📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Shimba Hills Forest Guides Association (SHIFOGA) is a group comprising of local youths who came together to support eco-tourism at the Shimba Hills National Reserve. The group formed in 2004 is involved in guiding tourists through the reserve in addition to other environmental conservation activities.
Mission: To actively participate in conservation endeavors of the Shimba Hills and to sensitize the locals on the benefits of the reserve.
Vision: To have a conservation conscious community
Project activities
Tour guiding in the Shimba Hills National Reserve and also the SHIFOGA Forest Nature Trail; Tree planting and the ongoing maintenance of tree nurseries; Management and maintenance of the local sanitation program (public toilet); Bee keeping and butterfly farming; Creation and continuity of school education programs
💼 What the programme involves
• Conservation activities
• Tree planting and farming
• Undertake basic research on World heritage
🏠 Accommodation on site
• Volunteers will stay in a homestead provided by the local people with very basic living conditions.
• Volunteers have an obligation to climb down the level of the people with the aim of exposure to development challenges.
• KVDA will provide foodstuffs and volunteers will cook their own meals in turns.
• Water is available from springs and it is recommended that drinking water should be boiled or medicated. Mineral water available at supermarkets is also recommended.
• The Government policy to install ICT in primary schools has seen connectivity to the national power grid for most educational institutions in Kenya and this makes it easy for volunteers to use electric appliances while at the project.
• Furthermore, we invite you to bring typical food, spices, drinks, games and music from your country (for an intercultural evening) – and a lot of motivation!
📍 About the location
KVDA offers educational tours to spectacular sites including the renowned Maasai Mara Game Reserve at separate fees. Please contact us for specific tour information.
⚠️ Requirements
This is outlined in the detailed info sheet and includes, sleeping bag and mat, toiletries, torch/flashlight, sandals, mosquito net, national flag from your country, among others
ℹ️ Additional information
• Environmental management and rehabilitation strategies are essential in Kenya, as 70 percent of the country’s workers are employed in agriculture. In addition to this, ecotourism makes up nearly 20 percent of the country’s GDP.
• Despite Kenya’s economic reliance on environmental health, 80 percent of the country’s land is arid or semi-arid. Only a small percentage of land is suitable for growing crops, and even these fertile areas are fragile. With poor agricultural management, the top soil is easily washed away.
• Kenya’s poorest are the most likely to live in arid regions. Poverty cyclically increases with the scarcity of productive soil, clean water, effective sanitation and market opportunities. Without these critical resources, the poor are unable to improve their livelihoods.
• Environmental conservation in Kenya is key to its development. While enforcing conservation is challenging due to population pressures, raising public awareness of environmental issues could also raise support for such measures.
• As smallholder farmers seek arable land, they encroach on Kenya’s indigenous forests. Because of Kenya’s richness in non-timber forest products such as medicinal plants, essential oils and beeswax, the destruction of its forests harms both its wildlife and its economy. Conserving the forests is pivotal to protecting both Kenya’s resources and its 50 endangered species.
• The beautiful mangrove forests and coral reefs that line Kenya’s Indian Ocean border are also a substantial form of revenue for the country, providing both ecotourism destinations and ecosystem services.
• To further promote the ecological perspective of Kenya’s government, the Nature Conservancy and the Northern Rangelands Trust have collaborated to develop community conservancies in the northern semi-arid grasslands.
• These conservancies cover 3 million hectares, within which over 200,000 people from 17 different ethnic tribes reside. They strive to help Kenyan communities engage in environmental conservation.