Curious about Kenya, the home of President Obama's father? Help us inaugurate our new safari program in 2009 - join us on a unique safari and meet many of the faces of conservation in East Africa. From the Maasai game scouts in Amboseli to the women's groups in Maasai Mara; the international researchers at the South Rift Resource Centre to the Samburu resource assessors at the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project; and from the elephant team at African Conservation Centre to the rangeland experts with SORALO, you will come away with a deep appreciation for the land and the people who are dedicated to its preservation. Find out more on our website - we offer introductory safaris, self-drive adventure safaris, and custom safaris.

 In July and August, African Conservation Fund ran its first Adventure Safari on behalf of the land trust SORALO (the South Rift Association of Land Owners). SORALO is an all-Maasai organization created to help solve some of the most serious threats facing Maasailand today: land subdivision, rangeland health, the future of Maasai cultures, lack of income opportunities, and other cultural and environmental issues. In 2007, SORALO introduced the concept of the South Rift Circuit, a new safari route linking Amboseli and Maasai Mara along the borderlands of Tanzania-Kenya and entirely in Maasailand. (Most tourism occurs outside Maasailand, and thus local people do not benefit appreciably from the millions of dollars in income.)

James Solitei, program director for the Maasailand Preservation Trust's Environmental Scouts programme at Imbirikani Group Ranch sent us several field reports in July and August. The program is supported in large part by private donors, including Richard Bonham's Ol Donyo Uas camp and Mr. and Mrs. B. Ludwig, longtime guests at the camp and supporters of the Scouts programmes.

"We had a successful tour to Amboseli National Park,with the Environmental Scouts from PCEA girls. Students had a good time during game drives at the park using the Amboseli National Park Bus, where they saw different species of animals in their natural habitat, and more exciting they saw lion just after hunting resting in the grass cover by road and being very close to elephants . . .

The following report was filed in July by Shiloh Sundstrom, a researcher at Oregon State University whose study Maasai Perspectives on the Future of Community-Based Management of Wildlife and Livestock in Southern Kenya is part of our Partner in Conservation Program (African Conservation Fund supports research and small conservation efforts through pass-through funding and small grants assistance; click here to go to the program page.)

"Upon my arrival to Kenya in December 2007 I connected with the African Conservation Centre and the South Rift Association of Landowners (SORALO) to begin the fieldwork phase of my project. Unfortunately, the onset of my fieldwork was delayed because of civil unrest following Kenya's presidential election.  However, with this time I was able to work with my local partners in order to focus on the project on issues that are most important to the future of Maasai traditional livestock herding and their coexistence with wildlife.  In addition to the South Rift Association of Landowners I also developed a relationship with the Amboseli-Tsavo Group Ranches Association (both groups organized by Maasai Communities to promote sustainable natural resource management and community-based conservation throughout Maasailand) . . ."