<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=kenya&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/kenya/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2026 11:38:27 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Kenya environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/kenya/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Kenya launches $160 million conservation initiative to support communities and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 10:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lynet Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05164636/Rebecca-M-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335064</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Ecotourism, Finance, Governance, Plants, Science, Solutions, Tourism, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of Kenya has launched a 10-year, $160 million conservation program that will target 17.3 million hectares (43 million acres) of existing conservation areas and community-managed land across 31 counties. The government projects that the initiative, which also aims to establish 2.7 million hectares of new conserved areas, will benefit 1.6 million people and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of Kenya has launched a 10-year, $160 million conservation program that will target 17.3 million hectares (43 million acres) of existing conservation areas and community-managed land across 31 counties. The government projects that the initiative, which also aims to establish 2.7 million hectares of new conserved areas, will benefit 1.6 million people and create nearly 22,800 jobs. Dubbed Thamani Asili (which means “value of nature” in Swahili) the program, announced on Oct. 21, aims to secure long-term financing for protecting biodiversity while improving livelihoods, water security and climate resilience through an $80 million contribution from the government, which philanthropic partners are expected to match. Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano presided over the launch of the program at the Tsavo West National Park, southern Kenya, on behalf of Kenya’s President William Ruto. The 10-year initiative brings together the Kenyan government, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC), conservation initiative Enduring Earth and other conservation partners. “Using the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, Thamani Asili establishes a long-term financing framework designed to move conservation beyond short-term funding cycles towards predictable investment, institutional accountability and measurable results,” a KWS press release about the initiative says. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Tourism, Rebecca Miano, met with officials from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and other conservation partners ahead of presiding over the launch of a $160 million conservation-focused fund, Image courtesy of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). There are four initial priority landscapes for this project:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335064</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Just transition remains elusive for Kenyan women despite robust policies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/just-transition-remains-elusive-for-kenyan-women-despite-robust-policies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/just-transition-remains-elusive-for-kenyan-women-despite-robust-policies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2026 14:55:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ouma Elvine Tina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/21065949/50792721872_35c376ac24_6k-kenya-solar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333396</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Community Development, Community Forests, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fellows, Gender, Governance, Just Transition, Politics, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Anna Fatuma is a 31-year-old woman who runs a kibandaski in Tumboni village, Kitui county in eastern Kenya. Kibandaski is Kenyan urban slang for an affordable, open-air urban eatery, often a small shack made of iron sheets, 3-ply wood or canvas. They are popular with low-income customers. Inside, smoke from firewood beneath simmering pots hangs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Anna Fatuma is a 31-year-old woman who runs a kibandaski in Tumboni village, Kitui county in eastern Kenya. Kibandaski is Kenyan urban slang for an affordable, open-air urban eatery, often a small shack made of iron sheets, 3-ply wood or canvas. They are popular with low-income customers. Inside, smoke from firewood beneath simmering pots hangs in the air, while dark stains from settled soot mark the walls around cooking areas. The heat from the food, the smoke and the cramped space make the kibandaski humid and uncomfortable. Fatuma&#8217;s kibandaski is one of these small roadside eateries. She opens every day at 6 a.m., cooking and serving meals until about 8:30 p.m. The most expensive meal on her menu costs 250 Kenyan shillings, about $2. She started the business in 2024, hoping it would improve her financial situation and that of her husband, Sam. &#8220;Cooking gas is expensive. I can&#8217;t afford to buy and use it here,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Kuni, firewood is easier to find and cheaper to use. Charcoal is my preferred option, though it is expensive.&#8221; Fatuma often collects the firewood herself. The work leaves her with a persistent backache. On some days, she pays someone to collect it so she can arrive early enough to open the &#8220;hotel,&#8221; as she calls it. &#8220;Kamgongo kanauma. My back aches,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Paying someone to collect firewood isn&#8217;t ideal, but sometimes I am forced to. It&#8217;s also to make sure I open the hotel early.&#8221; Her routine might seem far removed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/just-transition-remains-elusive-for-kenyan-women-despite-robust-policies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/just-transition-remains-elusive-for-kenyan-women-despite-robust-policies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333396</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to grow $25K into community-led conservation: Interview with Tanzania’s Mwambao</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 13:58:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02134417/70739416_1145382202323166_5232273015621812224_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331539</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Interviews with conservation players, and Marine]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local resource stewards. Then came the 2008 global financial crisis. The organization backing the initiative withdrew from Tanzania, providing only a fraction of the funds it had earlier promised — $25,000 — and an idea worth pursuing. “So they said, ‘OK, well, it’s a good idea. We have $25,000, so here you are,’” Slade recalls. That modest beginning would eventually become the Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a locally rooted organization now working with coastal communities across Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, with an annual budget of around $3.5 million. For Thani, a coastal Tanzanian who had worked in government and with larger conservation organizations, Mwambao grew from a conviction that conservation could not simply be designed elsewhere and brought to communities. People who depend on natural resources, he says, should have the knowledge, capacity, and authority to help manage them. That idea has wider resonance as countries pursue the global goal of conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. Local organizations and communities are expected to shoulder much of that work, even as many struggle to secure the long-term funding available to larger international organizations and intermediaries. Mwambao’s work includes supporting community fisheries management,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331539</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From ‘community-based’ to ‘community-led conservation’ in Kenya: Interview with Dickson Kaelo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 13:26:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01122201/Credit-Angela-Scott-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Livestock, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Long before Dickson Kaelo became one of the leading voices for community conservancies in Kenya, conservation was something much more personal. He grew up with livestock. His father was a veterinarian. And he knew firsthand the uneasy relationship between pastoralist communities and wildlife: Lions killing cattle, elephants destroying crops, hyenas taking goats [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Long before Dickson Kaelo became one of the leading voices for community conservancies in Kenya, conservation was something much more personal. He grew up with livestock. His father was a veterinarian. And he knew firsthand the uneasy relationship between pastoralist communities and wildlife: Lions killing cattle, elephants destroying crops, hyenas taking goats — sometimes dozens of sheep in a single night. “That’s their (communities’) food. That’s what they sell to get fees to take their children (to school),” Kaelo, a member of Kenya’s semi-nomadic pastoralist Maasai community, told Mongabay. Fresh from college nearly three decades ago, Kaelo began wondering whether there was another way, something between conflict with wildlife and a conservation model that excluded communities from protected areas. Working with elders near the northern Maasai Mara, he helped organize a community trust (an organization created by community members to collectively manage land, resources or revenues for their shared benefit) in 1998. It built dams and dispensaries, supported hundreds of students through scholarships and experimented with generating tourism income while keeping livestock on the landscape. Then it fell apart. While Kaelo was away studying wildlife, the land under the care of the trust was subdivided into individual holdings. He considered abandoning conservation altogether. “One part of me was saying, it’s time to give up and go out to the city and do something,” he recalled. Instead, Kaelo returned to the same landscape with a belief that land could be privately owned but still managed collectively. Between 2004&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-community-based-to-community-led-conservation-in-kenya-interview-with-dickson-kaelo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Electric fences that kill and the Maasai trying to save Kenya’s last giant pangolins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 05:50:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pauline Kairu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14160539/1.