The Threat of Insularization Facing the Amboseli Ecosystem Kimana Area
Katherine Foree, Eckerd College, Animal Studies & Psychology Discipline, School for Field Studies
Timothy Bransford, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline
John Kiringe, School for Field Studies
The Amboseli ecosystem is a region in southern Kenya, centered around Amboseli National Park, and sustained by both designated conservancies and corridors, and unprotected dispersal areas. The insularization of the Kimana sanctuary and Osupuko conservancy in the Former Kimana Group Ranch in the Amboseli region is of great concern due to exponentially increasing human development. Our study assessed the degree of insularization by farms surrounding the conservancies. To do this, we cataloged farm size and type across the area in situ, and then analyzed our field data using ArcGIS. Farms made up the majority of developed area around the conservancies, and were primarily fenced and active, though more than a quarter were abandoned and inviable. As population increases, so will the density of development around the conservancies if no zoning laws are put in place. Climate change and subdivision have decreased the amount of pastoralism in the area, giving rise to large amounts of agriculture, as evidenced by dominant land use in the area. Farms are responsible for the majority of the fenced land surrounding conservancy boundaries and use massive amounts of water, consequently degrading the land and polluting the environment. Collectively, these actions further degrade the viability of dispersal areas outside conservancies, and subsequently fragmenting habitats within the Amboseli Ecosystem. Without immediate action on the part of the government to halt the encroachment and development around conservancies and other key dispersal landscapes, the Amboseli ecosystem will collapse.
