Warden of Mara Conservancy – No Water No Life

Interviewee

Alfred Bett

Tourism Warden in Mara Conservancy

Interviewer

Alison M. Jones

NWNL Director and Photographer

Mara Conservancy, Kenya, on February 24, 2018

Introductory Note

Alfred Bett is tourism warden for the Mara Conservancy, which manages Kenya’s Mara Triangle. Born in Narok County next to the Mara, he is as deeply connected to his village to which he will eventually return as he is connected to wildlife conservation. He is clearly aware of impacts of threatened water resources; approaches to support clean water for all; governmental urges for profit over wildlife; and the need to control tourists’ abuse of wildlife-viewing privileges. Kenya is lucky to have such a dedicated steward.

Outline

THE MARA CONSERVANCY MODEL
CONSERVATION CHALLENGES
CHANGES SINCE ALFRED’S YOUTH
CONSERVATION v. FARMING
WATER AVAILABILITY
PROTECTING KENYA’S RIVERS
IMPACTS of DAMS & ROADS
A POSSIBLE UNIFIED MAASAI MARA

Key Quote Changing wheat farms into wildlife conservancies would be a good solution since conservation doesn’t use water in any way! –Alfred Bett

During dry seasons there often is not enough water. Even our collection centers lack water. Then, we must go to the rivers. But now, many people harvest water, thanks to an initiative from the Danish people. –Alfred Bett

THE MARA CONSERVANCY MODEL

NWNL “Jambo, Alfred!” – and in English, “Hello!” Let’s begin with your thoughts about the Mara Conservancy, organized in 2000 as a new approach to community-based conservation management. Its task is to manage the Mara Triangle – the western third of Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. How do you assess the Mara Conservancy’s success?

ALFRED BETT As its tourism warden, I’m very proud of the Mara Conservancy, because from the time it began in 2000, there has been great progress. Personally, I really love its wildlife; and I really love to work here. In my heart, I am happy when I am working, and I respect the Conservancy’s CEO, Brian Heath..

NWNL What inspires your respect for Brian Heath?

ALFRED BETT He is a good person who listens to everyone, even the junior staff. He listens to what we think could make the Mara Conservancy better than it is. He has been a role model, because his constant successes help many people from the Maasai community and from the people who work here, including stakeholders in the tourism industry and hotel managements. They are separate from the Mara Conservancy, but they are happy to now have a well-managed park so their tourists can be driven all around the park due to now-efficient security and good roads. They know that this will mean they will receive more clients.

CONSERVATION CHALLENGES

NWNL All sounds great. Are there any problems the Mara Conservancy and its CEO Brian Heath are facing?

ALFRED BETT One previous challenge had been regarding revenue collection, but now it is running smoothly. The biggest problem now is political, because the people who are in Narok County have different management practices. And because the Mara Conservancy is so successfully maintained now, everyone wants to come here.

NWNL What do you see as the solution to this political problem?

ALFRED BETT In general in Kenya, political problems are very hard to manage. They say, “Political problems are settled politically.” I think maybe we should ask government to manage all of Kenya’s wildlife and reserves via a management model based on the Mara Conservancy. Those changes should be set up permanently, so that whoever comes in as a future Wildlife Director or President cannot change anything nor interfere with the management of wildlife or the game reserve.

NWNL What are your opinions of how to best face the problem of low water flows in the Mara River? What are the consequences of that threat, if there is a threat?

ALFRED BETT The problem of Mara River becoming very low and almost dry exists because its Mau Forest source has been interfered with. People have encroached into the forest and cut down trees in parts of the forest. A few years ago, the local people were removed from the forest. I think the Mau Forest is now recovering from the recent damage there and people who don’t belong there were removed. The forest will not heal immediately; it will take times for the trees maybe to regrow.

And another issue is the large number of [building and farming] projects along the Mara River from its Mau Forest source to here. We hear of people tapping water, building dams and diverting water into those dams. And then some of the farmers use irrigation. These changes have led to the Mara River becoming almost dry, especially now.

So, we need the government to address these new issues and interferences so the Mau Forest can regain its glory. It should address the issue of people doing irrigation and building dams. They must be stopped. And it is a matter of urgency, because water in Mara River is the only permanent source of water for wildlife. Losing water in the Mara River means losing our wild animals. So, this river’s flow is a matter of urgency.

NWNL Conservancies began to become popular with the launch of the Mara Conservancy in the year 2000 and its immediate successes. Since, there have been many new conservancies created in Kenya, using this model. Are conservancies in themselves a solution to the water problem? And, if the farms north of the Mara – between the Mau Forest and here – became conservancies as active parts of a greater ecosystem, would that help save water by stopping the withdrawal of water for irrigation?

