Cheetahs and Lions in the Maasai Mara, Reflection #2

The Maasai Mara is a very complicated place. In my last post I outlined many of the social and political issues that had been complicating my project by threatening to cancel the Earthwatch field expedition. Over the past month a lot has happened and at many moments I truly did believe that Earthwatch was not going to happen this year in the Mara. In addition I was not aware of how this might affect the duration of my stay here in the Mara. The good news is that Earthwatch will indeed be fielding three research teams in the Mara this year, the bad news however is that I have made the difficult decision to come home at the end of July and therefore will miss all of the Earthwatch expeditions.

The path that has led me to make this decision has been long and very complicated. Up until July 4^th I was very confident that Earthwatch would not be happening this year and I was forced to adjust my priorities to make the best of my project. In addition, I was made aware that if I wanted to stay past the end of my first tourist visa, that I would be required by the Kenya Wildlife Trust to apply for a research permit and research visa with the Kenyan government. After discussing this with many scientists from other countries and concluding that the application process was a long and complicated issue, I decided that it would be in my best interest to maintain all my focus on finishing setting up the Earthwatch project and continue working on my deliverables. So, after a couple weeks of decision making, I finally concluded that I would be coming home at the end of my visa on July 27^th.

Predators in the Maasai Mara, Reflection #1

Activities:      

As a quick recap, I am supposed to be working with the Earthwatch Institute and Kenya Wildlife Trust’s (KWT) Mara Predator Conservation Program (MPCP) to update current, set up new, and lead Earthwatch volunteers (citizen scientists) in research projects, aimed at producing high quality data with the goal of publication in scientific journals. This is the goal of the Earthwatch Institute and what KWT has expressed over the last month and a half. The second directive that I am working on is producing direct deliverables for KWT on lions, cheetahs and community outreach that can be used to support ongoing predator conservation programs.

Big Cats in Maasai Mara Kenya

For my Environmental Science Masters Project, I will be spending 3 plus months with an organization called the Earthwatch Institute on a field research site in the Maasai Mara Reserve and Surrounding Conservancies in Southwest Kenya. Earthwatch is a multidimensional organization which aims to support conservation efforts through citizen science. The mission for Earthwatch is to, “engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.”

For this project, Earthwatch is supporting the Mara Predator Conservation Program (MPCP) conducted by the Kenya Wildlife Trust by providing financial support and introducing volunteers from around the world to assist in field research for the conservation of lions and cheetahs in Maasai Mara. The goal of the MPCP is to determine the threats that lions and cheetahs face in the Mara and to develop sustainable solutions to mitigate then.