Kenya - A Place Called Home

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Opinion

Edition 10: Winter 1999/2000 The preservation of Kenya's environment, and the tourism industry that utilises it, must be placed in the care of all of the country's citizens. For this to succeed, there needs to be a strong educational programme and fresh ideas to include local communities in the tourism industry. By Kuki Gallmann.   One evening a few years ago I was driving a socialite friend from New York along the hills of Ol ari Nyiro, my home in Laikipia. It was one of those extraordinary sunsets on the edge of the Great Rift Valley when everything becomes bathed in gold light; there is a stillness in the air and one feels on the roof of the world. I turned to her and saw that she had tears running down her cheeks. "Are you OK?" I asked. "I have never felt like this anywhere before," she said. "This incredible energy; I feel better than I have ever been. It is not just the most breathtaking place: it is my first time in Africa and it is like coming home." I knew exactly what she meant. For me Kenya was an instant recognition, a memory carried in my genes, the unexplainable need to migrate back to my origins. This need to get in touch with our humanity is a common denominator for all people, and I believe it is Kenya's strongest attraction. Tourism to Kenya could be marketed as a pilgrimage to the land of our origins, a spiritual retreat to regain our own humanity, to find energy, purpose and, for some who have gone through personal tragedies, healing, peace and a reason. Kenya has what the world desperately needs: the power to inspire. It is imperative that the biodiversity of this country is preserved. This can only happen if the people of Kenya become the financial beneficiaries of this asset and hence take responsibility for its management and conservation. Without local community involvement there is no hope. Local people need to improve their living conditions and to have prospects for future generations. Unless they are instilled with the importance and direct advantages of environmental responsibility, wildlife (the majority of which is still outside protected areas) will be confined to parks and seen as something remote, beyond their control, alien, not to touch, not to be proud of. But I believe there is hope. The Kenya Wildlife Service advocates a system in which land-owning communities take over the responsibility of managing their own wildlife resources, and learn to see wildlife as an asset rather than a liability. As David Hopcraft, the Vice Chairman of the National Wildlife Forum of Kenya's Landowners, pointed out, "landowners in Kenya control around 70% of Kenya's range land, forests, coastal and marine areas. If they are given the incentive to manage, protect and rehabilitate their wildlife resource and natural habitat, there is reason for optimism." We are all aware that there is an urgent human duty to increase the available supply of foodstuff. Arable areas must be put to optimum use in food production, but much of Africa's land has poor, dry soil and insufficient rainfall. Often this same land has great environmental, scenic or cultural value in its pristine state. Ecotourism could be one solution. Already cultural centres are beginning to mushroom in community land, bringing unexpected returns to rural people, and Wildlife scouts have been chosen by the community and trained to look after its wildlife. Other ideas for tourism-related initiatives are: · The development of a Great Rift Valley Conservancy: areas selected for their environmental integrity, where the manufacture of organic products like honey, essential oil extracts, cosmetics and crafts could be carried out. · The development of any activity linked with traditional ancestral knowledge, to be marketed and sold with a recognisable logo and quality label. · The establishment of health farms, where paying visitors would rejuvenate their bodies with Kenya-produced, exportable natural herbal products, hot springs, mineral waters, spas, and thermal mud. · The construction of inspiring spiritual retreats in places of mystical beauty. · The creation of quality arts and music festivals, featuring a combination of African, Western and Eastern performances. · The holding of international marathons and world-class sporting events. · The manufacture of cosmetics of natural origin-perfumes from new flowers, essential oils, and herbal medicine. This is already the fastest growing branch of the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, and offers tremendous potential for a sustainable income. Research into Kenya's incredibly rich ethnobotany must be carried out. Kenya's biodiversity supports a tremendous variety of plants, the traditional uses of which are known to the elderly. The Gallmann Memorial Foundation is leading research in this field, particularly on the herbal lore of the Pokot tribe, my neighbours. At the base of all this is, of course, education. We can only care for what we know and we can only protect what we understand and cherish. Thus, for years I have been campaigning for the introduction of ecology as an obligatory subject in Kenyan schools. When I was a child in Italy, we were taught about Italian art and literature-what made Italy unique-since the first stages of our education. If the environment is Kenya's major asset, every Kenyan citizen should learn all there is to know about it. Kenyan children should learn from the open book of nature before the writing becomes blurred. They must realise that no tree can thrive without roots and that the preservation of their inheritance is an ecological necessity. It is the children who must be taught what makes Kenya special and the ways in which they will personally benefit as adults from a well-managed ecosystem. To achieve this will mean the creation of special courses and, possibly, the establishment of environmental teacher training colleges in various parts of the country. It will result in the creation of more jobs. Kenya will be the first country on the continent (and possibly in the world) to introduce the study of its own environment as a full curriculum subject for its junior citizens-tomorrow's decision makers. Margaret Mead once said: "A group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." And may I add, with humbleness and optimism, the words of The Prophet: "Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee." Kuki Gallmann is the author of three books (I Dreamed Of Africa, African Nights and Night Of The Lions). She runs the Gallman Memorial Foundation from her home in Laikipia, Kenya. Published in Travel Africa Edition Ten: Winter 1999/2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)

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