It’s 400km long, took 21 years to complete, rises seven feet above the ground, and its wire cable would stretch from Nairobi to London if unstrung.
Just north of Nairobi, Kenya’s vast Aberdare forest ecosystem, named more than a century after a former President of the Royal Geographical Society, is home to countless species: from elephants and giant forest hog, to mountain bongo, rhinos and leopards.
It’s also where you’ll find the world’s longest conservation electric fence. It was built in response to heightened tensions between humans and wildlife in the Aberdares, which had led to a number of deaths, while leaving wildlife and forests under threat from poaching, bush-meat hunting, snaring and illegal logging.
By the 1980s, wildlife populations had been decimated, with the poaching of elephants and rhinos reaching its peak. In this period, the black rhino was almost completely wiped out.
Elephants are among countless species in the Aberdare forest (AFP)
Originally intended to be just 38 kilometres long, the fence now protects more than 200 square kilometres of prime indigenous forests and water catchments, which have been described as the ‘lungs’ of Kenya. The Aberdares provide power and water to seven major towns – including over three million people in the capital city of Nairobi – and 30% of Kenya’s tea as well as 70% of its coffee are grown on its slopes.
This month marks the sixth anniversary of the fence’s completion. In that time, it has been celebrated as an invaluable investment for the country which now keeps the wildlife enclosed – and local communities safe from having their homes destroyed by their once marauding neighbours.
The partnership between Kenya’s Wildlife Service (KWS) and Rhino Ark, which saw the construction of the historic fence, has since been held up as an exemplar of public-private partnership in conserving fragile ecosystems.
The Rhino Ark was founded in 1988 by the late conservationist, Ken Kuhle. He aimed to build and maintain a protective electric fence to keep wildlife within the Aberdares, to curb illegal log extraction and to reduce poaching of wildlife – especially of the endangered rhino and mountain bongo antelope.
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His aims have been more than fulfilled, while preserving and improving the livelihoods of neighbouring communities. In September 2011, Rhino Ark commissioned an independent study to assess the full impact of 20 years of conservation efforts in the Aberdare and to provide an in-depth review of fencing as a tool to help manage a conservation area adjoining settlements. It found that the fence had improved the livelihoods of millions of people in central Kenya – some had seen their incomes triple – due to improved farmland security, crop yields and safer living conditions.
Still, there remains work to be done. Although wildlife populations have grown, poaching in the region remains a threat. And as the report acknowledged, while the fence protects farmers’ land, it is not, nor was it designed to be, human-proof and efforts must continue on the ground to stamp out the problem.
That said, the fence shows the potential of public-private partnerships in Kenya's conservation – a trend encouraged by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta. He has been clear that there will have to be an alliance between public and private sector actors if Kenya's natural heritage is to be preserved: “As a government, we appreciate the role of private sector in environmental conservation and call for more robust involvement.”
This article was provided by the Kenyan Wildlife Service to promote a greater understanding of Kenya and its natural wonders to an international audience.
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