-Giant_Ground_Pangolin_BlackandWhite_willbl-tpp-42-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crime, Endangered Species, Governance, Mammals, Pangolins, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Naserian, a giant ground pangolin, lived for about two years in Kenya’s last remaining stronghold for this animal, Nyekweri Forest. When researchers from The Pangolin Project began tracking her in 2025, they observed her threading her way through a landscape where forests, farms and fences increasingly intersected. Each night, she emerged from the darkness of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Naserian, a giant ground pangolin, lived for about two years in Kenya’s last remaining stronghold for this animal, Nyekweri Forest. When researchers from The Pangolin Project began tracking her in 2025, they observed her threading her way through a landscape where forests, farms and fences increasingly intersected. Each night, she emerged from the darkness of Nyekweri Forest and moved through a shifting mosaic of woodland, farms and grazing lands on the western fringes of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. Researchers watched on computer screens from their outpost near the reserve, tracking Naserian’s GPS signal as she followed familiar paths across a patchwork of privately owned parcels of land. Then one night, the signal stopped. A team from the Kenya-based pangolin research organization headed to the site. Naserian lay dead beneath an electrified fence. After years navigating a changing landscape, a single charged wire had ended her life. A landscape closing in Giant ground pangolins (Smutsia gigantea) are endangered across their fragmented Western and Central African range, with their numbers decreasing. Kenya’s only known population resides in Nyekweri, but it isn’t the safest place for them. Since 2022, researchers have recorded 15 deaths in the area, including 14 by electrocution on electric fences. With fewer than 30 believed to remain in Kenya, every death carries outsized consequences. The giant ground pangolin — the largest of the eight species, all of which live in Africa and Asia — occurs naturally at low densities. They normally give birth to just one offspring at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/electric-fences-that-kill-and-the-maasai-trying-to-save-kenyas-last-giant-pangolins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN fund for sharing biodiversity benefits struggles for attention — and money</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 07:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mactilda Mbenywe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01021940/31248760644_5d0887d57d_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, climate finance, Conservation Finance, data, Economics, Genetics, Governance, Research, Science, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get companies that benefit from “digital sequence information” — the policy term for digitized genetic information from biodiversity from around the world — to share some of those benefits with the countries that host that biodiversity and the Indigenous peoples and local communities who protect it. The Cali Fund formally opened for contributions on Feb. 25, 2025. As of August, this year, it had two confirmed contributions totaling $6,000. That’s far short of the $1 billion a year that the fund was expected to mobilize. TierraViva’s chief executive told Carbon Brief that the payment was an “ice-breaker,” intended to encourage other companies “who may be hesitating.” A second company, U.S. biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, had announced its intention to contribute earlier in the year but had not yet transferred any money. In July, another U,K-based company, biotech firm Prozomix, contributed $5,000 to the fund (though per current rules, it did not have to). “Nobody knows about the fund,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told Mongabay in an interview at the U.N. Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, where negotiators gathered in late July and August for preparatory meetings ahead of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328108</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the Indigenous women restoring Kenya’s Mau Forest — and reshaping gender roles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 19:41:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliet Akoth Ojwang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10080513/13-Ntoiye-Kimorgo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Environment, Forests, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s organization, where another day&#8217;s conservation work begins. For Mukut, conservation of the Mau Forest is squeezed into the few hours left after fulfilling the responsibilities expected of her as a Maasai wife and mother. Yet it is this balancing act that reflects a quieter transformation taking place across one of Kenya&#8217;s most important forest ecosystems. As Indigenous women restore degraded sections of the Mau Forest, they are also earning independent incomes, participating in household decisions and reviving traditional ecological knowledge that once sustained their communities for generations before going dormant. Founded in 2005, the Paran Women Group has grown into a network of 64 registered Indigenous women&#8217;s groups, mostly drawn from Maasai and Ogiek communities in Narok county, as well as communities in West Pokot and Samburu counties. Through community-managed tree nurseries, kitchen gardens, village savings groups, beekeeping and landscape restoration, the organization has linked environmental conservation with women&#8217;s empowerment. To coordinate its expanding network, Paran established seven community resource centers. Rather than functioning as offices, the centers serve as demonstration sites where women raise seedlings, receive technical training and exchange traditional knowledge. &#8220;The work has taught us how to organize ourselves,&#8221; Mukut said. &#8220;Even&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thermal drones deployed in Kenya’s Amboseli Park to tackle human-elephant conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/thermal-drones-deployed-in-kenyas-amboseli-park-to-tackle-human-elephant-conflict/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/thermal-drones-deployed-in-kenyas-amboseli-park-to-tackle-human-elephant-conflict/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 12:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimable Twahirwa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07112735/DJI_20251205225756_0002_T-00_00_30.66-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325538</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Elephants, Environmental Law, Governance, Human-wildlife Conflict, Law, National Parks, Parks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dominic Mutua, a smallholder farmer from Inkoisuk village some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Amboseli National Park, has often clashed with two elephants that enter his farm and destroy crops. “We had to stay up guarding most nights and chasing them away,” Mutua told Mongabay in a telephone interview. The 2025 census conducted by the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dominic Mutua, a smallholder farmer from Inkoisuk village some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Amboseli National Park, has often clashed with two elephants that enter his farm and destroy crops. “We had to stay up guarding most nights and chasing them away,” Mutua told Mongabay in a telephone interview. The 2025 census conducted by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) recorded a population of 42,072 elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Kenya, 1,903 of which were counted in the Amboseli park and its surrounding areas. The absence of a perimeter fence means elephants can move freely beyond the national park’s boundaries. To address human-wildlife conflict in this remote rural region of southern Kenya, drones equipped with thermal-imaging technology enable conservation teams to monitor animal movement, detect wildlife at night and warn communities early before encounters escalate. Amy Baird, Deputy Director of the Big Life Foundation, says that aside from data collection, the drones can also safely deter elephants from entering farms and settlements by guiding them away from these areas. The US-based nonprofit works with communities to protect elephants and conserve habitats in the larger Amboseli ecosystem. An Amboseli elephant. Image courtesy of Big Life Foundation. Approximately 200,000 people live within the park and in the broader Amboseli region, which encompasses about 8,093 square kilometers (3,125 square miles) of rangelands, wetlands and wildlife corridors, according to the park’s management. As the park itself covers only 392 sq km (151 sq mi), its survival depends heavily on the health of the surrounding community lands.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/thermal-drones-deployed-in-kenyas-amboseli-park-to-tackle-human-elephant-conflict/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/thermal-drones-deployed-in-kenyas-amboseli-park-to-tackle-human-elephant-conflict/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325538</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental activists in Kenya concerned over billionaire&#8217;s planned oil refinery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2026 11:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amina Chombo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/05101433/Aliko-Dangote-768x441.