ALFRED BETT Yes, changing wheat farms into wildlife conservancies would be a good solution since conservation doesn’t use water in any way! The only water used by the Conservancy is consumed by the wild animals and the few resorts situated between the conservancies.

CHANGES SINCE ALFRED’S YOUTH

NWNL Do you see a difference in Kenya’s climate patterns from weather when you were growing up versus weather patterns today?

ALFRED BETT Yes, the weather has changed a lot. Every year it used to rain in April and again in the summer. Even if summer rains didn’t come, we didn’t lose water in the rivers because April rains were always heavy. Then, in September and December, we used to have rain.. Our dry seasons were in January, and maybe again in October and November. And remember, then when I was a child, our population was significantly lower, so people’s use of water was less due to a low population.

NWNL Where did your family get its water when you were a boy?

ALFRED BETT When a boy, my family got water from a little stream, called Olchobosei River. It flowed throughout the year – even though it was a very small stream. But now it no longer flows constantly. It has become seasonal.

NWNL How much of the year can you now get water from that stream?

ALFRED BETT Now we have points where water is always available, but the river is not always flowing. We have a rural water project funded by people from Denmark. We still use their shallow well.

NWNL Is water piped to people’s houses now?

ALFRED BETT Not really to homes, but usually to schools and collection centers where people can collect water.

NWNL So there always was enough water when you were a boy?

ALFRED BETT Yes.

NWNL Is there always enough water these days?

ALFRED BETT Usually – but during dry seasons there is often not enough water. Even our collection centers lack water. Then, we must go to the rivers. But now, many people harvest water, thanks to an initiative from the Danish people who came to teach people how do that.

NWNL Do you pay for the water you get through this project?

ALFRED BETT No, it’s free.

NWNL When you were a boy, did you grow vegetables?

ALFRED BETT Yes. We grew some vegetables at home, but just for our own family’s subsistence.

NWNL What vegetables did you grow?

ALFRED BETT We grew “sukuma” [Swahili for kale] and “managu” which is Kikuyu for our green vegetable [African nightshade] and other greens. And we have maize.

NWNL When you go home do you go to the same place where you grew up?

ALFRED BETT Yes, yes! I live on my own in the same area, about 10 kilometers from where my mom is living.

I am married with children. The first-born is 14 now; the second one is 9; the third is 7; and the fourth one is 18 months. I am thinking of how I will educate them so they can enjoy the good life, not like me when I walked barefooted to primary school.

NWNL What would you like to be doing in 10-20 years from now?

ALFRED BETT I want to run some kind of non-strenuous business, which I enjoy, such as daily farming and poultry keeping.

NWNL So you would leave the whole wildlife sector?

ALFRED BETT Yes, because when I am old, I want to be close to my family. Right now, most of the time away I stay from home.

WATER AVAILABILITY

NWNL Back to water issues, do you think your family will always have enough water where they live now? Are you concerned that someday there may not be enough water there?

ALFRED BETT Yes. Our water source is about 6 kilometers from home. And we are about 2 kilometers from the nearest collection center. But, during droughts or dry seasons, we must travel 6 kilometers for water. So, I need to think of how I will have water of my own for the future. Maybe I need to harvest water at my house.

We hope that, in the near future, the government will supply water into all houses. But even if it does, water will still cut short during dry seasons when we run short of water. So, I still need to harvest water. Maybe I need a big water tank that fills when water is flowing. Then I can be sure that I will have enough water during dry season in my water tanks that will harvest water for the house).

NWNL But, Alfred, if you and your neighbors each have 4 children and you and they all stay there, then in 10, 20 years, there will be 5 times as many people needing water. Will there be 5 times as much water to supply everybody?

ALFRED BETT No, unless we collect more water during rainy seasons when there is a lot of rainwater. Even if we can harvest and even if we have 10,000 reservoirs, they can overflow during rainy season. So, we need to do our own harvests. I think that is what we need to do.

NWNL Ah – so my next question is not about your town – but rather, the whole country. What do you think the Kenya government should do to ensure enough water for all its people?

ALFRED BETT The government has a very big role to play. The most important thing they should do is conserve the already-existing forest. I believe we should appoint leaders who can really bring change. We must add value to the existing forest, because without it, human beings will destroy it, as I have witnessed. As well, people should be educated as to alternative fuels, instead of timber. Instead of cutting down trees to make charcoal or firewood for cooking, people could use gas or biogas, a fuel produced from recycled cow dung.

PROTECTING KENYA’S RIVERS

NWNL How do you assess the quality of water in the Mara River here in the Conservancy, and across the entire Maasai Mara Reserve. What is the quality of that water? Is it clean?

