ACT’s work is to stimulate, facilitate and challenge for mutual sharing of information and knowledge on experiences or lessons on promotion of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Africa. These efforts enable farmers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, researchers, learners and academicians and other stakeholders to access and share information and knowledge on CA, thereby contributing to better and more appropriate policies and programmes in the efforts to scale-up CA in Africa. Ultimately Conservation Agriculture (CA) as an approach to managing agro-ecosystems helps improve and sustain land productivity, increase profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment.
We are based in Kenya and support startups abd individuals to achieve their sustainable projects.
The Institute of Environment and Water Management (IEWM) is a non-governmental organization that aims to strengthen water and environmental governance and climate change resilience through unlocking the potential of communities and institutions to manage their natural resources equitably and sustainably.
IEWM has a strong track record in tackling and finding innovative solutions to address climate change, natural resource management, and water and sanitation issues, through training and capacity building, skills development, research and knowledge management. The institute’s added value and achievements relies on strategically combining effective programme management, targeted advocacy and compelling communications.
The Institute has striven to bridge the gap between local action and policy/decision making through lobbying and advocacy. It’s technical experience and influence is recognised and valued at the national level and IEWM’s interventions are clearly aligned with national policies and guidelines, actively contributing to the country’s Vision 2030.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global sustainable standards, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, and Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators. These are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources, while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation.
The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for GSTC’s role as the global Accreditation Body for Certification Programs that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services; but it accredits those that do.
The GSTC is an independent and neutral organization, legally registered in the USA as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents a diverse and global membership, including UN agencies, NGO’s, national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism. It is a virtual organization without a main office, with staff and volunteers working from all six populated continents. Financial support from donations, sponsorship, and membership fees allows us to provide services at low costs and to create, revise, and make available the GSTC Criteria.
Membership is open to all interested parties and does not by itself imply endorsement by the GSTC of the policies and practices of the member organization
What do we do?
We provide specialised support services and expertise aimed at adding value and filling gaps in existing capacity. Specialising enables us to keep abreast with emerging international best practice, and to continually build our hands-on skills and practical experience. We are continually striving to introduce new approaches and methodologies that respond to rapidly changing realities, and we are always keen to work with our customers to explore new opportunities and directions. Our four main current areas of expertise are outlined below.
Conservation planning
Planning for conservation – whether for an ecosystem or natural landscape, a national park or a community wildlife area – is a vital yet underutilised tool for achieving the delicate balance between preservation and use of an area’s natural resources. We believe that planning provides the means to build stakeholder consensus around the conservation and development goals of an area, and to overcome sometimes divergent and conflicting needs. We also believe that management plans not only provide a vital framework for the long-term management of a conservation area, but can also be used by stakeholders as a yardstick to measure progress. All our plans are developed using participatory planning techniques which allow stakeholders to contribute fully to their development. They have a simple logical structure which keeps technical language to the minimum to ensure the plans are easy to understand and straightforward to implement.
Programme and project design and evaluation
Good programme and project design is the cornerstone for achieving tangible and lasting conservation impacts. Crucially, this requires developing an understanding of the underlying processes that lead to the unsustainable use of natural resources, and how these processes can be influenced and reversed. This provides the basis for developing a “Theory of Change” of how the programme or project can best achieve tangible outcomes and ultimately realise conservation and sustainable development impacts, by identifying and addressing the necessary drivers of change, including factors such as financial sustainability, institutional capacity, socio-economic conditions, and legal and governance systems.
Impactful project design also relies on a good understanding of what can be practically achieved on the ground, not just in theory on paper. To strengthen our understanding of the factors that enable a realistic project intervention, we have also built up strong skills in the evaluation of a wide range of conservation and development projects, both as evaluation team leaders as well as in specialist capacities.
