In Pictures: These women used to cut trees. Now they save them.
Scout volunteers of the Community Forest Association Elisa Lesilele (left) and Narmati Lementilla walk through the Kirisia Forest. Samburu women have taken a leading role in preserving this vital ecosystem.
Siegfried Modola
KIRISIA FOREST, SAMBURU, NORTHERN KENYA
For decades, Samburu women cut down trees in the Kirisia Forest to make charcoal, their only source of income. Today, 550 of them have teamed up to help safeguard the forest in this dense, mountainous ecosystem, which provides water to more than 150,000 people. With climate change, drought is driving the men of this lowland herding community to leave for months on end in search of water and pasture for their animals.
The women’s stewardship of the 226,000-acre national forest is part of a broader shift in thinking among governments in places like Kenya and Tanzania toward entrusting communities with local resource management.
At the same time, a shift is occurring in gender roles: Samburu women are not only conserving the forest but also working to earn money for their families, which face extreme poverty and hunger.
Why We Wrote This
Whose responsibility is it to protect nature? In Kenya, entrusting local communities with land management – and involving women – is yielding positive results.
Elisa Lesilele has breakfast at base camp before departing for a morning patrol. She has been a scout volunteer of the Kirisia Community Forest Association since 2019. “In our culture, women are usually not involved in decision makings,” she explains as the sun rises above the mist-covered forest. “But now things are changing, and we are directly involved in protecting these trees.”
As climate change disrupts pastoralists’ traditional way of life, projects like beekeeping have the potential to lift communities out of poverty. “I am proud to know that I can make a difference in protecting this forest,” says Zeinab Leboiyare, a beekeeper. “Before, we did not know the importance of taking care of these trees. But now we are starting to understand that we have to take matters in our own hands, if we want to protect our environment.”
Still, ending illegal charcoal burning is a challenge, one that Ms. Lesilele says is best resolved by raising awareness. “When we see someone cutting trees ... we try to ... explain the importance of protecting this forest,” she says. “People have to understand that this forest has the potential to save the generations to come.”