August 1-15, 2010
ISSUE 022
A bimonthly on-line newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service
God’s gift to mankind Mukogodo Forest retains its virginity with strict traditional norms
A
By Paul Mwaniki
s the destruction of the Mau Forest Complex and evictions of illegal squatters are compounded by political hype, the scenario in Laikipia District’s Mukogodo Forest is totally different. Mukogodo Forest is one of the largest indigenous forests in Eastern Africa that is protected by the community with minimum government involvement. Covering a total of 74,000 acres, the forest was initially the home of Yiaku speaking minority group, a Cushitic group that has over the years been assimilated into the Maasai culture.
Yiaku community The Yiaku way of life was hunting and gathering, and the forest was a good ground for their livelihood. It is estimated that this community used to live in the Mukogodo Forest over 4,000 years ago. However, due to infiltration by neighbouring Maasai and Samburu communities who are pastoralists, the Yiaku people were assimilated into livestock rearing. The community is estimated to number slightly over 4,000 people, according to a census by UNESCO. Their habitation in Mukogodo Forest, also included protection of their habitat. The infiltration of the pastoralist communities and their animals did not change their vow to protect the relatively highly expansive indigenous forest. Taboos were set to oversee that nobody ever dared to go against the set rules of conserving the heritage. Furthermore, the three communities marked sacred sites, where sacrifices and traditional rituals could be conducted. According to historians, the Maasai community was the first to be pushed to the area by the colonial government in
A section of Mukogodo Forest in Laikipia North district. It is one of the largest community guarded indigenous forest in Eastern Africa covering a total of 74,000 acres of purely indigenous trees. Below: Mzee Leteyon Leitiko, 72, an elder from the Yiaku community. Picture: Paul Mwaniki
mid 1930s after the invaders settled in the Laikipia plateau. By then, the forest was known as Dorobo Reserve, a name that referred to the Yiaku community. The Maasai pronounced it as iltorobo, meaning poor people with no animals. After the Maasai settled in the forest, they took up the role of conserving the
forest alongside their hosts. In any case, the conservation served their cause as it ensured availability of pasture for their animals and pastoral way of life. They set up grazing grounds to which they could drive their animals during dry seasons with enough supply of water as well as plains where their herd could graze during the wet seasons.
Taboos were set to oversee that nobody ever dared to go against the set rules of conserving the heritage.
The two communities became one. To run the forest, they had to develop suitable governing structures for their survival. The forest is to date a no go zone during the wet seasons, while during drought, a council of elders sits to decide where and when the animals should be grazed. Two major rivers and four springs from the forest are a reliable source of water for residents and their livestock. According to Mr John Legei, an elder, the strict rules have helped in the conservation. Continued on page 2
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