ALFRED BETT This water is not clean. Bear in mind where it comes from. So many people live in the Mau Forest now. Its population is very high, so contamination also is high. And so this Mara River water is not clean for human consumption. But I think it is okay for our wild animals.

NWNL Now, what about the sewage from all the tourist camps? I’ve heard that most facilities here pumping their effluent right into the river.

ALFRED BETT Yes, they are polluting it. There is pollution particularly from the lodges situated very close to the rivers. If possible, these lodges should be moved away from the river.

NWNL Rekero Tented Camp is right on the Talek River, a major tributary to the Mara River. But they’ve built a whole septic field that absorbs all their sewage and filters it before it enters the river. With that protection, do you feel lodges that install septic fields can they stay – or do you think all lodges should be moved off the river?

ALFRED BETT Given that provision, such camps can stay. But without such protection, tourism’s pollution will be high. So, the alternative is that people without a means to clean their dirty water should move away from the river. And, yes, even Talek Town itself. That Maasai community is growing so fast, it will also pollute the river. I think Talek Town is the only town here which is close to the river.

ALFRED BETT Even in Nairobi, the news is explaining that people must recycle sewage water by treating it and passing through a process that allows it to will become reusable.

NWNL What about the many, many people upstream from the Mara Reserve and in the Mau Forest. Their sewage dirties the river there and beyond, downstream.. How do you get them to clean the river? Is that a government role?

ALFRED BETT The people living very close to the river are to be removed from the banks of the river; and then all the very expansive lands along the river should be made a conservancy. Those people should move away. I think that is the only way we can stop the pollution of our water..

NWNL Is that a government role?

ALFRED BETT Yes, and it should be all-inclusive – from the county government to the national government, and all the local leaders.

NWNL County, national, and local. Are they also responsible for the amount of water in Kenya’s rivers? Scientists from the US (including Amanda Subalusky and Chris Dutton from GLOWS whom we interviewed in 2009) have measured and recorded its changing levels and quality. What have you seen over the last 10 years to the flow of the Mara River here in the Mara Triangle?

ALFRED BETT It has drastically come down. I have never seen Mara River so low. As you saw, you can easily cross the river with your normal shoes and not get wet. It is too low. I have seen that even the hippos have moved from their normal hippo pools to find deeper areas.

NWNL Where would they find deeper areas?

ALFRED BETT We still have some pools in this Mara River where it is deep. So they keep moving, but they must fight for their territory. If another hippo comes in from the other territory, they normally fight. So it is not easy for them. They go looking for a place to live or a new home after their place has become dry or their water level is getting low. And when they fight and most of them, die due to that fight.

NWNL So this will reduce the hippo population. What other impacts are there of a lower river?

ALFRED BETT Other animals like the crocodiles, will also lose places to stay, and other aquatic animals, including fish will lose habitat and access to drink water.

NWNL Would it impact the wildebeest migration?

ALFRED BETT Wildebeest, they normally migrate looking for pastures, but they depend really on Mara River for drinking water when there is no water in those smaller streams. If they are empty and there’s no water in Mara River, then they will die.

NWNL So they don’t get enough moisture from the grasses on the plains?

ALFRED BETT No, they need the river. If the river is dry, it means even the grass is dry.

NWNL So the biggest cause of lower water levels in the Mara River may partly be climate change causing higher temperatures, but it’s also due to increased irrigation for agriculture.

What takes the most water out of the river, other than heat evaporation?

ALFRED BETT Other than heat, it is agriculture, big farms and institutions close to the river. For instance, we have a hospital, schools and lodging for tourists.

IMPACTS of DAMS & ROADS

NWNL There is a plan now being considered by the government to build 9, 10, or maybe 11 dams on the Mara River, upstream from here. What impact do you think dams will have on Kenya’s rivers, plains and wildlife?

ALFRED BETT If they divert water from the Mara River, I think it will bring more damage by continually reducing even more water. Some are saying the dams will divert water in a way that if there is any overflow, it will go flow back to the river. I don’t think this will work. What if the river is already low? It seems these dams will consume much of our water. And downriver, rivers and other water sources will dry up, especially within the Mara Reserve.

NWNL Two more questions. If Tanzania builds its proposed “Serengeti Highway,” how will that affect the Mara Conservancy and the entire Reserve. This incursion will be more than just Tanzania’s problem – it’s a transboundary issue because the wildebeest/zebra migration is transboundary. What is the impact if they put that Serengeti Highway in? What will happen?

ALFRED BETT It might block wildebeest from coming to Maasai Mara. And once the wildebeests are blocked from coming to Maasai Mara, the tourists will also disappear, because that is what they mostly come to see. That is why we have a “full house’ in the Maasai Mara in July, August and September – because of the wildebeest. So, without the wildebeest, we will have great losses.

