charge of all Kenya’s National Reserves is Kenya Wildlife Services. Forest Reserves remain under the remit of Forest Department and the Fisheries Department is entrusted with the enforcement of fishing regulations, licensing of fishermen, and monitoring fish stocks. The roles of the Local Administration and Lamu County Council are crucial in providing overall management of the greater area encompassing the three Reserves.

Kibodo is extremely difficult to reach overland. Enforcing regulations, liaising with communities and dealing with threats to the security of the local population are made all the more difficult by the general remoteness of the Area. Compounding this is the dependence on boats for transport and communication within Kiunga, and the lack of any good roads to, within or between Boni and Dodori Forests.

Solutions offering top-down domination through over-regulation are unlikely to bring local inhabitants round to seriously co-operating with outsiders in the preservation of their own environment. Almost inevitably, this approach leads to a spiralling race to destruct - catch the fish or cut down the tree today, before someone else does tomorrow. Co-operation, rather than coercion, must be the better route, along with encouragement of that sense of community ownership which can foster forward thinking and longer-term planning.

With this in mind, a concerned group of Kenyans came together early in 2004 to establish the Kibodo Trust with the principal objects of:

a) Strengthening effective management in Kibodo;
b) Improving the conservation of natural resources (through their sustainable harvest if needs be),
c) Supporting social development through the establishment of income generating projects, and promoting better health and education of the local people;

As well as undertaking its own projects and fundraising, the Trust intends to act as a conduit for other donors’ money, helping direct these into suitable programmes. It also hopes to provide a forum for co-management of the Reserves in conjunction with KWS, Forestry and Fisheries Departments and Local Authorities, each of which has the right to nominate a trustee to the Board, as do local communities. In addition to its connection with East African Wildlife Society, the Kibodo Trust has links to the Tusk Trust in London and America.

More specifically, the Trust now wishes to focus on:-

ü sensitising the local communities to its existence and intentions,
ü expanding the number of Community and Government Trustee representatives;
ü improving security of Kibodo by establishing a security support unit of rangers and supported by an administrative and communications base;
ü supporting educational activities through specific school projects, and a scholarship programme for secondary and tertinary education;
ü initiating training programmes such as economic training for specific community groups, and resource management training for managers on Kibodo’s marine and coastal forests flora and fauna
ü initiating biological and socio-economic research projects,
ü supporting ongoing monitoring programmes on species of special concern ( namely the Hirola, sea turtle and dugong) in Kibodo;
ü encouraging development of community-based tourism and handicraft ventures, and
ü promoting projects which support the women and children of the area.

All of this will need money and if you are interested in donating to the Trust or learning more about the Reserves and the people living in and around them, please contact the addresses below and visit our website: www/eawildlife.org/kibodo

Julie Church
Chief Administrator, Kibodo Trust
PO Box 15551
Nairobi 00503
KENYA
Email: juliec@africaonline.co.ke
Mobile: 254 733 639640

Ali A Kaka
East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS)
PO Box 20110
Nairobi 00200
Email: info@eawildlife.org
Tel : 254 20 574145
WWW.eawildlife.org

The Tusk Trust - UK and USA
Both are official non-profit organisations and donations are tax deductable to the extent allowed by law.

Tusk Trust UK
Tim Jackson or Sarah Watson
Tusk Trust
5 Townbridge House
High Street
Gillingham
Dorset
SP8 4AA
Tel: +44 1747 831 005
Fax: +44 1747 831 006
tim@tusk.org
sarah@tusk.org
www.tusk.org
A donation to Tusk Trust UK can be 'restricted' by a donor for a specific project.

The Tusk Trust USA,
Tusk USA inc
322 Sutherland Place NE
Atlanta
GA 30307
USA
Tel: (888) 873-0903 toll free
www.tusk.org
Donors can request that Tusk USA Inc board 'consider the possibility' of supporting Kibodo.