area: Nyekweri ecosystem
The Pangolin Project is working in a unique area on the west side of the Maasai Mara National Reserve - the Nyekweri Forest. This area is an eastern remnant of Congo-Guinea forest and is home to the only known population of Giant Ground Pangolins in Kenya and is a biodiversity hotspot.
On a species level - there are more species of mammal, bird and reptiles in this area than the rest of the Great Mara Ecosystem that it lies within.
We have a rare and urgent opportunity to secure 25,000 acres of critical pangolin habitat. With your help, we can achieve this by the end of 2025 and safeguard a future for wildlife and communities alike
he blue outline is the ‘Proposed site of 10,000 HA (25,000 acre) Sanctuary’. The yellow outline is the initial priority area that we aim to secure in 2025.
rebuild a forest sanctuary
The Pangolin Project has worked in the area since 2022 and has partnered with 2 community conservancies within the area - Kimintet and Olorien Forest Trust Conservancy.
We are now working to secure up to 10,000 Ha for conservation through long term (30 year) leases with landowners. The conservancy lease model ensures that community, wildlife and ecology benefit from conservation. Conservancies have doubled the area of land protected for wildlife in Kenya and are well recognised under the 2013 Wildlife Act.
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The most biodiverse area of the entire Mara Ecosystem, Nyekweri supports at least 7 mammal species and a number of bird species that aren’t found anywhere else in the Mara ecosystem. It’s also a maternity zone, where elephants and other wildlife seek safety to give birth.
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Nyekweri is the only known area with a population of Giant Pangolin in Kenya.
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Today, less than 10% of the total forest cover remains, yet, the area is abundant with wildlife. This shows that Nyekweri’s unique and threatened biodiversity can coexist alongside local communities.
Note: This little forest cover is unsustainable in the long-run. Especially with elephants in the area.