OLMANYARA lemaa - cbo, kenya
Olmanyara LeMaa is a Community Based-Organization (CBO) in Kenya dedicated to conserving the natural environment for today and future generations. We do this by working hand-in-hand with local communities in Samburu and the Loita landscape to inspire improved conservation practices that help save the lives of both people and wildlife.
Fred Mepukori with some of the artworks made for the community to engage them in the importance of biodiversity conservation.
Olmanyara LeMaa CBO was founded in 2020 by Alfred Ole Mepukori, a conservationist and wildlife ecologist based in Loita, Narok County, Kenya. He received his BSc in Wildlife Management from Maasai Mara University. Fred is also a Creature Conserve scholarship recipient for his art+sci field studies project in Loita, “Water for Elephants and People.” He is also one of our scientific advisors.
As Project Leader for OLM, Fred works hand-in-hand with local communities in Samburu and the Loita landscape to inspire improved conservation practices that help save the lives of both people and wildlife.
Olmanyara’s programs include wildlife monitoring in the Loita Forest, bee-keeping, beadwork to support local women’s groups, water point renovation for people, domestic animals and elephants, school environmental clubs, and community one-health surveys, tree-planting, school environmental clubs, and, community engagement in conservation through art-sci.
wildlife monitoring in loita forest
Loita Forest is one of the few remaining community indigenous forests in Kenya. Threats include timber logging, encroachment, Human-Wildlife Conflict and elephant poaching. The Forest covers 330 square km and includes hundreds of animal and plant species; its rivers are a dry season safety net.
bee-keeping
OLM’s bee-keeping project is designed to minimize poverty and bring about peaceful coexistence between people living adjacent to Loita Forest and the wildlife that lives there. Elephants are known to avoid bees.
maasai women beadwork
We aim to help local Maasai women from different homesteads in Loita build a sustainable social enterprise through their beautiful beadwork. OLM’s goal is to uplift them economically while preserving the Maasai culture.
water for people and elephants
Shortage of water - clean water - is a problem for all: Loita people, livestock, and wildlife. OLM is restoring and protecting water sources to reduce both conflicts with elephants and waterborne diseases. This project is informed by one-health surveys of the community and receives funding from Creature Conserve.
tree-planting
By establishing nursey beds and giving tree seedlings out to schools and local farmers in Loita, we encourage community members to grow their own trees. OLM has joined the campaign in Kenya to grow 15 billion trees by 2032 to combat deforestation and climate change.
school environmental clubs
OLM is establishing environmental conservation clubs in primary schools at Loita to carry on with the Maasai tradition of environmental conservation and encourage youth to grow up as better stewards for the environment.
art-sci community conservation
We use art to explain the science behind conservation to make it understandable for all, to build environmental awareness in the community, and to engage community members of all backgrounds to participate in conservation.
The background story…
Fred met artist Sam Lerosion at a meeting for African youth interested in conservation organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Johannesburg, SA in the days prior to the 2016 CITES Cop17. Dr. Lucy was the speaker for one of the gatherings. Inspired by her presentation, the two made a commitment to work together, introduced themselves, and started brainstorming.
The next year, Fred launched “Water for Elephants and People,” a unique conservation project aimed at engaging the Loita community in resolving wildlife conflict by combining art and science. Together, they conducted and documented informal health surveys and found that accessible and clean water was both important and a source of a perceived conflict with wildlife, especially elephants living in the adjacent forest. They also found that community members were allowing their livestock to graze at the water point (source) leading to fecal contamination.
Despite all the challenges of working in a remote area with very limited funding, Fred grew this initiative into a registered community-based organization in Kenya, Olmanyara LeMaa CBO. The artworks created by Sam and subsequent local artists have been used to communicate to the community why healthy water matters and to establish by-laws about how the renovated water point sources are to be treated.
This website is hosted by Creature Conserve Inc., a US-based non-profit organization whose mission is to bring artists, writers, and scientists to foster informed sustained conservation.