On the Expedition
Work with the Samburu people of Kenya as they use their rich cultural traditions and expertise to protect biodiversity, promote sustainable economies, and manage human interactions with wildlife.
Saving Kenya's Endangered Zebras
The Samburu region is among the last strongholds for endangered Grevy's zebras. From 4x4 vehicles, you’ll count and photograph these beautiful animals to help Dr. Paul Muoria and Dr. Nicholas Oguge monitor the population. You’ll help find better ways to manage the zebras’ competition with humans and to protect the 2,000 of them in the region.
You’ll count and photograph adult and young Grevy's zebras of both sexes on community lands to monitor population size, structure, and distribution. You’ll record GPS locations, activities, and other details of livestock, people, and wildlife you observe to complete your surveys.
The data you collect will help researchers produce GIS maps of the zebras' distribution in relation to a variety of factors such as predators, humans, and habitat. In turn, this information will be shared with NGOs such as African Wildlife Foundation and with the Samburu communities to improve management practices in reserves and in the unprotected community lands.
Medicinal Plants
The Samburu people have long used plants as medicines, and maintaining this traditional knowledge is crucial. You can help Dr. Callistus Ogol, Dr. Paul Okemo, and Dr. Isaiah Ndiege work with local communities to identify medicinal plants, document their uses, and even investigate whether some could purify water for drinking, a huge need in this arid land.
You’ll interview local community members to explore their use of medicinal plants, such as which ailments they treat, which modes of harvesting are used, and the methods and frequency of applications. You’ll also help identify and collect plants in the field, determine their abundance and distribution, and process them by tagging, pressing, and drying.
You’ll help with community questionnaire data entry, such as recording species and local names of medicinal plants sold in markets, the ailments they treat, their relative volumes, their sources, pricing, the amounts sold, and the frequency of market visits by vendors. The information you collect will build a database of knowledge and resource use, which will help local resource managers plan for the sustainable use of medicinal plants. .
Meals and Accommodations
Your contribution includes a charter flight over spectacular vistas from Nairobi to the village of Wamba, where you’ll stay in shared basic rooms in the scenic foothills of the Mathews Range. The accommodations have electricity, hot showers, flush toilets, laboratories, work spaces, common areas, and a kitchen. An experienced cook will prepare meals choosing from a largely Western menu. At the Samburu Field Center, you’ll experience authentic Kenyan cultures, getting to know those working to make a difference for their communities and the environment.
About the Research Area
The vast savannahs of Kenya abound with wildlife. The traditionally nomadic Samburu people have coexisted with the rich biodiversity here for hundreds of years, but growing human populations and changing settlement patterns now put both human and wildlife communities at risk.
The Samburu Field Center is located within the Samburu-Laikipia ecosystem, which extends from the Samburu District in northern Kenya to the Laikipia District, just to its south. The landscape contains one of the highest concentrations of unique threatened savannah species in Kenya. There are semi-arid savannah mosaics of grasslands and scrublands, forests, the Ewaso Nyiro river watershed that drains from Mt. Kenya, and many elephant migration corridors.
Wamba is communally owned and the nomadic Samburu people live and tend their livestock in close proximity to it and to wild animal populations, including Grevy’s zebras, elephants, antelopes, gerenuks, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, birds, and many invertebrates. There are no fences to keep wildlife within certain areas, and human-wildlife conflict over critical resources (water, food, etc.) contributes to a greater dispersal of wildlife. However, there are also several conservation areas in the vicinity, including Buffalo Springs, Samburu and Shaba wildlife reserves. Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust land can be accessed from Wamba town, where volunteers will be based.
Wamba, although one of the larger population centers in the Samburu District, is a rural town with almost no tourism, although many visit the nearby reserves; Wamba has been the base for Earthwatch operations since 2003. Many people in and around Wamba live the traditional lifestyle of the Samburu people. While here, you’ll get to know some of the community members who are crucial partners in Earthwatch’s efforts, and will learn about Samburu culture, which shares a language and many practices with the Maasai. The Samburu have a nomadic lifestyle and are believed to have emigrated from Sudan (which borders Kenya to the north) in the beginning of the 15th century.