Wildlife law enforcement and trafficking
Illegal killing and trade in African wildlife, especially of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, has now reached crisis proportions. Illicit wildlife trafficking is now the fourth largest illegal trade internationally after arms and drugs trafficking, and trafficking in human beings. In recent years, tens of thousands of elephants have been killed every year for their tusks. Faced with this unprecedented level of poaching and organised wildlife crime, many conservationists now fear that species such as elephants and rhinos may disappear in the wild within our lifetime.
CDC is assisting international, national and site-level efforts to address this crisis in several ways. Firstly, we are working with key agencies to develop new project initiatives designed to bolster efforts to combat wildlife crime and to strengthen law enforcement efforts at both site and national levels. Secondly, we are assisting in the identification and promotion of wildlife law enforcement best practices, in order to ensure that interventions are based on the best available knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. And thirdly, we are helping to understand the status of law enforcement and wildlife trafficking prevention measures, so that national governments, conservation organisations and donors know how best to focus their resources to stem the tide in wildlife losses.
Conservation and sustainable development governance
Across Africa, there is a growing disparity between the livelihood needs of a rapidly expanding human population and the conservation needs of Africa’s outstanding but increasingly vulnerable biodiversity and habitats. From our experience over the years, we believe that natural resource governance systems are especially important for reconciling conservation and human development needs. This includes aspects such as natural resource institutions and legal frameworks, resource ownership and use rights and responsibilities, and mechanisms for equitably distributing the costs and benefits of conservation. CDC’s work in this area has focussed on developing an understanding of the socio-economic factors at play in unsustainable resource use and biodiversity loss, as a basis for designing more effective natural resource governance mechanisms. We have also provided practical support for the development of natural resource governance approaches that respond to changing socio-economic and environmental circumstances and increasing human development expectations.
ETC Group works to address the socioeconomic and ecological issues surrounding new technologies that could have an impact on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. We investigate ecological erosion (including the erosion of cultures and human rights); the development of new technologies (especially agricultural but also other technologies that work with genomics and matter); and we monitor global governance issues including corporate concentration and trade in technologies. We operate at the global political level. We work closely with partner civil society organizations (CSOs) and social movements, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
We are..
- Dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC Group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and we address international governance issues and corporate power.
- Working in partnership with other CSOs for cooperative and sustainable self-reliance within disadvantaged societies, by providing information and analysis of socioeconomic and technological trends and alternatives. This work requires joint actions in community, regional, and global fora.
- Developing strategic options based on research and analysis of technological information (particularly but not exclusively plant genetic resources, biotechnologies and biological diversity), and in the development of strategic options related to the socioeconomic ramifications of new technologies.
- Focused on global and regional (continental or sub-continental) levels. ETC Group supports partnerships with community, national, or regional CSOs, but does not make grants or funds available to other organizations. We do not have members.
The Northern Rangelands Trust is a community conservancy membership organisation. Our mission is to develop resilient community conservancies, which transform people’s lives, secure peace and conserve natural resources.
We do this by supporting communities to:
- Develop locally-led governance structures that complement traditional systems
- Run peace and security programmes
- Take the lead in natural resources management
- Manage sustainable businesses linked to conservation
We fundraise for our member conservancies, and provide advice and guidance on management. We support a wide range of training, monitor performance, and work as an independent third party in support of conservancy partnerships with county and national government, investors and development partners.
kiangure Springs Environment Initiative (KSEI) is a registered Community Based Organization under the laws of Kenya that works towards enhancing resilience of communities towards impacts of climate change in the Aberdare ecosystem of Kenya. The Project is located on the Eastern side of the Aberdare Forest. The Aberdare forest is the source of Rivers that are tributaries of Tana,Kenyas biggest river. Our overall objective is to support the upper Tana catchment community in Poverty reduction through improved livelihood systems and the Conservation of Community natural resources and initiatives for enhanced environmental management and governance.Our beneficiaries include the catholic community in Nyeri Diocese.
