Huge benefits expected after completion of 400-km fence around the Aberdares

• State and private firms raised funds for project while locals provided free labour

The placing of the last pole in the 400-kilometre electric fence around the Aberdare forest concluded a two-decade exercise that was a pure blend of patience, sacrifice and adventure.

The stakeholders’ patience was stretched to the farthest limit by the numerous challenges and outright risks that the exercise came with.

But none left Kenyans holding their collective breath like the television images that captured a helicopter carrying top executives on a tour to assess progress of the exercise crashing after it developed problems.

The then Nation Media Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wilfred Kiboro, Rhino Ark chairman Collin Church, Safaricom’s Michael Joseph and Eddy Njoroge of KenGen all miraculously escaped by the skin of their teeth from the chopper crash on April 8, 2004.

However, these setbacks never derailed the commitment by the government and private sector players who had helped raise the hundreds of millions of shillings needed to ring the conservancy. The contribution of simple village folks who put in unpaid manhours to erect the fence was vital for the success of the project.

It was a joy last Friday to see representatives of the groups and local community turn up to witness what amounted to the final rite to the whole exercise.

Among the witnesses was Mr Perez Olindo, a one-time Kenya Wildlife Service director who kicked off the Sh850 million project 21 years ago, Mr Church who has been spearheading fundraising efforts and Mr Sospeter Njuguna, Kenya Forest Services (KFS) ranger who has seen each pole being fixed since the project began.

Wildlife and Forestry minister Noah Wekesa was lost for word to describe the event but asserted: “The success of the project is clear proof that the government can do a lot in implementing various projects if it embraces private partnerships with like-minded people keen on developing various sectors in the country.”

The long construction period has witnessed unrivalled bonding between local communities and Rhino Ark, KWS and KFS personnel on the need for a common cause in protecting the forest from further destruction.

Dr Wekesa recognised Mr Church, KWS assistant director in charge of Mountain Conservation Area Otungah Barasa, and KWS head of Fencing George Odhiambo as the lead team behind the success of the project.

During the venture, communities came together to form self-help groups which were trained on the importance of forest conservation and how to benefit economically from the existence of forests. This saw the groups provide man-hours at no cost.

The local groups – Gatamaiyo/Karimenu, Kereita/Kinari/Kamae (Kekika), Kipipiri/Kinja and Geta Forest community and Njabini – were noted as the lead mobilisers of forest edge communities in getting involved in the project. Kikaka and Gatamaiyo received the Michael Werikhe Award for their contribution towards the project.

A community representative, Mr Peter Karanja, said farm production had increased threefold and that the human wildlife conflict had been effectively stamped out. Water flowing into various rivers had also increased, thanks to the erection of the fence that restricted human activities within the forest.

Mr Church said that a well-managed gate access management at various sections of the forest had also been put in place to ensure residents use the forest in a sustainable manner.

The communities also provided scouts employed full-time by Rhino Ark to monitor the fence round the clock with expertise and tools to repair the fence whenever damage is detected. Each scout covers eight kilometres a day patrolling the fence while outposts situated every 20 kilometres receive distress calls and daily reports.