Conservation & Community
Protecting our shared conservancy
Conservation & Community
The OI LentiIIe Conservancy is a pioneering exampIe of community-based conservation, which aims to align the interests of tourism and conservation with those of the communities who own the land. The Ol Lentille lodge was donated to and is owned by the local community.
Conservation & community
Community-owned, conservation minded
The unfenced Ol Lentille conservancy plays a vital role in protecting an important animal migration corridor. The model is based on a tight partnership between the Maasai and Samburu communities who own the land (and the safari lodge) and the operators of the tourism business. By protecting the conservancy, they enable the tourism activity, from which they derive direct (financial) and indirect (employment, training...) benefits. This is a "win-win" for the communities and for conservation, funded by tourism.
40,000
Acres of wilderness belonging to 4 communities.
$5MIL
Has been invested in the community in the past 15 years.
12
Schools as well as a level 4 hospital have been opened.
1
Lodge donated to local Maasai community.
Conservation & community
The ol lentille conservancy
Our 15-year effort to create a 40,000-acre conservancy has resulted in the rewilding of a remote and beautiful part of Africa, with flora and fauna having returned in numbers not seen in human memory. The sustainability of the Conservancy, in a semi-arid part of the country, is a never-ending endeavour, with droughts and illegal grazing by pastoralists constant threats to the health of its flora and fauna.
Conservation & community
An extraordinary partnership
In a pioneering example of community-tourism partnership, the lodge was donated to the community on whose land it sits (the Kijabe community). It is managed under a long term agreement by the current investors.
The four communities involved in the Ol Lentille Conservancy benefit directly from tourism. Each receives a share of the Conservation Fee levied on visitors to be used on community development initiatives according to their own self-defined needs. They also benefit from employment and training opportunities with the lodge.
Conservation & community
A remarkable Recovery
The combination of community will and the lodge’s management skills, supported by the African Wildlife Foundation, has led to an astonishing recovery of wildlife and habitat. The Conservancy has gone from over-grazed semi-desert to an abundance of flora and fauna in a few short years. With grass recovery, erosion has been halted and the Ldarboi spring, dead for at least 100 years, has come back to life. With improved vegetation cover, rainwater can permeate the soil, resulting in increased precipitation, creating a virtuous cycle of re-greening, and the return of wildlife in significant numbers.
Conservation & community
The security team
Protecting the Ol Lentille Conservancy is a constant struggle in such a vast and rugged area, with many parts inaccessible by car. We employ 24 rangers, led by a Head Warden, and supported by three squad commanders. The uniformed, armed rangers are all employed from the local communities, including two female rangers. They have been trained by the Kenya Police Reserve (KPR) and 51 Degrees, a training outfit run by ex-Special Air Service personnel. Some of them are members of the KPR, which gives them police enforcement powers. The security team run anti-poaching patrols, mitigate human-wildlife conflict, deal with cattle encroachment on the Conservancy and generally ensure the security of the local communities.
Conservation & community
How to help
We are determined, with your help, to make a deep, lasting and sensitive impression on a small place that will positively impact the environment as well the livelihoods of a traditional but dynamic people. Should you wish to help in any area, such as education, conservation, healthcare or water, please contact our general manager at the lodge (general.manager@ol-lentille.com) or Andre (andre.cohen@ol-lentille.com).