NWNL No water, no good news, no profits…. What can be done to stop this highway? We know Tanzania has started building it already. Can anything be done to stop it? I am aware of a US group called “Save the Serengeti’ raising awareness and concern.

ALFRED BETT Yes, I know we have organizations helping. We have the IUCN, we have the other bodies at the UN. They and other countries should come together and discuss about this. Any votes should be focused on the importance – what is the importance of wildlife impacts and tourism if this road is created. then I think a solution will come in, a very good solution, which can benefit both countries, Kenya and Tanzania.

NWNL Do you think the current Tanzanian Government will get involved and do you think they’ll be willing to stop the construction?

ALFRED BETT Yes. Because there are laws governing all the nations. I think UN laws and the IUCN can enforce those laws and tell them to stop. Yes, there is much these countries do share. And if not Kenya and Tanzania, there are other African countries that depend on each other and may be economically integrated in business and even education. There are many things they share.

NWNL But Tanzania ignored the East African Court of Justice saying “No.”

ALFRED BETT Yes, yes, they ignored the court.

NWNL Do you think the UN bodies are legally stronger and Tanzania will listen to what they say?

ALFRED BETT I think they have. And if they don’t agree, they should be given sanctions.

A POSSIBLE UNIFIED MAASAI MARA

NWNL I want to end on what I think is a happy note. There is a possibility the two sides of the Maasai Mara National Reserve come together and the Mara

Conservancy [aka “The Triangle”] could be unified with the Narok side. What do you think the impacts of that would be?

ALFRED BETT If Mara Conservancy is given a mandate to manage all the Maasai Mara [or its management model is adopted by both sides], I am sure we will have many more tourists coming because the quality of tourism in the Maasai Mara will be much improved. I am sure that if the Narok side adopts the Conservancy’s model of building good roads, providing good security, and topmost of all, ensuring transparency in revenue collection. It would also assist, all the communities in Narok County, and good roads will further attract tourists to come here in the Mara.

NWNL Many people say the Mara is too crowded now. Do you think it is?

ALFRED BETT No– according to me it is very easy to explain. In 2007 Maasai Mara was rated by the ICUN, I think, to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. We then received so many clients coming to witness this wildebeest migration. Instead of reducing or controlling the number of tourists coming, Kenya allowed them all to come in; but here in the Mara Conservancy we controlled them when they arrived.

Yes, it is crowded on the other side (the eastern side) of the Mara River in the Narok Mara Reserve, because there are so many lodges there and fewer controls. I suggest that their lodges be moved outside the Narok Mara Reserve so it is left empty for wild animals. Tourists should only come in during the day to view them and then leave at night.

NWNL Would there be big traffic jams going in and out of those gates?

ALFRED BETT We already have many gates and could create more very big gates that could accommodate many tourist vehicles. It would be a challenge, and we’d need good, dedicated people working to control them, especially at the wildebeest crossing points.

NWNL .. and at dens with the baby cheetahs or when mama lions are with cubs. How can you control those vulnerable situations, so viewing is not a circus-like situation?

ALFRED BETT In the Triangle, we allow tourists to come in, but we have established high-use and the low-use zones. And the high-use zone is mostly along the Mara River, where many tourists concentrate during high seasons. So, we created some limits to crossing points and we control the number of vehicles there to 20 vehicles, and10 in some areas. And in any special sightings like lion or cheetah cubs, we have a limit of 5 vehicles. Other vehicles waiting to see such sightings can wait underneath a nearby tree.

When you’re at a sighting and people are waiting for you, you’re restricted to 10 minutes and then must leave. Obviously, good management will attract more tourists.

NWNL As a final wrap-up, I’ll leave you with some questions to mull, as Kenya seeks ways to protect the Mara’s water levels. What are the pros and cons of changing today’s big commercial wheat farms (upstream from here) into wildlife conservancies?

— What’s the differential between wheat versus tourism profits?

— How important are wheat farms for food supply and/or income?

— If the Mara River water sources were better protected, how significant would the benefits be for both communities reliant on the Mara River and for tourism and wildlife?

It seems those questions – and probably more – must be confronted if Kenya is to take such steps! Alfred, thank you for your thoughtful comments and all that you do for the Maasai Mara! Let’s stay in touch. Thank you!

ALFRED BETT Karibu – you’re welcome.

NWNL Asante sana – thank you, Alfred.

Posted by NWNL on August 18, 2024.
Transcription edited and condensed for clarity by Alison M. Jones.

Warden of Mara Conservancy Mara River Basin