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325399</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Natural Resources, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s choice of Lamu, Kenya, for his oil refinery project, estimated to cost $17 billion, has elicited mixed reactions, with environmental activists warning of its potential risks to the local ecosystem and the community’s livelihoods, while the government is playing up its economic benefits. The Nigerian business tycoon’s decision to locate the refinery [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s choice of Lamu, Kenya, for his oil refinery project, estimated to cost $17 billion, has elicited mixed reactions, with environmental activists warning of its potential risks to the local ecosystem and the community’s livelihoods, while the government is playing up its economic benefits. The Nigerian business tycoon’s decision to locate the refinery in Lamu, follows months of speculation about whether the project will go ahead in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Industries Limited’s vice president, who is in charge of the oil and gas division, told Reuters that the project, with a capacity to refine at least 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, would be completed within three years. The crude oil is expected to come from within the East Africa region. If completed, the Lamu project would work like a similar one owned by Dangote Industries in Lagos, Nigeria, which can refine at least 650,000 barrels of crude oil in a day. It is currently the biggest oil refinery in Africa. Speaking earlier in July, Kenyan President William Ruto said Kenya had struck a deal with Dangote to have the project in Lamu. He said the project would benefit East and Central Africa, as well as create at least 60,000 jobs for Kenyans during its construction and then operation. Kenyan President William Ruto speaking at State House in Nairobi on July 8, 2026. Image courtesy of Public Service Commission. Concerns about environmental impact Meanwhile, environmental activists have called for transparency and sufficient involvement&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-activists-in-kenya-concerned-over-billionaires-planned-oil-refinery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325399</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenyan teen leads charge on tree planting and climate awareness</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kenyan-teen-leads-charge-on-tree-planting-and-climate-awareness/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kenyan-teen-leads-charge-on-tree-planting-and-climate-awareness/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 09:03:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lynet Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/28114108/Baraka-Main-photo-768x493.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324658</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Books, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Culture, Economics, Education, Environment, Forests, Health, Media, Plants, Research, Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Baraka Moruri has been passionate about the environment since he was 6. Now 13, the Kenyan climate champion says he has planted more than 7,600 trees with the help of family, friends and private organizations. “My goal is unlimited. I want to plant over 1 million trees before I turn 18,” he says. On March [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Baraka Moruri has been passionate about the environment since he was 6. Now 13, the Kenyan climate champion says he has planted more than 7,600 trees with the help of family, friends and private organizations. “My goal is unlimited. I want to plant over 1 million trees before I turn 18,” he says. On March 20 this year, Baraka and his family launched Go Green with Baraka, a book calling for young people in Africa to lead in protecting the environment. Baraka is Little Mister Environment Kenya, and the ambassador of Plant Your Age, an initiative started by the Green Africa Foundation following the death in 2011 of Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai at the age of 71. Her work inspired him to become involved in climate action. “Once, as I was doing my agriculture class assignment that involved researching about Prof Wangari Maathai, I watched a video in which she was being denied her rights. She later won a global award because of her love for the environment,” Baraka says. Baraka Moruri with his younger sister, as he holds ‘Go Green With Baraka’, a book he authored. Photo by Lawrine Moruri. Baraka’s father Arnold Warinda (left), his mother Lawrine Moruri and a friend during the launch of ‘Go Green With Baraka’ in Nairobi in January 2026. Photo by Lawrine Moruri. The impacts of climate change fall especially hard on children in countries like Kenya. The newly released “Children’s Climate Risk Report” by UNICEF describes how children in East and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kenyan-teen-leads-charge-on-tree-planting-and-climate-awareness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kenyan-teen-leads-charge-on-tree-planting-and-climate-awareness/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324658</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Clean cooking expands at record pace in Africa, but lags behind population growth</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/clean-cooking-expands-at-record-pace-in-africa-but-lags-behind-population-growth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/clean-cooking-expands-at-record-pace-in-africa-but-lags-behind-population-growth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 16:13:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ini Ekott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20120122/54990932592_5f43be3de8_b-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324023</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, charcoal, Energy, Environment, Finance, Fires, Forests, Natural Resources, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sub-Saharan Africa is on track to record its fastest-ever annual expansion in access to clean cooking in 2026, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. But population growth continues to outpace those gains, leaving more than 1 billion people without access to clean cooking. The region is home to the world&#8217;s largest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sub-Saharan Africa is on track to record its fastest-ever annual expansion in access to clean cooking in 2026, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. But population growth continues to outpace those gains, leaving more than 1 billion people without access to clean cooking. The region is home to the world&#8217;s largest population still reliant on firewood, charcoal and kerosene for everyday cooking, according to the IEA. The World Health Organization says household air pollution, much of which is generated by these polluting cooking fuels, is linked to around 2.9 million premature deaths annually, with women and children bearing the greatest burden. The “Clean Cooking in Africa 2026: Progress Report” estimates that around 15 million people gained access to clean cooking in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, about 35% above the average annual gains recorded for the previous five years. If confirmed, this would be the highest annual increase on record. Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Kenya and Nigeria made the most notable gains. The estimate is based on a mathematical model that combines data on imports of cookstoves (cooking appliances combining a stove and an oven) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), investments in the infrastructure, fuels and technology needed for clean cooking, and policy tracking, rather than household surveys, which remain the most reliable measure of clean cooking access but take years to compile. The IEA said the 2025 figures should, therefore, be treated as preliminary until confirmed by future household surveys. Even so, Fatih Birol, the IEA&#8217;s executive director,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/clean-cooking-expands-at-record-pace-in-africa-but-lags-behind-population-growth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/clean-cooking-expands-at-record-pace-in-africa-but-lags-behind-population-growth/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324023</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Waste, women &#038; environmental justice: Interview with Nubian activist Malasen Hamida</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 18:30:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ouma Elvine Tina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14131540/img5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323283</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Fellows, Gender, Interviews, Mongabay.org, NGOs, Social Justice, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian community after their forebears served as soldiers in the King’s African Rifles. That allocation once covered 1,698 hectares (4,197 acres). Today, due to urbanization, forced evictions, land-grabbing and successive government projects, only 116 hectares (288 acres) remain under Nubian ownership, with no compensation ever offered. Through the Mazingira Women Initiative, Hamida has spent those years organizing around waste management, smart farming, land rights and women’s leadership. (“Mazingira” is a Swahili word for environment or nature.) She is also a three-time parliamentary candidate for the Kibera constituency and intends to run again in 2027. Hamida spoke with Mongabay on a cold Saturday afternoon, just as she was leaving the largest mosque in Kibera constituency. Her offices are a short walk away. As we moved toward them, several people stopped to greet her. She responded to each, “salaam aleikum,” paused to chat, and cupped a small girl’s face in her hands. She led me through a corrugated iron gate into a quiet compound of mud-walled, iron-roofed houses. The area was noticeably clean, with no stagnant water or litter in sight, unlike the typical sight in Kibera. We settled on the veranda of her home. Malasen Hamida addresses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323283</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘The only possible transition is a just transition’: Interview with WEF’s Clemence