How is it like?-A Typical Patrol in the Forest
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 28 2009 | By: ngongforest
One of our main duties is forest protection. This is carried out by regular patrolling of the forest in order to keep any intruders away to avoid any incidence of any kind of forest destruction. Some forms of those destructions are debarking , tree root harvesting, and logging. This illegal activities are carried out at any time in the day and to curb them regular patrol are necessary. However the six sanctuary rangers can’t afford to patrol all throughout the day and night of the 600 Ha of the forest given the fact that some has to be left to man the two sanctuary camps,the main gate and bomas camp, and without fire arms or handcuffs we have to use experience and skills gained over the years for our efforts to protect the forest to succeed.
rangers on patrol
On Thursday last week at 7:00 am, we met with the rangers based in Bomas camp at a point in the forest called three ways.This is a junction where three forest access road meets. We examined the paths for footprints in order to establish whether somebody has passed there. We could only observe horse and animal footprints and concluded that nobody has passed through that point. At a different point,we laid out strategies to employ just incase we encounter anything in order to be ready to take action. From a distance, a twig cracked and we stealthily went toward the direction only to find an old man Jactone Jakoyo gathering dry twigs. Our target was to get the loggers who cut down trees so we let him go and went on with our mission. We laid an ambush on a certain strategic point where we suspected they would pass. After about two hours four heavily built men carrying hand saws appeared. They passed near where we were and unaware that they are being watched made some calls from their mobile phones directing where they were headed to. We followed them at a distance up to a place where two Vempris simplifolia tree locally known as Munderendu were cut. We waited until they sliced and gathered one head load each as we listened to their conversation which implied that they had cut the tree the previous day. We watched as they helped each other to put the loads on their heads. This was the right time for us to get hold of them! we pounced on them as soon as they started walking toward Kibera slum ,this is part of their ready market. They abruptly dropped their loads and run very fast ,one of them holding his handsaw ready to attack the one who would catch up with him. We however focused with the man who run in a separate direction and managed to arrest him. We returned to where they had dropped the logs and found three handsaws in the loads. We took him to Jamhuri police station to be taken to court the following day for illegal removal of forest product.With Boas Etemesi behind the jail, we knew that his colleagues would keep off the forest for a while, we also knew that, they would eventually attempt to come back but still we would be waiting for them. Not even any kind of threats will deter us for we know that its our duty to ensure that the sanctuary forest is protected at all cost.
Mr Boas Etemesi before being taken to the police station
Ngong Forest Sanctuary, commonly referred to as Nairobi’s carbon sink is protected through the kind donation from friends and well wishers. Kindly be part of the lNgong Sanctuary community by donating to-wards protection of this unique Forest reserve.
By ranger Joseph Karanja
Email: jranjus@yahoo.com
African Crowned Eagle Is Nesting Again
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 25 2009 | By: ngongforest
For a period of two weeks i have been watching the behaviour of the crowned eagle. The female is most of the time confined to the nest while the male goes out to hunt. Sometimes when the male has taken long to come the female calls and after some minutes the male comes back and sit in the nest . It doesn’t take long for the female to come back carrying a young Sykes Monkey which it places in the nest. The male goes out to look for its share. Within some minutes Pied crows and yellow billed kites flies around hoping to get a share from the nest but the crowned eagle is in control and no bird dares to come closer.
African crowned eagle
Last year, nesting was interfered with by rain and cold weather, the egg never hatched and the pair of bird disappeared for a while.This time when you look at the bird you will note some physical changes such as rough feathers , loss of weight and feathers and the bird looks dull. We hope this time conditions will be favourable for hatching.
The Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary Trust,commonly refereed to as the Nairobi’s carbon sink is protected through kind donation from friends and well wishers, join us by donating towards the protection of this adorable forest resource.
By Nicholas Akach
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A Charity walk in the forest
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 24 2009 | By: ngongforest
Cancer is known to be a killer disease .Many people when diagnosed with cancer go through tough and painful experience in their life, the cost of getting treatment is with no doubt always expensive to many people.
Nairobi hospice has always give hope to such victims; they look after patients with life limiting illness cancer and AIDS. In order for them to provide such services they need funds, every year the Nairobi hospice has been organizing charity walks in Ngong forest to create awareness of these diseases and fund-raising. This year it was held on last Saturday, schools teams and parents turned out to participate in the 5km walk in the forest, there was a remarkable number of participants!
Some participants during the walk
To participate in the walk one was required to pay a minimum of Ksh500, all fund raised will enable the Nairobi Hospice to reach out to patients living with this life limiting illness.
It was clear that everyone enjoyed the walk in the forest, the good fresh air that is completely different from the city and to crown it all, a stunning view of a 5fts black mamba snake that many participants had never seen before.
black mamba
How does it feel to add hope to an ailing soul? This participants and the overall team has it! Thanks to Nairobi hospice, somewhere, someday, sometime, someone will be touched.
Ngong forest sanctuary is protected through kind donation from friends and well wishers, join us by donating towards the protection of this unique forest resource.
Ecology study in the forest
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 18 2009 | By: ngongforest
Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary creates a good environment for students during educational tours. On Wednesday this week, students from Swedish School visited the sanctuary accompanied by their two teachers.