Our Programmes are:
1) Renewable energy promotion-(improved cook-stoves, briquettes, solar, and bio-gas) Under this programme we have enabled 1000 households adopt ICS,500 adopt solar lamps ,19 households adopt biogas and 10 secondary schools adopt Biogas technology, promotion and production of Briquettes
http://www.trust.org/item/20150429114132-tnby1
2) Environment conservation- tree planting (bamboo, fruits, indigenous tree species) Planted over 500,000 seedlings in the Aberdare ecosystem
3)Environmental education https://www.apeuk.org/youth-aberdare-art-project/project Working with youth groups, schools and community groups to promote environmental education.
4)Climate change and environmental awareness http://www.paintinganewworld.com/galleries/int-murals-index.htm Working with Canadian Organization to create community level awareness on climate change through mural art.
5)Governance & Democracy The purpose of this program is to create an empowered society that can demand for democratic practice at all levels and participate in governance issues. The main projects under this include Alternative Leadership Programme, Women Civic Empowerment Program, Youth Empowerment program and Natural resource management . The overall objective of this programme is to entrench community participation in governance and democratic processes thereby creating an informed society that can demand for democratic practices at all levels and participate in governance issues.
6)Food Security &Sustainable livelihoods This project seeks to improve food security and ensure sustainable livelihoods through integrated intervention focusing on:
a)Sustainable Agriculture The main activities under this program include crop diversification, promotion of organic agriculture and initiation of community agricultural extension schemes. Similarly, livestock, fish, and poultry farming are encouraged with emphasis on efficient utilization of the small farm sizes. Over 500 households have benefited with poultry ,fish and Dairy goats.. There is emphasis on climate smart agriculture to reduce emissions, improve soil fertility, and conserve our water resources.
b) Community Health & Nutrition This is an initiative through which KSEI trains community health workers (CHWs), and peer educators to promote health education within the community and hence promote best practices in community health and nutrition
c)Gender & HIV/AIDS Project Under this project KSEI has in the last three years been involved in awareness creation, sensitization and behavior change advocacy focusing especially on women as the most vulnerable group
d)Water & Sanitation This component focuses on the improvement of sanitation both at domestic and institutional level. The domestic water supply and quality to mitigate the effects of waterborne and other diseases in the community. This is done through sanitation education and adoption of Integrated Biogas technology and conservation of natural water sources.
SABIC is composed of four strategic business units – Petrochemicals, Specialties, Agri-Nutrients, and Metals – each headed by an Executive Vice President. They support customers by identifying and developing opportunities in key end markets such as construction, medical devices, packaging, agri-nutrients, electrical and electronics, transportation and clean energy.
is to offer professional services in the field of physical planning, land surveying GIS and web
mapping. Specifically, the firm offers consultancy services in land use planning including
preparation of master plans, integrated plans, and advisory plans, Engineering survey and title
cadastral or Title surveys and tailor made mapping using GIS and development of web maps and
web mapping applications to in order to manipulate and share geospatial out puts to variety of
audiences. a reputable Urban and regional planning as well as environmental Management
consulting firm in Kenya wishes to extend the services and expertise available to the client bringing
their local experience achieved in association with other individual experts. The combined
experience of the team is capable of providing high-quality standard consultancy services in
planning and survey
History
Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is currently in over 130 countries, but the Tanzanian program has an especially rich history. It was founded in 1991 when a small group of Tanzanian students met with Dr. Jane Goodall on the porch of her home in Dar es Salaam. Because these students shared Dr. Jane’s love and concern for animals and the environment they asked her what they could do to help make the world a better place. After a spirited discussion, they decided to start clubs in each of their schools to address relevant issues at a grass roots level. These were the very first Roots & Shoots clubs.