Schmid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 11:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackson Ambole Okata]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/07112338/photo-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322752</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Health, Marine Animals, Microplastics, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During the 11th Our Ocean Conference held in the coastal city of Mombasa, the Kenyan government, together with the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and UNDP Kenya, formally launched the Kenya National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP Kenya). At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year making [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During the 11th Our Ocean Conference held in the coastal city of Mombasa, the Kenyan government, together with the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and UNDP Kenya, formally launched the Kenya National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP Kenya). At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year making up 80% of all marine debris found in surface waters and deep-sea sediments. Kenya faces considerable challenges with plastic pollution, particularly in urban centers and along its coastline. Plastics account for 20% of the 22,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in Kenya, according to estimates. Only 27% of the plastic waste is collected, of which 8% is recycled and the remaining 19% disposed of in unsanitary landfills or dumpsites. The plastic waste not properly collected and managed often ends up in rivers and the ocean. It disrupts ecosystems, endangers wildlife, and impacts tourism and fisheries. In 2017, Kenya introduced a ban on the use, manufacture and importation of single-use plastic bags. In 2020, the ban was extended to single-use plastics in protected areas. NPAP Kenya will help accelerate the country’s transition to a circular plastics economy, according to Clemence Schmid, Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Clemence Schmid, Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership, World Economic Forum during the formal launch of NPAP, Kenya at the Our Ocean conference in Mombasa. Image courtesy of NPAP Kenya. The GPAP launched by the WEF in 2018 is a multi-stakeholder initiative to tackle&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322752</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Running on empty: How the gulf war is threatening Kenya’s food security</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/running-on-empty-how-the-gulf-war-is-threatening-kenyas-food-security/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/running-on-empty-how-the-gulf-war-is-threatening-kenyas-food-security/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 13:28:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Achieng’ Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/03132332/72-year-old-Peter-Kitur-at-his-farm-in-Kipkeikei-Trans-Nzoia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322457</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Science, Environment, Farming, Fertilizers, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Natural Resources, Science, and Subsistence Agriculture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Philip Kitur walks through a neat row of maize stalks, with budding leaves painting a picture of a bountiful harvest. The 71-year-old has a 41-acre parcel at Kipkeikei village in Trans-Nzoia County. However, hidden behind Kitur’s smile is the fear of losing a significant yield if he does not access fertilizer. “The crop is due [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Philip Kitur walks through a neat row of maize stalks, with budding leaves painting a picture of a bountiful harvest. The 71-year-old has a 41-acre parcel at Kipkeikei village in Trans-Nzoia County. However, hidden behind Kitur’s smile is the fear of losing a significant yield if he does not access fertilizer. “The crop is due for top dressing, but I have not accessed urea, without which I may lose up to 30% of my harvest,” he told Mongabay. Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, says the country has adequate stocks of fertilizer, including 2 million bags for top-dressing. He says Kenya is working around finding alternative sources for the fertilizer to ensure food security in spite of global shocks triggered by the tension between Iran and USA. “While we cannot preempt or predict how long the conflict in the Middle East will take, we have had conversations on sourcing Urea from Algeria and fertilizer from Morocco,” Kagwe told Mongabay in an interview done virtually. A maize farm belonging to Dennis Chemonges, a farmer in Cherengani, in Kenya&#8217;s Trans-Nzoia. The crop is due for top dressing. Photo by Achieng&#8217; Otieno. Key food basket Trans-Nzoia is one of Kenya’s food baskets, especially for maize, which is a staple food. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2025 National Agriculture Production Report, Trans-Nzoia accounted for 423,156 (10.5%) of the 4,028,320 tons of maize produced in 2024. However, there has been immense strain in Kenya’s ability to sustain its maize production over&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/running-on-empty-how-the-gulf-war-is-threatening-kenyas-food-security/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/running-on-empty-how-the-gulf-war-is-threatening-kenyas-food-security/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322457</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Our Ocean Conference in Kenya ends with $6.4 billion in pledges, review of past promises</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/our-ocean-conference-in-kenya-ends-with-6-4-billion-in-pledges-review-of-past-promises/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/our-ocean-conference-in-kenya-ends-with-6-4-billion-in-pledges-review-of-past-promises/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 07:11:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25121317/Mangroves-Kwale-Kenya-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321802</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation Finance, Ecosystems, Finance, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Marine, Ocean Warming, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MOMBASA — Africa was front and center at the Our Ocean Conference in Kenya, the first time the annual gathering was held on the continent. The conference is built around voluntary commitments from a range of actors including governments, nonprofits, institutions and the private sector. The meeting in Mombasa, a port city on Kenya’s Indian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MOMBASA — Africa was front and center at the Our Ocean Conference in Kenya, the first time the annual gathering was held on the continent. The conference is built around voluntary commitments from a range of actors including governments, nonprofits, institutions and the private sector. The meeting in Mombasa, a port city on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, brought 6,000 delegates together under the theme &#8220;Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future.” The focus was on expanding protections, strengthening marine security, developing sustainable blue economies and fisheries, and addressing problems such as marine pollution and climate change. A preliminary roundup showed that more than 104 players came forward to announce commitments that would mobilize $6.4 billion. “When we launched this conference in 2014, we wanted more than speeches, we wanted people to come to the table with an announcement of specifically what they will do and when and how much it will cost,” John Kerry, the former U.S. secretary of state who founded the conference, said at the opening ceremony on June 17. Turning ambition into action was a recurring theme across the three-day conference. “We did not come to Mombasa to add our names to a longer list of promises. We came to turn the tide,” Kenya’s President William Ruto said at the closing ceremony on June 18. “Let the measure of this conference not be what we pledged on the shore, but what we deliver in the waters.” The East African nation laid out more than 40 commitments backed by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/our-ocean-conference-in-kenya-ends-with-6-4-billion-in-pledges-review-of-past-promises/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/our-ocean-conference-in-kenya-ends-with-6-4-billion-in-pledges-review-of-past-promises/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321802</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Kenya’s Mida Creek, fishers confront a changing ocean with hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 09:24:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/24205351/20260620_131355-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321793</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Fish, Mangroves, Marine, Oceans, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[WATAMU, Kenya — By midday, the fish still hadn’t arrived. Since 8 a.m., Alice Kazungu had been sitting at the Mida Creek landing site on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, waiting for fishers to return from the water. Hours later, she was still waiting. Around her, another woman scanned the creek for signs of approaching canoes. