Udongo.org - Information about problems faced by African countries
Udongo Means More than just Mud
Udongo Community Locating Udongo is Earth, Soil, mud!
Soil is made up of a mixture of organic material and minerals. The organic matter comes from dead plants and many of the minerals come from the rocks underground.
There is more life below the soil surface than there is above. This includes the burrowing animals such as moles and earthworms. Many soil creatures are not much bigger than the head of a pin. They include mites, springtails, nematodes, virus, algae, bacteria, yeast, actinomyetes, and protozoa. There are about 50 billion microbes in 1 tablespoon of soil.
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- Soil is made up of a mixture of organic material and minerals. The organic matter comes from dead plants and many of the minerals come from the rocks underground.
Projects specific to Udongo
The three communities are involved in different processes that are aimed at empowering them to be better prepared to the emerging challenges from land use to policy. One of the processes supported by SHALIN, a Finnish NGO is GIS Ecological Mapping. This is a participatory process that involves utilisation of traditional knowledge to develop spatial and temporal maps. Read more by clicking here….. Kariima Forest Community
Background
This community is situated on Eastern Nyandarua (Aberdare forest) in the central highlands of Kenya. The community occupies a land surface area of 21 Km2 and its total human population is 19,424. The community is predominantly agricultural and grows food crops and keeps livestock. The community lives adjacent to Karima forest covering an area of 270 acres. The forest is owned by four indigenous clans. The forest contains two shrines occupying a total area of 75 acres; the shrines have been gazetted by the National Museums of Kenya. This small portion contains indigenous trees and is still intact.
The biggest portion of the forest is under plantation of exotic tree species replanted in 1952 after the colonial government cut the indigenous trees, and is managed in trust by the local Town Council. The council has leased out the land to a local tea factory for tree felling for purposes of roasting tea leaves. However, no direct benefits trickle down to the community in this arrangement. The community is in the process of registering a forest association which, under the Kenyan laws (Forests Act, 2005) with the permission of the Kenya Forests Service, can co-manage the forest with the communities.
Giitune Forest Project
Background
Giitune sacred forest lies on the Eastern side of Mt. Kenya and is one of the numerous sacred sites that dot the landscape surrounding this World Heritage Site. This is a high rainfall forest area with well-drained volcanic soils and many deep valleys and gorges with numerous rivers and streams flowing easterly. The community occupies a land area of 36.4 Km2 with a human population of 13,336 persons. This is an agricultural community growing crops and rearing livestock.
The forest is under the management of two clans that have historically protected it. It is endowed with richness of biodiversity, harboring a wide variety of indigenous flora and fauna. In the recent past the forest had faced a lot of destruction from the community who had being felling trees for production of commercial timber and charcoal.
Mukogodo Forest
This is a gazetted indigenous forest which is still almost at its pristine state. The forest stands on 26,000 hectares of land. The total human population that is benefiting directly from the forest is 10,000 persons. It is inhabited by a minority tribe called the Yiaaku, already classified as extinct by UNESCO. The community was a hunter gatherer community before they were driven out of the forest and resettled thus adopting a pastoral form of life. The forest depicts a scenario of an oasis in the desert as it is located in a semi arid zone and thus has a micro climate of its own. It’s a vital water catchment area as well as a sacred forest for the community.
Government presence in the forest is negligible with one forester assigned to the whole area. The local community is very firm on protection of the forest despite some interference from land speculators. The community local governance systems have also being strengthened with the authority of elders as key custodians of knowledge for forest protection, being restored and earned a lot of respect among the communities. However the voice of this community needs to be amplified especially from the threats of intrusion by land speculators.
Related Domains
External Links
- Alexa: Udongo.org
- WHOIS for Udongo.org
