Peacebuilding takes all forms

A couple of days ago I took a half day safari being driven into the Samburu Game Park by Tom Lolisoli, son of Rebecca Lolisoli who is running for parliament here - a daring thing to do in such a patriarchal country . . . but that is another story that I will tell later.

As we entered the park we were told about a lion who had attacked a calf just on the edge of the park. The pastoralist was bringing the cattle back to his land after taking them to graze near the park. The conservationists were able to track the lion and shoot it with a dart to put it to sleep. They then moved it to a different location and placed beside it a recently killed gazelle (it had been badly injured and would not have survived so the conservationist euthanized it). When the lion woke up it was able to feast on the beast. The calf was fine as the lion had been scared off in time and the pastoralist could continue to care for his livestock.

In this instance the story ends well for all parties. The calf is alive and well, which makes the pastoralist happy; the lion is well fed and relocated; the conservationist has been able to maintain the balance between man and and the wild. But often times this is not the case. In many instances - when an elephant attacks a farm for instance - the farmer may shoot the elephant which upsets the conservationist.

These lionesses are full after devouring an injured elephant, but that is wild against wild and therefore no conflict. By the way, these lionesses were helped by 21 crocodiles who took their turn and cautiously tore pieces off the elephant when the lionesses were distracted by their own eating.

Another instance in which conflict can arise is when women go to the river to fetch water. Often they have been attacked by crocodiles and in some cases, if accompanied by men, the crocodile will be shot. Many organizations now build water tanks in villages in order to save the women and crocodiles. Here one of the women in Umoja village carries a 25 kilo pail of water back to her village. Although a ways from the village, she can gather fresh water that is clean enough to drink.

So the question is . . Is the conflict between man and animal or is it between the pastoralist and the conservationist?  There are increasing instances in Kenya and Uganda where peacebulding techniques are used to resolve conflict between the pastorialist and conservationist, between man and nature.