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[WATAMU, Kenya — By midday, the fish still hadn’t arrived. Since 8 a.m., Alice Kazungu had been sitting at the Mida Creek landing site on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, waiting for fishers to return from the water. Hours later, she was still waiting. Around her, another woman scanned the creek for signs of approaching canoes. Some fishers had already returned empty-handed. Others had not returned at all. For Kazungu, a fishmonger and vice chair of the newly formed Mida Beach Management Unit (BMU), the long wait has become part of daily life. BMUs are the building blocks of fisheries co-management in Kenya, bringing together stakeholders in the sector including fishers, fish sellers and traders. Alice Kazungu, a fishmonger and vice chair of the newly formed Mida Beach Management Unit (BMU), in Watamu, Kenya. Image by David Akana/Mongabay. “There was a time when there was so much fish around here,” she says, pointing to the creek around her. “Now they [the fishers] bring back only two or three kilograms.” For Kazungu, the dwindling catch has become a question of survival. Married and raising children, she depends almost entirely on selling fish for income. When there is no fish, she occasionally sells palm wine tapped from coconut trees. But that is not enough to replace a livelihood built around the ocean. “When I go home, the children ask for food,” she says. “That is what worries me.” Her story echoes across Mida Creek, a sprawling network of mangroves, mudflats and tidal channels&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321793</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>To improve its floundering fisheries, Kenya boosts data collection on artisanal fleet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/to-improve-its-floundering-fisheries-kenya-boosts-data-collection-on-artisanal-fleet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/to-improve-its-floundering-fisheries-kenya-boosts-data-collection-on-artisanal-fleet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 14:46:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anthony Langat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/12114636/needlefish-hang-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321034</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, data, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Monitoring, Oceans, Overfishing, Solutions, Technology, Tracking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MTWAPA, Kenya — On a mid-morning in March, Mohamed Mwazigona, 58, had just landed a measly catch on the town beach in Mtwapa on Kenya’s north coast. His crew was preparing the boat for a second trip into the sea with hopes of better luck. As traders started trickling in to buy fish, Mwazigona sat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MTWAPA, Kenya — On a mid-morning in March, Mohamed Mwazigona, 58, had just landed a measly catch on the town beach in Mtwapa on Kenya’s north coast. His crew was preparing the boat for a second trip into the sea with hopes of better luck. As traders started trickling in to buy fish, Mwazigona sat on a broken upturned boat staring at the horizon beyond the sea. His morning trip had netted only 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of fish. He worried that his catches had decreased a lot in recent years. “The number of fishermen has gone up; we have become too many,” he said. That’s the reason he left his village of Shariani, 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the north, to base his fishing in Mtwapa, which he felt had fewer fishers and better access to markets. In Kenya, local beach management units (BMUs), like the Mtwapa BMU that Mwazigona belongs to, have a legal mandate to support collection of fisheries data for submission to the government: mainly the type of fish its members catch and the weight. These data are meant to inform government decision-making about small-scale fisheries so it can help reverse the competition for dwindling fish stocks that Mwazigona and his colleagues are experiencing. They are also meant to help fishers themselves make decisions on where and when to fish. However, the BMUs’ small-scale fisheries data have been inaccurate and inaccessible to stakeholders. To address this problem and improve the sustainability of Kenya’s small-scale fisheries, WorldFish,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/to-improve-its-floundering-fisheries-kenya-boosts-data-collection-on-artisanal-fleet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/to-improve-its-floundering-fisheries-kenya-boosts-data-collection-on-artisanal-fleet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321034</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As African cities heat up, a new book argues trees are part of the solution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-african-cities-heat-up-a-new-book-argues-trees-are-part-of-the-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-african-cities-heat-up-a-new-book-argues-trees-are-part-of-the-solution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2026 15:25:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/29135532/My_city_kigali-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320302</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cities, Climate, Climate Science, Earth Science, Environment, Governance, Protected Areas, Sea Levels, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A newly released book documenting urban forestry efforts across Africa argues that trees and green spaces are no longer a luxury for African cities, but a critical response to climate change, biodiversity loss, and urban inequality. Published by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), Urban Forests and Green Spaces in Africa: Case Studies and Lessons [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A newly released book documenting urban forestry efforts across Africa argues that trees and green spaces are no longer a luxury for African cities, but a critical response to climate change, biodiversity loss, and urban inequality. Published by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), Urban Forests and Green Spaces in Africa: Case Studies and Lessons from Across the Continent brings together 34 case studies from 14 African countries, covering everything from restoring biodiversity around wetlands in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, creating Miyawaki forests (forests with native trees planted closely together) in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, greening heat-stressed neighborhoods in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, transplanting baobabs in Senegal to rehabilitating degraded urban land in South Africa. Hot days, hot nights, and heatwaves have become more frequent across Africa, concludes the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s most authoritative scientific assessment on climate change. The report also finds that coastal cities are vulnerable to floods related to rainfall events and sea level rise. Palm-lined trees provide near-continuous canopy cover along a boulevard in Bahir Dar, the capital of Ethiopia’s Amhara region. The book notes that canopy closure along some of the city’s main streets approaches 100%, making Bahir Dar one of the most heavily treed urban centers in Africa. Image courtesy of Cathy Watson/CIFOR-ICRAF. As African cities experience rising temperatures, worsening floods, biodiversity loss, and rapid urbanization, the book argues that urban forests and green infrastructure are essential tools for climate resilience. Beyond storing carbon, trees and green spaces&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-african-cities-heat-up-a-new-book-argues-trees-are-part-of-the-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-african-cities-heat-up-a-new-book-argues-trees-are-part-of-the-solution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:04:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18181814/061A2832-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319666</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman says, pointing toward the western shoreline of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest permanent desert lake, just visible a couple of kilometers away. “But now it’s underwater.” Over the last 15 years, Lake Turkana has risen by about 8-10 meters (26-33 feet). That’s increased its surface area by around 10%. In and around the fishing hub of Kalokol, hundreds of people have been displaced by this steady advance. In Esirite’s case, the village where he grew up, Natole, has long since been abandoned. The fisherman has had to relocate three times since 2014, pushed ever farther from his ancestral land and the nearshore breeding grounds he has fished for most of his life. “We are suffering, but no one is helping us,” he says. “We can only pray to God for assistance.” But even the church where Esirite used to pray is underwater. What is happening in Kalokol is part of a wider trend. Since the early 2010s, many lakes across Kenya’s Rift Valley have flooded, their expansion accelerating after particularly heavy rains in 2020, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. But here, in this long-neglected northern corner of the country, the human and environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319666</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:02:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18184413/061A3230-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What has changed is the scale and intensity of pressures now converging on and around the lake — from increasingly erratic climate patterns and mounting strain on fisheries, to oil development, resource conflict, and the political decisions now shaping the lake’s future. In 2008, Ikal Angelei was working as a program coordinator at the Turkana Basin Institute, a pioneering research center focused on human origins and the environment, when she first heard from visiting scientists about a huge hydroelectric dam being built across the border in Ethiopia. Concerned about the Gibe III Dam’s potentially devastating impact downstream, on Lake Turkana and the communities that depend on it, Angelei founded a grassroots organization called Friends of Lake Turkana to amplify the voices of people who had been excluded from the consultation process and fight the project. In 2012, Angelei was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy. Her organization continues to work with and on behalf of communities within the greater Turkana Basin to demand collective social, economic, cultural, environmental and territorial justice. Mongabay spoke with Angelei about resilience, reductive narratives, and what Turkana’s history might reveal about its future. This interview has been lightly edited&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319676</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Elephants return to Mount Elgon side of Uganda after four decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2026 10:03:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Benjamin Jumbe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18062559/Mount-Elgon-Uganda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Fences, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Infrastructure, Mammals, Migration, Protected