Marking the trees red, farmers tap indigenous knowledge to reclaim drylands in Kenya: Ramat model

In the Samburu language, Ramat, which means to ‘take care of’, was introduced to the community by Nature and People As One (NAPO). NAPO is one of WWF-Kenya partners in northern Kenya under the Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) programme. Using Ramat, the Samburu community established by-laws outlining how to identify Indigenous trees that need to be conserved and how to mark them with red colour across their landscape. The community also established penalties for members who breach the by-laws, especially by cutting down the prohibited trees. 

“My name is David Ngorori. I am the chairman of this region called Skim. Ramat in Samburu means communal activities. Since the Ramat Model was introduced to us by NAPO, we chose the trees that we know cannot be affected by drought. They only need rain water to survive and when they grow they are good to go,”  said David Ngororoi, the chairman of the area called [SKIM].

“We sat down with the area chief, the team from NAPO and all residents from all the villages across the land. We decided it is time we reclaim our land from degradation. So, we asked ourselves, how are we going to achieve this? As leaders, including the chief [National Government administration officer], we developed bylaws which will lead and guide us. These trees are of significant importance to us. Some we use for medicinal value not only to us but to our livestock as well. We also use these trees for shade. Before we rehabilitated these trees, there used to be a lot of dust being blown. But after we got this training, things have started to change. The trees that we planted last year are about 3,878. This year [2024]  we have planted about 13,000 since we were many and every villager planted around 10 trees a day.”

Community members are fined Ksh5,000 for cutting down any of the marked trees or have to give out a goat valued the same amount.

“Before we introduced the Ramat model, this area was bare. But after planting and taking care of the trees, we have seen a significant improvement, even in air quality. The wild animals such as elephants, zebras and giraffes have also started coming back as compared to earlier. We have a resident elephant that stays in the trees, and everyone knows about it. We do not want anyone to touch it. The youth are also very involved in this process and are a crucial part in this process. We have given them governing roles and even my secretary is a youth. We understand they are the future of this model and they are many.”

Jacqueline Kimeu, Climate Change & Energy Coordinator, said: “The beauty about this is that they are using the Ramat model as a local solution for restoration and tracing climate change impact this place…..The beauty about this is that they are using indigenous knowledge systems to conserve and restore the ecosystem using the Ramat model. VCA (Voices for Just Climate Action) is about supporting the voices of communities to participate actively and effectively in climate change adaptation initiatives. We have seen that communities here are working closely with the local government to support development of community by-laws that support locally-led adaptation or locally-led climate solutions.”

“The Ramat model that NAPO uses is a type of farmer-managed restoration. A form of FMNR. This is a very critical solution supporting communities in this area to be able to restore the area using indigenous knowledge systems and also through marking of indigenous trees that are found in this area. It is a good practice that has been adopted by rangeland communities and specifically for NAPO. For the last one year, they have been able to restore close to 3,000 indigenous trees in this locality through marking and ensuring that communities take lead in the conservation of these indigenous tree species.”