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Marking the trees red, farmers tap indigenous knowledge to reclaim drylands
In Kenya’s northern drylands, communities are coming together to reclaim their land from degradation. In Marsabit County, community members have planted over 13,000 indigenous trees in a year, thanks to a novel model of farmer-managed natural regeneration model called Ramat.
Ramat, which means to ‘take care of’ in the Samburu language, was introduced to the community by Nature and People As One (NAPO). NAPO is one of WWF-Kenya partners in northern Kenya under the Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) programme.
Using Ramat, the Samburu community established by-laws, outlining how to identify indigenous trees that need to be conserved and how to mark them with red paint across their landscape.
The community also established fines for members who breach the by-laws, especially by cutting down the marked trees.
“My name is David Ngorori. I am the chairman of this region called 'Skim.' Ramat in Samburu means communal activities. Since the Ramat Model was introduced to us by NAPO, we chose the trees that we know cannot be affected by drought. They only need rain to survive and when they grow, they are good to go,” said David Ngororoi.
“We sat down with the area chief, the team from NAPO and all residents from all the villages across the land. We decided it was time we reclaimed our land from degradation. So, we asked ourselves, how are we going to achieve this? As leaders, including the chief [National Government administration officer], we developed by-laws. These trees are of great importance to us. Some, we use for medicinal value not only to us but for our livestock as well. We also use these trees for shade. Before we rehabilitated these trees, there used to be a lot of dust being blown. But after we got this training, things have started to change. The trees that we planted last year are about 3,878. This year [2024] we have planted about 13,000 since we were many and every villager planted around 10 trees a day.”
Community members are fined Ksh5,000 for cutting down any of the marked trees or have to give out a goat of an equivalent amount.
“We have marked these trees in a special way. We weed and trim unwanted branches after which we paint the tree trunk red. This painting is a unified meaning showing that the tree should not be cut,” said David.
“Before we introduced the Ramat model this area was bare. But after planting and taking care of the trees, we have seen a significant improvement, even in air quality. Animals such as elephants, zebras and giraffes have also started coming back as compared to earlier. We have a resident elephant that stays in the trees, and everyone knows about it. We do not want anyone to touch it.
The youth are also very involved in this process. We have given them governing roles and even my secretary is a youth. We understand they are the future of this model and they are many.”
Jacqueline Kimeu, Climate Change & Energy Coordinator, said: “They are using indigenous knowledge systems to conserve and restore the ecosystem using the Ramat model. VCA (Voices for Just Climate Action) is about supporting the voices of communities to participate actively and effectively in climate change adaptation initiatives. We have seen that communities here are working closely with the local government to support the development of community by-laws that support locally-led adaptation or locally-led climate solutions.”
“The Ramat model that NAPO uses is a type of farmer-managed restoration. It is a good practice that has been adopted by rangeland communities and specifically for NAPO. Over the last year, they have been able to restore approximately 3,000 indigenous trees through marking and ensuring that communities take the lead in the conservation of these indigenous tree species.”
By Chris Kirimi and Joel Muinde