Areas, Tracking, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[According to monitoring with tracking collars by the Mount Elgon Foundation (MEF), last year at least 60 elephants crossed from Kenya into the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon, a vast volcanic mountain that straddles the border, returning to a part of their natural range where they’ve not been seen for over 40 years. MEF funds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to monitoring with tracking collars by the Mount Elgon Foundation (MEF), last year at least 60 elephants crossed from Kenya into the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon, a vast volcanic mountain that straddles the border, returning to a part of their natural range where they’ve not been seen for over 40 years. MEF funds community projects aimed at reducing forest degradation and raising awareness of environmental issues, as well as a team of 18 community scouts on the Kenyan side of the mountain, part of the East African Wild Life Society’s Mount Elgon Elephant Project. MEF’s chair, Chris Powles, told Mongabay that back in 2022, scouts tracked four elephants crossing the Suam river, which marks the border between the two countries. Drone footage of elephants on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon. Image courtesy of UWA. In an email interview, Powles said a number of factors could explain the elephants’ return, though it’s impossible to say for certain what’s prompted them to reestablish themselves. “[These] include the growth of the elephant population on the Kenya side, the increasing human pressure on the Kenya side, the relative safety for them on the Uganda side as it is all national park (unlike in Kenya),” he wrote. “And, maybe, the elephants alive from the time when others of them were killed in Uganda have now died naturally and so their memory of what happened in Uganda may have passed.” In the late 1970s and 80s, elephants in Uganda and other parts of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenya’s Ruto rejects “raw mineral export” future for Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/kenyas-ruto-rejects-raw-mineral-export-future-for-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/kenyas-ruto-rejects-raw-mineral-export-future-for-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 17:28:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/13165332/692856381_1576502047164396_2018090776161810834_n-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319365</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, cobalt, Critical Minerals, Economics, Energy, Environment, Governance, Mining, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kenyan President William Ruto has called for a new economic model for Africa’s green transition, warning that the continent must not repeat the historical pattern of exporting raw materials without local value addition. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, co-hosted by France and Kenya, Ruto said Africa’s growing reserves of critical minerals, vital [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kenyan President William Ruto has called for a new economic model for Africa’s green transition, warning that the continent must not repeat the historical pattern of exporting raw materials without local value addition. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, co-hosted by France and Kenya, Ruto said Africa’s growing reserves of critical minerals, vital to the global clean-energy economy, must be developed in a way that directly benefits African citizens. “We cannot accept a future in which Africa simply exports raw green minerals while industrial value addition, advanced manufacturing and technological innovation take place elsewhere. That model belongs to the past,” Ruto told delegates on May 12. “Green industrialization presents our continent with an opportunity not only to contribute meaningfully to global climate solutions but also to create jobs, expand manufacturing capacity, strengthen exports, deepen regional value chains and accelerate structural economic transformation.” A mine in Likasi in the DRC. Image by Glody Murhabazi/ AFP. Africa holds more than 30% of the world’s critical minerals — including cobalt, lithium, manganese and rare earth elements vital for producing batteries and solar panels and building wind turbines — according to the African Green Mineral Strategy. As the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy, experts argue demand will surge. Estimates from the African Union show that demand for these minerals is set to double by 2040. The Nairobi summit brings together leaders, investors and climate policy experts from across Europe and Africa. Ruto emphasized that Africa possesses some of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/kenyas-ruto-rejects-raw-mineral-export-future-for-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/kenyas-ruto-rejects-raw-mineral-export-future-for-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319365</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2026 04:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika VyawahareMary Mwendwa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11161329/671088-DSC_0355-1-545e44-original-1777544287-1-e1778516030451-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319145</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Earth Science, Economics, Environment, Governance, Pollution, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Two 17-year-old students from Kiambu county in Kenya were declared winners of the Africa region Earth Prize on May 12, for a low-cost maize- and coconut-based vehicle exhaust filtration system they developed. Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo, students at M-PESA Foundation Academy, developed the system, HewaSafi, meaning “clean air” in Swahili, after [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Two 17-year-old students from Kiambu county in Kenya were declared winners of the Africa region Earth Prize on May 12, for a low-cost maize- and coconut-based vehicle exhaust filtration system they developed. Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo, students at M-PESA Foundation Academy, developed the system, HewaSafi, meaning “clean air” in Swahili, after watching friends and family suffer from diseases linked to air pollution. The Switzerland-based Earth Foundation grants the annual Earth Prize, now in its fifth year, to 13-to-19-year-olds working on solutions to environmental challenges. The HewaSafi team is now a contender for the global prize, for which public voting opens on May 18 and closes on May 27. The winner of the international edition will be announced on May 29. “The problem of air pollution was very personal to us, and that is why we started thinking about coming up with a solution,” Kariuki told Mongabay. “It was a passion before it became a project.” An image of the HewaSafi 3D prototype model. Image courtesy of Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo. Kariuki, who grew up in an industrialized area of Nakuru county in Kenya, developed a chronic lung disease at age 10 that still requires him to take medication weekly. Onsarigo, who grew up in western Kenya, witnessed deaths and serious illnesses associated with polluted air. Air pollution causes 4.4 million premature deaths globally each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Vehicular exhaust is a major source of pollution in urban areas. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319145</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From Africa to Central Asia, the European roller’s migration builds relationships</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-africa-to-central-asia-the-european-rollers-migration-builds-relationships/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-africa-to-central-asia-the-european-rollers-migration-builds-relationships/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 May 2026 07:05:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/08162937/European.roller.Coracias.garrulus_BostonliqUzbekistan_bereztletikINaturalistBYNC4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319029</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, China, Europe, India, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat Loss, Migration, Research, Species, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The European roller is a small, striking migratory bird that breeds in open woodlands — or farms and orchards — across Europe and Central Asia. Coracias garrulus is also well-known to Southern and South Africa&#8217;s avid birdwatching communities, including many citizen scientists who participate in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project. But the rollers that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The European roller is a small, striking migratory bird that breeds in open woodlands — or farms and orchards — across Europe and Central Asia. Coracias garrulus is also well-known to Southern and South Africa&#8217;s avid birdwatching communities, including many citizen scientists who participate in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project. Image courtesy of Lourenço Afonso. But the rollers that spend November to March in South Africa appear to be mostly the C. g. semenowi subspecies. The routes these populations follow to their breeding grounds as far as 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) away in Central Asia are not known. Image courtesy of Ma Ming. Since 2024, scientists at BirdLife South Africa have fit tiny 3.8-gram (0.1-ounce) trackers to seven birds to investigate the birds’ migration routes and stopover sites. Image courtesy of Jean-Richard Snoer. The tagged rollers traveled north through Tanzania and Kenya, paused in Somalia, and then flew on to Central Asia via Oman and India. One individual ended up in China, two others in Uzbekistan. Image courtesy of BirdLife SA One year&#8217;s tracking of just seven birds has connected South Africa to bird clubs in Gujarat, India, and a Chinese researcher studying the rollers&#8217; breeding behavior in Xinjiang, China. Image courtesy of Ma Ming. BirdLife SA&#8217;s tiny staff dedicated to the European Roller Monitoring Project is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The tracking devices are paid for by individual donors. Image courtesy of Jean-Richard Snoer. In the years ahead, Flyway