The New Shepherd: A Paradigm Shift in an Age-Old Tradition

Across sub-Saharan Africa pastoralists live alongside large densities and distributions of wildlife. Today, the relationships between pastoralists and spaces dedicated to wildlife are changing. Pastoralists are losing communal land due to changes in land tenure and an increase in wildlifebased tourism. This has led to shifts in land access and use, as well as in the political economy of labor for livestock production. The objective of this research is to understand how new land tenure arrangements and shifts in the tourism economy are affecting access to grazing resources and restructuring herd management. This case study from southwest Kenya employs qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and ethnographic observations gathered from accompanying individuals on their daily routines. In the first chapter, I argue that there are both positive and negative effects to the shifts in land tenure with respect to livestock production strategies for pastoralists who reside on the borders of protected areas. Some of the effects explored in this chapter include changes in social capital, increased fences, and private wildlife conservancies. The second chapter answers the question of how Maasai women’s identities have changed to become livestock managers. I explore how women are engendered, occasionally by default, to care for cattle herds and hired herders, and in successfully doing so, they gain trust in themselves and from their male family members as capable and competent contributors to their families’ predominant livelihood. This research seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of how changes on these shared landscapes are affecting relationships within pastoralist societies; it is also an effort to produce useful studies on women in marginalized and underrepresented societies in order to provide place-based and societally appropriate explanations of and recommendations for increasing women’s roles and responsibilities towards a goal of gender equality.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136598/1/Poelking_Claire_TheNewShepherd.pd

Assessment of Habitat and Wildlife Density in Community Wildlife Sanctuaries Amboseli Ecosystem, Kenya

Includes Maps, Figures, Tables, Appendix and Bibliography.Community wildlife sanctuaries within the Amboseli ecosystem serve as a wildlife corridor for migratory species from Amboseli National Park. The sanctuaries are community-based conservation areas that provide wildlife with necessary resources outside of Amboseli National Park and grant the local community managerial rights to the land and its resources. Data were collected in six sanctuaries located in Kimana Group Ranch. Foot counts were used to collect information on habitat types, vegetative health, and species presence within the sanctuaries. Each sanctuary was individually assessed upon habitat availability ? measured by habitat proportion and vegetative health ? based on a scoring system modified from Herlocker. Wildlife density and habitat preference by wildlife were calculated using the Jacob?s Index. Additionally, seasonal and annual wildlife density variations were determined using similar data collected since 2010. Habitat heterogeneity proved to be the best predictor for wildlife presence in the sanctuaries, while habitat quality was less influential in observed wildlife presence. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference in the annual variation of wildlife densities among the sanctuaries. The six community wildlife sanctuaries have been found to act effectively as a wildlife corridor for the species observed throughout the study

Protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement as a threat to iconic protected areas

Abstract: Protected areas (PAs) are expected to conserve nature and provide ecosystem services in perpetuity, yet widespread protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) may compromise these objectives. Even iconic protected areas are vulnerable to PADDD, although these PADDD events are often unrecognized. We identified 23 enacted and proposed PADDD events within World Natural Heritage Sites and examined the history, context, and consequences of PADDD events in 4 iconic PAs (Yosemite National Park, Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Yasun´ı National Park, and Virunga National Park). Based on insights from published research and international workshops, these 4 cases revealed the diverse pressures brought on by competing interests to develop or exploit natural landscapes and the variety of mechanisms that enables PADDD. Knowledge gaps exist in understanding of the conditions through which development pressures translate to PADDD events and their impacts, partially due to a lack of comprehensive PADDD records. Future research priorities should include comprehensive regional and country-level profiles and analysis of risks, impacts, and contextual factors related to PADDD. Policy options to better govern PADDD include improving tracking and reporting of PADDD events, establishing transparent PADDD policy processes, coordinating among legal frameworks, and mitigating negative impacts of PADDD. To support PADDD research and policy reforms, enhanced human and financial capacities are needed to train local researchers and to host publicly accessible data. As the conservation community considers the achievements of Aichi Target 11 and moves toward new biodiversity targets beyond 2020, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers need to work together to better track, assess, and govern PADDD globally