As a powerful global grass roots organization, Roots & Shoots establishes service-oriented clubs in primary schools, secondary schools and universities. These clubs plan and implement projects based on their group’s unique interests, resources and community concerns. Roots & Shoots projects address one or more of the following three themes:
- Care and Concern for the Environment
- Care and Concern for Animals
- Care and Concern for the Human Community
Roots & Shoots is about recognizing that every day in your own way, your club can make our earth a better place to live.
The Mission of the Association shall be “to be the umbrella association for all Renewable Energy promoters enabling and encouraging the sustainable development of the Nigerian economy through Renewable Energy”.
The Vision of the Association shall be “to promote strategies that will improve the contribution of renewable energy up to forty percent (40%) of the National Energy Mix by 2030”.
Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA) is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan local organization founded by senior media professionals interested to contribute their share in areas of media, communication, and sustainable development. EEJA was established in 2006 with the support of Henrich Boll’s foundation of Germany and Panos Ethiopia. EEJA has 47 members drawn from international, private and state-owned media houses.
Earthlife Africa is a non-profit organisation, founded in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1988, that seeks a better life for all people without exploiting other people or degrading their environment. We want to encourage and support individuals, businesses and industries to reduce pollution, minimise waste and protect our natural resources.
SEI Africa is based in Nairobi, Kenya and is hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre. The centre collaborates with African governments, organizations and networks, acting as a hub for SEI’s engagement across the continent. The centre’s work focuses on four key areas: energy and climate; natural resources and ecosystems; sustainable urbanisation; and health and environment.
From its establishment in August 2008 until June 2013, SEI Africa was based at the Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dares Salaam. As of July 2013, it is based in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre. Staff members are active across South, East and West Africa.
Solterra was born out of a need and wish to address South Africa’s energy crisis. We understand that in order to bring about the changes required in the South African energy landscape we needed a highly specialized commercial and residential product. South Africa faces a massive shortage when it comes to experienced, competent and technically sound energy consultants. Solterra aim to fill this void. We are the fastest growing renewable energy consultancy in Southern Africa, offering the public consistent, trustworthy solutions nationally.
With head office accountability, ethical standards and integrity we do not only exist to sell products – we exist because we are a group of individuals who believe in making a significant difference. We undertake comprehensive client engagement in order to understand their requirements, making the correct recommendations, ensuring that sustainable and accurate solutions are provided. We do not compromise on quality, and will only offer the best in class products, matched with industry leading design and implementation
ATE’s research arm, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, has made many important contributions to elephant research over the years. The knowledge gained from the AERP team has profoundly altered the way we think about, conserve and manage elephant populations. Our research has highlighted the ethical implications of dealing with sentient, long-lived, intelligent and social complex animals and our knowledge base provides powerful and authoritative support to elephant conservation and advocacy campaigns worldwide. For more than four decades AERP’s presence has helped ensure the survival of the elephants as well as the Amboseli ecosystem.
AERP research covers many areas including: social organization, behavior, demography, ecological dynamics, spatial analyses and mapping, communication, genetics, human-elephant interactions and cognition. Our long-term datasets underpin all these research topics.
CORE RESEARCH
Our team of Kenyan research assistants and visiting scientists are in the field at least six days a week. We record all demographic events in the population; births and deaths, musth, oestrus and mating. Our routine daily observations note associations between family units and independent males, geographic location, group size, composition, activity and habitat type. Within families we monitor female affiliation and the dispersal of young males from their family to analyze family dynamics. We have systematically monitored the size and growth of over 600 individuals from 1976 to the present. Since 1999 we have collected dung samples for genetic analyses of population origins, paternity and within- and between-family relatedness. We are constantly maintaining and updating our individual records, and we also carry out basic ecological monitoring through vegetation plots, water table measurements and rainfall.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
ATE hosts visiting researchers who contribute to the growing understanding of African elephants in general, and the knowledge base for the sustained future of the Amboseli population in particular.