and Migrants Project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-africa-to-central-asia-the-european-rollers-migration-builds-relationships/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/from-africa-to-central-asia-the-european-rollers-migration-builds-relationships/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319029</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Up to half the bird species using the African-Eurasian flyway are declining</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/up-to-half-the-bird-species-using-the-african-eurasian-flyway-are-declining/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/up-to-half-the-bird-species-using-the-african-eurasian-flyway-are-declining/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2026 16:40:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Wilson Odhiambo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/13142100/Balearica_pavonina_-_Maroparque_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318965</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Egypt, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat Loss, Migration, Species, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Each year in May, World Migratory Bird Day draws attention to the billions of birds that migrate long distances with the changing of the seasons, a living braid of ecosystems separated by thousands — even tens of thousands — of kilometers. According to Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, BirdLife International Africa’s regional director, about 2 billion birds fly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Each year in May, World Migratory Bird Day draws attention to the billions of birds that migrate long distances with the changing of the seasons, a living braid of ecosystems separated by thousands — even tens of thousands — of kilometers. According to Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, BirdLife International Africa’s regional director, about 2 billion birds fly along the African-Eurasian flyway every year: the populations of between 40 and 50 percent of these migratory bird species are in decline. Ndang’ang’a told Mongabay added that the birds that travel furthest are at greatest risk. Some species, like Abdim’s stork (Ciconia abdimii), migrate relatively short distances within the continent, but palearctic migrants — those coming from distant landscapes in Europe or Asia — are particularly vulnerable, experiencing over a 30% decline in the past 30 years. “Because these birds depend on specific stopover sites (like Lake Chad or the Nile Delta), the loss of even one small wetland can cause an entire population to collapse,” Ndang’ang’a wrote in an email. Abdim&#8217;s stork at Masai Mara NP, Kenya. Image by tsowerby via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0) According to Ndang’ang’a, habitat loss, climate change and infrastructure collision stand as three of the main reasons for the decline in migratory bird species. “For instance, the drainage of wetlands for agriculture or urban expansion has greatly affected migratory birds as they search for resting and feeding ground,” he said. Lake Chad, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, has lost 90% of its surface area since the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/up-to-half-the-bird-species-using-the-african-eurasian-flyway-are-declining/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/up-to-half-the-bird-species-using-the-african-eurasian-flyway-are-declining/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318965</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Strait of Hormuz crisis should catalyze African biofertilizer production (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 00:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Susan Chomba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23081210/44366384701_940bc33dc5_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317598</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biochar, Business, Conflict, Fertilizers, Food, food security, International Trade, Subsistence Agriculture, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Trade, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be affordable? Reports from the Middle East echo through their favorite radio stations as they wonder about the war’s effect on their lives. As tensions disrupt food, fuel and fertilizer flows through the Strait of Hormuz — a key artery for global exports and imports into Iran — Africa’s dependence on imported synthetic inputs is once again exposed. For many countries, from 20% to more than 50% of fertilizer supplies originate from Persian Gulf nations. Besides the production of fertilizer, fossil fuels are also crucial for driving farming machinery such as tractors, irrigation pumps, and of course vehicles that transport food from farms to markets. Africa is aware of her vulnerability as a result of the war in Iran and the previous disruptions from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, which have triggered policy and economic consequences. Frameworks such as the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan 2024-2034 aim to reduce reliance on imports by fostering local production. Currently, the Dangote Group, which operates Africa&#8217;s largest chemical fertilizer manufacturing complex, based in Nigeria, plans to triple its production to 9 million metric tons per annum. The group is also starting the construction of a $2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317598</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In northern Kenya, a shifting Lake Turkana reshapes traditional livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 11:18:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14102303/Kute-Hero-right-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317473</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side lie their school and the nearest clinic — services that were previously within walking distance. Lekubo is a member of the El Molo, Kenya’s smallest and most marginalized ethnic group, who have lived here along the stark eastern shores of Lake Turkana for centuries. But in more recent years, the world’s largest desert lake has begun to turn against them, threatening not only their traditional livelihood but the very fabric of their cultural identity. According to a 2021 report by Kenya’s environment ministry, over the preceding decade, Turkana’s water levels rose by several meters, expanding the lake’s total surface area by around 10%, largely due to heavier rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands that feed it via the Omo River. Since then, the lake has continued to grow, submerging up to 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the surrounding landscape — an area half the size of London — including roads, grazing land, ancient burial sites, and even entire villages. Primary school children getting off the boat that now ferries them to school. Image by Christopher Clark for Mongabay. Lekubo watched helplessly as Komote was gradually cut off from the mainland. “Most people left&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317473</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Christianity can be an ally for Kenyan conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2026 15:25:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Rowe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/10145100/PRowe_HeaderImage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most powerful sociocultural forces” in Kenya. Interestingly, however, despite the prominent place of Christianity, the entanglements between Christianity and conservation — itself a major sociopolitical contour in Kenya — have been sorely understudied. In this sense, Stuart Butler’s 2024 article for Mongabay exploring the dynamic intersection of Maasai traditional religion, Christianity, land privatization, and conservation in the Naimina Enkiyioo (Loita) Forest is, in part, a breath of fresh air. For too long, religious faith (of any kind) has been on the margins of mainstream conservation thinking and practice. While some major players in conservation have begun to increasingly partner with faith communities and faith-based organizations (see for example WWF and UNEP), the task of getting (mainly Western) conservation practitioners and organizations to take faith seriously remains an uphill battle. Perhaps part of the difficulty in mainstreaming religious faith into conservation thinking and practice are the popular, but often partial, narratives concerning how faith — and for the purposes of this piece, Christianity — relate to conservation. In particular, the narrative concerning the negative impact of Christianity on the environment has been well-circulated for over a half-century, popularized and propelled most notably by the publication of Lynn&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On the shores of Lake Victoria, a youth-led campaign to revive a wetland</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/on-the-shores-of-lake-victoria-a-youth-led-campaign-to-revive-a-wetland/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/on-the-shores-of-lake-victoria-a-youth-led-campaign-to-revive-a-wetland/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 11:51:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Achieng’ Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09101708/Photo-2-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317251</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Birds, Environment, Governance, Lakes, Plastic, Pollution, Tourism, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KISUMU, Kenya — On a December morning, the early sunshine casts a golden sheen on the waters of Lake Victoria in Kenya’s Kisumu county. The breeze from the lake carries the melody of birds, as a small wooden boat bobs gently on the languid waves. Occasionally, an African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) strikes, trapping a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KISUMU, Kenya — On a December morning, the early sunshine casts a golden sheen on the waters of Lake Victoria in Kenya’s Kisumu county. The breeze from the lake carries the melody of birds, as a small wooden boat bobs gently on the languid waves. Occasionally, an African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) strikes, trapping a fish in its beak. The