Business Daily (Nairobi)
Solomon Mburu
16 April 2008
The building of a corridor meant to ease the movement of elephants around Mount Kenya is set to start by the end of the month.
The corridor will help elephants safely cross between Ngare Ndare Forest and Mt. Kenya National Reserve. The aim is to have this done without obstructing traffic flow along the Nanyuki - Meru road and other access roads in the area.
The project that has attracted the support of Virgin Atlantic CEO, Sir Richard Branson, the Dutch government and Safaricom, is expected to cost $1 million (Sh65 million).
It will include two underpasses and five years of maintenance costs.
Others who are supporting the project include the Kisima and Marina farms, Laikipia Wildlife Forum, Lewa Conservancy, Borana Conservancy and the Ngare Ndare Forest Trust.
Instarect Ltd, a local fence construction company, has already been awarded the contract to build the fences. The underpass section contract will be awarded at a later date.
"We are now buying materials and we expect work to begin later this month," said Mt Kenya Trust executive, Ms Susie Weeks. The project is set for completion next month.
The vast Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem is home to 6000 elephants, Kenya's second largest population after Tsavo.
Human settlement has been preventing about 2,000 elephants from migrating freely in search of pasture and mineral salts.
Their enclosure in the National Reserve has been a source of increasing human - wildlife conflict as elephants raid farms in search of crops and at times causing deaths and injuries.
The Mount Kenya Trust and other organisations have been fencing the boundaries of Mt. Kenya's forests for the past 10 years with the help of KWS.
The Trust has already completed about 120km of solar fencing.
Though fencing is inevitable, it may in future lead to the isolation of the elephants inside the Reserve.
The Mt Kenya Trust Corridor was built to deal with this problem.
"Elephants can destroy a habitat if they are fenced off and the population increases over time, the corridor will provide them with a safe passage on and off the Mountain," said Ms Weeks. An electric fence will be erected on both sides of the corridor.
Two road underpasses for elephants will be constructed on the corridor along the Nanyuki - Meru highway and a rural access road. The elephants will use the underpasses as they move between the Mt Kenya National Reserve and Ngare Ndare forest.
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