Researchers interested in collaborating with ATE should address their enquiries to our Director of Science, Prof. Phyllis Lee (phyllis.lee@stir.ac.uk). ATE has always enjoyed a dynamic collaboration network and we welcome the opportunity for new partnerships to continue that tradition. Our collaborations extend across many subject areas:
Communication
Communication is the glue that binds the social network of an intelligent species. Joyce Poole and Petter Granli recorded and analyzed Amboseli elephant vocalizations as part of the work of their NGO ElephantVoices. Their aim is to build our scientific understanding of the intelligence and social complexity of elephants and enhance the toolbox for their conservation and management. At the same time they act as a voice for elephants in a strong advocacy component. You can follow some of their work and activities on the ElephantVoices Facebook page. Other communication studies have focused on elephants’ capacity for individual recognition: Karen McComb pioneered the playback approach and demonstrated that each female elephant recognizes around 100 other females from voice alone.
Elephant Life Histories and Reproduction
Ongoing studies provide vital information on how elephants grow, mature and learn to cope with their physical and social environments. This work, guided by Phyllis Lee asks how longevity and developmental processes contribute to fitness and reproductive success. The four-decade-long Amboseli dataset is now yielding exciting insights into these questions; Phyllis’ work has recently demonstrated that early life experiences have survival and fitness consequences across individual lifetimes. The role of old, experienced females in guiding family decisions has become apparent: families with older matriarchs have improved calf survival and shorter inter-birth intervals for all females in the family. An extreme drought event in 2009 caused the death of many of these important leaders. Vicki Fishlock’s work, supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, aims to assess the social and reproductive effects of these losses. As a result of Vicki’s work, we are developing further studies into what leadership and negotiation means for elephant families.
Human-elephant conflict and co-existence
ATE is bringing its specialized knowledge of elephant behavior and society to bear on developing conflict-reduction strategies that are consistent with rural agriculture and Maasai livestock husbandry (see also Community Outreach). Work by Kadzo Kangwana, Christy Browne-Nunez, Patrick Chiyo and Winnie Kiiru has guided and developed our approach to conflict and coexistence.
Genetic analysis
Scientists from Duke University have mapped DNA profiles in order to define family relationships and origins of the Amboseli population. Cross-referenced to behavioral observations, the DNA analysis by Beth Archie examined survival strategies based on relatedness. Beth’s student Patrick Chiyo studied the socio-ecology of crop-raiding elephants using genetic techniques. Patrick’s work expanded to examine male association patterns and the impact of these on high risk activities such a crop-raiding.
Cognition
Dick Byrne and Lucy Bates have examined elephants’ formidable reputation for memory and intelligence by investigating specific cognitive skills designed to probe elephants’ ability to manipulate and respond to their world and each other. Karen McComb and Graeme Shannon have expanded Karen’s early work on elephant communication and vocal recognition into the cognitive sphere by presenting elephants with a series of acoustic “threats” via playback experiments. Their studies show that elephants and discriminate and appropriately respond to varying levels of threats from lions and from humans, and that these abilities are strongest amongst experienced (older) elephants.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The long-term survival of elephants can only be assured by creating a niche for free-living elephants that is compatible with the needs and aspirations of the surrounding human communities. Elephants and humans have shared the Amboseli landscape for approximately 500 years. With the expansion of settlement, agriculture and livestock numbers inevitably encounters between people and elephants are increasing. ATE’s approach is aimed at maintaining the conservation ethos which has been part of Maasai tradition, but which is increasingly threatened by the pressures of 21st century human society.
Community Relations
Our field staff maintains daily contact with the surrounding Maasai community. This friendly interaction is essential to ensure that landowners maintain a tolerant attitude to the presence and passage of elephants on their group ranch land. We estimate that at any one time 80% of the wildlife in Amboseli is using community lands; without community participation there is simply no future for wildlife. Our approach is to allow a two-way exchange of understanding with communities. Concerns are aired in constructive dialogue, not in retaliatory killing of wildlife. We had proof of the value of this approach in 2012, when a local Maasai man waited for five hours beside an elephant calf trapped in a well. He patiently protected the little calf until he could reach ATE staff via an unreliable mobile phone network, and we then rescued the calf with the help of DSWT staff. Without this man’s care and respect, the calf, who we called Lemoyian, would certainly have died.