atmosphere at Dunga Beach, on the lake’s shore, is serene. In a few hours, fishmongers will arrive to haggle with fishers who have spent the night pulling up their nets. Victor Ochieng’ Didi, 32, leads a group of Kenyan tourists down the wooden boardwalk on the lakeshore. They’re bird-watchers, here at the culmination of a full year’s planning to catch a glimpse of the papyrus gonolek bird (Laniarius mufumbiri), a near-threatened species found only in the wetlands of Central and East Africa. The possibility of bird-watching at this spot is the result of years of efforts by conservationists, especially youths from this region. Momentum to preserve the Dunga wetland, identified by scientists as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), has ebbed and flowed, but activists say they hope a push to designate it as a gazetted wetland under Kenyan law will bring more lasting protections. Bird-watching guide Victor Ochieng’ Didi. Image by Achieng’ Otieno for Mongabay. A home for rare wildlife Dunga Beach is part of the wetland that’s also known as the Dunga swamp. It’s not only a habitat for rare species, but also an important carbon sink. The papyrus&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/on-the-shores-of-lake-victoria-a-youth-led-campaign-to-revive-a-wetland/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/on-the-shores-of-lake-victoria-a-youth-led-campaign-to-revive-a-wetland/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317251</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife concerns remain after Kenya court ruling over luxury safari camp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 09:13:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elodietoto]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/01192301/a.-BANNER-Wildebeest_Jumping_Into_the_Mara_River-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316695</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Serengeti, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Law, Mammals, Tourism, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the end of a saga that has stirred nature and tourism enthusiasts in Kenya for the past six months. The Environment and Land Court at Narok dismissed a petition filed in August 2025 by Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation. The environmentalist had opposed the opening [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the end of a saga that has stirred nature and tourism enthusiasts in Kenya for the past six months. The Environment and Land Court at Narok dismissed a petition filed in August 2025 by Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation. The environmentalist had opposed the opening of the Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp, operated by Lazizi Mara Ltd. “The Court finds that it lacks jurisdiction to deal with this matter as there are relevant alternative disputes resolution mechanisms, which were not employed by the Plaintiffs and therefore this suit was prematurely filed, and the Court is divested of Jurisdiction. Without Jurisdiction, the Court’s hands are tied,” the court decision states. The Narok court, in its ruling, specifies that the plaintiff, before filing a claim, should have filed a complaint under Section 117 of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, which stipulates that all remedies, including community-based ones, must be pursued, and also appealed under Section 129 of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act. For further information, Mongabay contacted the Narok court and county authorities, but they did not respond to our interview request. From the perspective of environmentalists like Johnson Yiamat, the ruling is sending the wrong message. “I feel that procedural outcomes should not overshadow the substance of the concerns that were raised,” he said in a message to Mongabay. Yiamat is a Maasai and founder of Osotua Green Alliance, a community-led organization focused on biodiversity conservation, climate action and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/wildlife-concerns-remain-after-kenya-court-ruling-over-luxury-safari-camp/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316695</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New strategy to reverse Kenya’s shark decline tries to bring fishers on board</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-strategy-to-reverse-kenyas-shark-decline-tries-to-bring-fishers-on-board/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-strategy-to-reverse-kenyas-shark-decline-tries-to-bring-fishers-on-board/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2026 07:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anthony Langat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/26222601/AP22187496377359-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316390</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Indian Ocean, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Elasmobranchs, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Sharks, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Kenya’s eastern coast, a small-scale fisher lugs the day’s catch onto a table for processing and selling. Chances are, mostly threatened species like the scalloped hammerhead shark and the white-spotted guitarfish will appear on the table. This is just one example of a wider trend, conservationists say, of how deeply intertwined the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Kenya’s eastern coast, a small-scale fisher lugs the day’s catch onto a table for processing and selling. Chances are, mostly threatened species like the scalloped hammerhead shark and the white-spotted guitarfish will appear on the table. This is just one example of a wider trend, conservationists say, of how deeply intertwined the fate of endangered sharks and rays is with fishers making a living in the Western Indian Ocean. In February, to lay out an actionable working plan for shark and ray conservation in Kenya, a group of policymakers, scientists and a community leader published a 19-goal strategy. In it, are over a dozen that directly involve small-scale fishers or try to get them on board to make it a success. The goals include the creation of more locally managed marine areas, the involvement of fishers in conservation decision-making and calls for more effective enforcement of regulations on fishing gear and fishing of endangered species. Since 2023, Kenya has already had a policy on the conservation of sharks and rays — the National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (NPOA-Sharks). However, the action plan is still awaiting government approval. The strategy proposed by stakeholders proposes a way to implement it. Scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), photographed in Yonaguni, Japan. According to a study, the species is frequently caught by small-scale fishers in Kenya. Image by Masayuki Agawa via Ocean Image Bank. A dozen stakeholders, Kenya’s Fisheries Service and the IUCN Species Conservation Planning&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-strategy-to-reverse-kenyas-shark-decline-tries-to-bring-fishers-on-board/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-strategy-to-reverse-kenyas-shark-decline-tries-to-bring-fishers-on-board/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316390</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>At dusk in Kenya’s caves, scientists study the hidden lives of bats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/at-dusk-in-kenyas-caves-scientists-race-to-understand-the-hidden-lives-of-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/at-dusk-in-kenyas-caves-scientists-race-to-understand-the-hidden-lives-of-bats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Mar 2026 14:44:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharon Muzaki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/17142523/Hildegardes-Tomb-Bat-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315843</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Caves, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Infrastructure, Mammals, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the afternoon fades at the Three Sisters Caves in Kenya’s Kwale county, David Wechuli’s team begins setting up nearly invisible nets along the hillsides in the coastal forest. “When dusk arrives, bats begin pouring out of the caves,” Wechuli says. “Some fly straight into the nets. We quickly remove them, carefully untangling each bat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the afternoon fades at the Three Sisters Caves in Kenya’s Kwale county, David Wechuli’s team begins setting up nearly invisible nets along the hillsides in the coastal forest. “When dusk arrives, bats begin pouring out of the caves,” Wechuli says. “Some fly straight into the nets. We quickly remove them, carefully untangling each bat before taking morphometric measurements such as body size, weight and wing length.” The captured bats are carefully placed in small cotton bags, allowing them to breathe while preventing escape over the next two or three hours. The research team from Bat Conservation International (BCI) will work into the night, measuring each animal, determining their sex, and taking tissue samples to check for the presence of disease, before photographing each one and releasing it back into the night. Earlier in the afternoon, the team will have inspected the site, moving carefully through the dark cave filled with thousands of bats clinging to the cave’s roof and rock walls. “Some caves are deep tunnels, more than 100 meters [330 feet] long,” Wechuli tells Mongabay in a phone interview. “Others have bats roosting very high. You have to know the cave before you even start capturing anything.” Wechuli and other researchers are working to better understand how bats live, the role these flying mammals play in ecosystems, and how human activities are reshaping their habitats. His research and conservation work is focused on the coastal caves in the Shimoni region of Kwale county, as well as in volcanic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/at-dusk-in-kenyas-caves-scientists-race-to-understand-the-hidden-lives-of-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/at-dusk-in-kenyas-caves-scientists-race-to-understand-the-hidden-lives-of-bats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315843</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>