Students during a briefing outside Education Center
They were studying ecology in the forest.They compared the habitats, adaptation of species to habitats,vegetation layering, food webs and food chains, soil texture and contents, in eucalyptus plantations, grasslands, woodlands and aquatic habitats.
Students studying aquatic habitat along a river bank
They had a spectacular view of a pair of the African Crowned Eagles , one was perching while the other was in the nest,other birds included the the Narina trogon among others. They also spotted sunis, red duiker and syke monkeys.
We take this opportunity to welcome everybody including student for such educational tour.
By Ranger George thuo.
Email: georgethuo94@yahoo.com
BOOSTING COMMUMICATION AND SECURITY PATROLS
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: ngongforest
By the end of last year, the communication gadgets which includes the Base Power Supply Unit and Radio Call Handsets developed a technical problem making communication during forest patrols a bit difficult and expensive as we had to use our cell phones.
It all started when a Sykes monkey jumped over the antennae of the aerial which controls the frequency among the gadgets and broke it. The only means of communication left among rangers was through the mobile cell phone which sometimes becomes inconvenient especially when one did not have air time or when handset is out of charge.
The antennae after replacement
The solution was from The NewEdge Solutions Limited, a firm that offered to repair the system at a discount. The technicians are still working on the various segments of the system some of which had to be taken to their workshop for analysis.
Technician at work
Charging the handsets
If the system will be functioning, communication will be easier mostly during forest patrols. We look forward hoping everything will be intact soon.
Ranger Kamotho testing the handset
Kindly join us by donating towards the protection of this unique forest resource.
By Ranger George Thuo
Email; georgethuo94@yahoo.com
Getting information from the forest for PhD
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 11 2009 | By: ngongforest
Takuya Furukawa is a student from Yokohama University in Japan. He has come all the way to carry out his research in the forest for his PhD in Environmental studies. Every time he visits he does a memorable thing in environmental conservation, like planting trees especially the indigenous ones. He has now planted Silver Oak, East Africa green heart and olive trees which are on high demand by loggers in the Forest. One of his research objective is to find out the most threatened tree species in Ngong forest and forms of threat.
Takuya furukawa recording information.
Mr. Mutiso measuring the tree width
One or his interviewee/respondents are Kibera slums residents ( the largest slum in Kenya and Africa) who are immediate neighbours of the forest and from whom we have identified as the most cumbersome in forest destruction. This will be a good chance to find out the reason for their negative attitude in forest conservation. Such information will create ideas for us to be able to curb forest destruction and create a good rapport. We wish him good luck.
Kindly join us by donating towards the protection of this unique forest resource
By Nicholas Akach
Beauty and the bee
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 10 2009 | By: ngongforest
Yesterday was a great day for our community bee keeping group, I never knew they have got such rich knowledge on bee keeping until I listened to them exchanging ideas with Mr. Kandunde, a visitor from Swedish Cooperative Centre in Malawi and others from Swedish Cooperative Centre, Kenya and HoneyCare Africa limited who had come purposely to learn and explore ideas from bee keeping group as an enterprise in the forest.
Community in the discussion
Bee keeping project was started in 2003 funded by UNDP-GEF Small Grant Programme, as a user group and an alternative source of income to the local community in Ngong forest. “Before we were used to collecting firewood in the forest for sale @ Kshs 200 but now this project has made it possible for us to obtain not less than Kshs 6,000 per person per harvest season” said one of the community woman.
Community helping one of the visitors to dress up for hives inspection/harvesting
Community demonstrating on lighting a smoker
At work, inspecting a hive
The community women had been trained in bee keeping (Apiary level 1) by HoneyCare Africa limited, a leading local honey production and marketing company, up to now this is where the community sell their crude honey.
We are proud that the local bee keeping communities are in a position to impart knowledge to other people. “what we would like is to have an opportunity to go for more training on other apiary levels and to obtain the necessary equipment to be able to produce more, process, pack and sell the honey, this will see us go far ahead” suggested one of the community woman.
To see this group excel, Join us by taking part in helping them.
To the picnic site
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 03 2009 | By: ngongforest
It will take you approximately 10 minutes from the main gate to walk through a direct path to a picnic sites in the forest. This time, we took a different path in a thick forest cover, it is here that one of the three visitors spotted a nicely cut huge log, ready to be ferried. Tree loggers are posing the greatest threat to our forest, during our patrols we often encounter them or find fresh cuttings.
Visitors staring at the log
On the picnic site, was a herd of grazing cattle, open glades in the forest are out of grass and even such cattle has to find alternatives like feeding on shrub. Its no doubt that the current drought situation has affected us all, we hope rains will come soon.
Maasai Cows grazing on leaves
We turned back after laying strategies on what they intend to do on their next visit with their youth group and again we took a different route along which was a Mugomo Tree (Ficus thonnigii) ,one of the visitors admired the trees and hurriedly posed for a photo. The tree is very important in Kikuyu community (the largest tribe in Kenya) it was and still refereed to as a sacred tree where prayers and sacrifices used to be offered by their fore fathers. It seemed like a coincidence since some graffiti on the tree bark proved his words!
Visitor poses for a photo on a Mugumo tree
Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary commonly referred to as Nairobi’s carbon sink is protected through kind donations from well wishers and friends. Kindly join us by donating towards the protection of this unique forest resource.
By Nicholas Akach
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