Information about Dorobo Fund

Mission:

Promote sustainable resource management by communities directly dependent on land resources.

Support indigenous cultures as they interface with the modern world.

Promote wilderness as a resource option for indigenous cultures, as well as for its inherent worth.

Community-based conservation can be defined as long term management, preservation, and use of natural land resources involving the local people who live and depend on these resources. It is widely accepted that the preservation of land and wilderness must involve the people who live there. Expelling people from their lands in order to create parks has become outdated and is not feasible. Also, in remembering that the Maasai are pastoralists, have families to feed, and need resources for survival, one cannot expect them to want to preserve the land for its aesthetic value nor for solely our interests there. An incentive is needed, and a basic underlying principle has been accepted: if the people who live in the area and who are legally in control of the land, want to conserve the land, then they will. In addition, for them to want to preserve their land, they need a tangible benefit of doing so, and for them, as for most people in the world, it is money.

The issues facing the current land resources:

Poaching - illegal hunting of giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle for meat.

Deforestation - illegal tree-cutting for charcoaling and export to urban areas.

Destructive farming - desertification, abusive farming on over-used land.

Population increase - immigration to wilderness areas and permanent settlement from non-village members.

To quote Dorobo, "wilderness areas are an integral part of the culture, spirit, and livelihood of the indigenous cultures associated with them - these area's conservation and transformation into a 'modern' economic resource option can provide for these peoples a bridge leading to a dignified encounter with the powerful forces which define today's global culture and economy."

The solutions for the current land resources:
       Empowerment - Assisting villages to be given the rights that they are legally deserved.
       Enforcement - Giving villages the ability to enforce their land management plans.
       Partnership - Giving villages the choice to work with tourism as a resource option.
       Incentive - Giving villages a real economic incentive to preserve their lands.
       Pride - Giving villages a stake in the future of their culture, communities, and livelihoods.

But before doing so, it is necessary to understand the disastrous effects that can come from blindly pouring money into Maasai villages or from handouts or unthoughtful charity or aid. The embezzlement of funds and the exploitation of the land by an individual will destroy the project, the land, the village for certain. With an elected village council, proper accounting measures, and perpetual involvement and discussion, held together with trust, such disasters can be - and have been - avoided. Per diem fees for each traveler whom we take to these areas generate money that is collected into a fund controlled by the council for specific goals - boreholes for clean water, cattle dips for eliminating livestock disease.

As the village benefits, the land does too; the villages, through village by-law, prohibit the sources of land degradation mentioned earlier. Livingstone Expeditions' clients benefit by being able to visit such areas where the Maasai, the wildlife, and the land co-exist as they have for years.