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Friends of Conservation
Kensington Charity Centre
Charles House
375 Kensington High St
London W14 8QH
Tel: 020 7603 5024
Email: focinfo@aol.com |
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Deforestation
Deforestation poses one of the greatest threats to overall environmental health in Kenya. Consequently FOC has focused a lot of attention to the area. We help train members of the community in forestry skills as well as planting large numbers of trees and seedlings to protect river catchments and soil quality. |
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FOC have also been working with Masai women to develop a fuel-efficient stove with the ultimate goal of reducing the amount of wood needed. At present the women and girls of a household have to walk 13kms a day to find wood and much of that they bring back is green and still wet. This not only means that more wood is needed to generate enough heat, but also that associated health problems occur, such as chest problems through increased wood smoke and back problems caused through carrying large bundles of wood. The stove, developed by FOC and the Intermediate Technology Group, is made from easily accessible products, cow dung and mud and allows the burning of wood to be carried out in an enclosed area, thereby keeping the heat in. It is hoped that through the use of this stove and the introduction of alternative sources of fuel, such as cow dung briquettes, the Maasai’s reliance on the surrounding habitat can be reduced. |
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Land Management
This is a new project that FOC is currently developing.
As with most areas of the world, population numbers and associated development is steadily increasing around the Masai Mara Reserve. FOC has recently begun working with communities to resolve conflicts that arise as livestock, urban development and population growth compete with wildlife for land use.
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Tourism Programme
Throughout the 1990’s FOC
campaigned for sound tourism
practices inside the Masai
Mara. An increased
occurrence of off-road
driving was beginning to
have a negative effect on
the habitat of the Reserve.
More and more tracks were
being made leading to an
increase in erosion and the
disappearance of a number of
key savannah species.
FOC therefore developed a
set of Reserve regulations,
a guide book that is
currently of sate and the
Travellers Code of Conduct.
Working with the Ecotourism
Society of Kenya and the
Kenya Association of Tour
Operators, FOC is working to
have these principles
adopted across Kenya. Using
posters, stickers and
leaflets, FOC will promote
tourist’s critical role in
wildlife conservation.
If you would like to support
FOC’s forestry work in
Kenya, please click here.
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