Women attending a community meeting on rangeland restoration in the Olgulului-Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya. Photo credit: AET
In Kenya’s semi-arid southern rangelands, Amboseli National Park is home to some of the country’s most iconic landscapes, where elephants, lions, giraffes, herds of zebra and African bush buffaloes roam beneath breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Yet, underneath the beauty of this world-famous ecosystem lies a landscape under threat. Decades of intensive traditional grazing practices have stripped the land of grass cover, leaving stretches of bare earth exposed and unable to absorb the sun’s harsh rays. The sharp heat waves radiating off the scorched soil challenge both wildlife and local communities, framing a landscape where every day can be a struggle for survival.
Climate change is compounding these challenges, disrupting long-standing traditions and reshaping community life. Prolonged droughts and shrinking grasslands have eroded the resilience of Maasai men and women, threatening livelihoods and food security. Livestock, once symbols of wealth and status, are now struggling to adapt to the new climate reality. According to locals, some livestock have already altered their breeding cycles in response to harsher conditions, while many have died due to a scarcity of pasture and water resulting from unpredictable weather patterns.
The impacts of climate change in the Amboseli ecosystem are not just environmental, they’re cultural as well. Traditional roles are shifting as Maasai men and women face new vulnerabilities. Unlike in the past where elderly men and Maasai warriors made decisions about the community’s future, today climate change sets the terms, determining what a household can plant, when to move livestock, and even what they can eat or drink.
“We are living in an unprecedented era, where those of us entrusted by the state to protect wildlife from human threats now find ourselves feeding the animals with hay, because they can no longer find grass to graze on their own,” says Paul Wambi, Assistant Director of Amboseli National Park.
Despite these challenges, hope remains. Community leaders and local conservationists are dedicated to protecting the landscape and its biodiversity, with the belief that institutional and individual partnerships far beyond the boundaries of the ecosystem can help forge solutions for the benefit of the environment, wildlife and people.
Women at the forefront of restoration
In the face of climate uncertainty, a new kind of leadership is emerging. Supported by the GEF’s Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), in partnership with Justdiggit, UNIDO, and the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust (AET), Maasai women are stepping up as environmental stewards and community leaders, taking active roles in restoring the degraded landscape and building resilience.
Through the SCCF-funded Restoring Southern Kenya Rangelands: Amboseli Landscape project backed by the Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Program, new restoration technology is being transferred to women’s groups. They are learning to blend traditional knowledge with modern restoration techniques, building simple, semi-circular barriers known as bunds on the degraded land, to capture and retain rainwater, prevent erosion, increase soil moisture and restore soil fertility – all of which helps grass and native plants to regrow, re-establishing vegetation on the land. This technology is simple and reliable – described by Planet Wild as “a genius way to restore dead soil” and build climate resilience.
The project is not only supporting local communities in restoring degraded land, but is also empowering women by strengthening their livelihoods. Women are building their skills in grass seed production, natural resource management, and alternative livelihoods and income generating activities – such as hay production and bee keeping – underpinned by village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs).
Impact through inclusion
What’s driving this transformation? The answer lies in community and collaboration. The dedication of Maasai women in the implementation of the project demonstrates the transformative power of gender-inclusive, community-driven resource governance. Their involvement is increasing households’ income generated from the sale of grass seeds, hay, and honey, as well as money received from the project’s cash-for-work approach. This economic security for local communities, and especially for women, is vital for building resilience in the face of climate shocks.
“Working as a group has helped us share ideas, learn from each other, and solve issues in our community,” Pascalia Tiapshina, Group Leader of Meshanani Grass Seedbank, says. “This project has truly transformed our lives: each one of us now receives a share of the money we get from selling grass seeds and the hay we produce. As individuals, we have invested part of our income in SACCOs and livestock – assets we never imagined owning under our traditions.”
The formation of motivated women’s groups has been key to the project’s success so far. Supported by local experts from AET, these groups are fostering peer learning, trust, and collective action – demonstrating that when women gain access to land, resources, and decision-making power, they can become real agents of change, restoring ecosystems, improving livelihoods, and building resilient futures for the whole community.
The strengthening of Amboseli’s landscape resilience serves as a reminder that solutions to environmental challenges often start at the grassroots. The dedication of local Maasai women in the vital ecosystem proves that by embracing inclusive, community-driven approaches, degraded ecosystems can be restored and biodiversity can be protected in a sustainable way.