Consolation
ATE has an innovative and successful consolation scheme to assist members of the community who lose livestock to elephants. Started in 1997 the program pays an owner of a cow, sheep or goat a set amount when an elephant kills any livestock on community lands. Previously, Maasai custom dictated an elephant had to be speared and killed in retribution for livestock deaths. The number of elephants speared dropped by more than half after the initiation of the consolation scheme. This scheme has since become a model in other areas and for other species.
Maasai Elephant Scouts
ATE operations outside the park include employing fifteen Maasai elephant scouts who patrol the ecosystem on foot, reporting elephant presence and signs, injured elephants and conflicts, as well as signs of poaching and the bushmeat trade. Their work is coordinated with that of the Amboseli-Tsavo Game Scouts Association (ATGSA) and the Big Life Foundation. The ATE scouts support our monitoring work by augmenting our elephant sightings data, especially during the wet season when elephants range widely. Scouts also assist in verification of consolation claims. Support to the scouts contributes to improved community participation and understanding of human-wildlife interaction as well as providing employment in a depressed rural area. We are also beginning a collaboration with the Lion Guardians programme to fund the work of two conflict mitigation scouts, at the request of the Kaputei community.
ADEC Innovations advances sustainable practices around the world, and helps organizations grow and operate responsibly. Seamlessly delivering fully integrated, cost-effective consulting, data management and software solutions, ADEC Innovations helps clients save time, reduce costs, optimize resource use, and drive operational efficiencies in a world where sustainability matters.
We have over 30 years of group experience in data management, software solutions, professional services and workforce solutions. Our products and services cover various industry sectors such as education, health information, environmental services and compliance.
A private, not-for-profit organisation committed to the protection of Kenya’s marine environment.To ensure the marine environments in which we operate are effectively managed and conserved to benefit local communities and commercial stakeholders, utilising natural resources sustainably.
The African Conservation Tillage Network (ACTN) was initiated following a Stakeholders’ Workshop on “Conservation Tillage for Sustainable Agriculture” held in Zimbabwe in 1998 organized by Zimbabwe Farmers Union, German Development Co-operation (GTZ), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC). Driven by the desire among players to better and share more information and experiences on CA and related aspects, the Workshop ratified the initiation of a regional network as a mechanism to stimulate and facilitate cross-cutting and mutually exchange knowledge and information from experiences of CA. In 2000, under project support from GiZ, then GTZ, the Network formally established a full-time Secretariat with a Steering Committee to manage the Network. The Network has since evolved into a neutral platform, stimulating, facilitating and challenging for mutual sharing of information and knowledge on experiences and lessons on applications of CA and expanding to the whole region.
ACTN is a registered as a pan-African not-for-profit membership association that was initially commissioned with geographical focus on Southern, Central and East Africa. However, the Network has expanded responding to active interest from rest of the continent to west and North Africa. Existing potential for synergistic collaborations and knowledge sharing, enriched by the diversity, across the continent has justified ACTN reformation into a pan-African establishment with networking value within and between regions. Membership to the Network is voluntary bringing together stakeholders and players who are:
- Dedicated to improving agricultural productivity through sustainable management of natural resources in African farming systems.
- Committed to the principles of mutual collaboration, partnerships and sharing of information and knowledge on sustainable natural resource management and drawing on synergies and complementarities.
ACTN is established at three regional levels that include (i) Southern-Central Africa Region; (ii) East and Horn Africa Region; (iii) West-North Africa Region. This enables each region to articulate its main uniqueness, thrust and strengths as basis for inter-regional sharing and interaction. A distinct North Africa region is foreseen in the future.