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Kenya

In Kenya, the Transformative Pathways project is designed to build a collaborative framework to support the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on a national level. This is done through embedding local community and indigenous contributions into national strategies and reporting. 

Key participants in this country’s project are the Ogiek community of Mt. Elgon and local communities in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties, and six pastoral communities in Narok, Samburu and West Pokot counties. 

The project in Kenya is implemented by two organisations – the Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP) and the Indigenous Information Network (IIN). 

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Article

Strengthening Collaborative Biodiversity Conservation in the Mt. Elgon Ecosystem, Kenya

A meeting in Kitale, Kenya, on 13th March 2026, brought together participants from the state, research organisations and communities to discuss collaborative biodiversity conservation. The meeting was intended to showcase community-based biodiversity monitoring and Ogiek traditional stewardship, to assess the status of Mt. Elgon ecosystem,…
Article

Building financial capacity for conservation in Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Access to financial skills and capital is something many Indigenous communities have long gone without.Through land use plans and sustainable livelihood activities as part of the Transformative Pathways project, that gap is beginning to close as nine community-based organisations (CBOs) across three regions have received…
Article

Community Monitors track biodiversity across Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Every three months, trained teams of community monitors from CIPDP set out across Mt. Elgon region to document biodiversity. The teams apply several data collection methods. Some work with quadrats, sampling fixed plots to assess bamboo health, regeneration and patterns of use. Others work with…
Video

Indigenous Food Sovereignty

This film is a journey into the heart of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems where food is sacred, land is life, and diversity is resilience. Through powerful testimonies from communities across the globe, it reveals how ancestral knowledge and cultural traditions not only nourish bodies but…
Video

Indigenous knowledge transmission on beekeeping in Kenya

How do Indigenous communities harvest honey without harming bees or the environment? During Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Chepkitale, elders demonstrated to the younger generation how to make fire and harvest honey. The Ogiek Indigenous community of Mt.Elgon are historically a hunter-gatherer and livestock keeping community.…
Video

Video: Africa Regional Extension Workshop

In June 2025, Transformative Pathways held an Africa Regional Extension Workshop in Kenya, co-hosted by the Chepkitale Indigenous People Development Project (CIPDP) and Indigenous Information Network (IIN). The workshop’s objective was to explore opportunities to build on and extend the activities being piloted in Transformative Pathways at a regional level and with additional national partners in the region. It also aimed…

Further info

Key Activities

  • Supporting the process of registering community lands 
  • Supporting a rights-based approach to conservation
  • Supporting the development of “Knowledge Centers” where traditional knowledge will be documented, shared and used
  • Supporting the development, by the involved communities, of monitoring systems to assess key biodiversity indicators as chosen by them (key species, ecosystem health, traditional occupations) 
  • Supporting traditional economies to improve livelihoods 
  • Supporting collaboration between communities, conservation agencies and policy makers 
  • Supporting the strengthening of the CBD implementation through learning from actions made at the community level 
A Jubilant Ogiek Woman (Teresa Chemosop) Celebrates During Community Assemblies at Laboot, Mt. Elgon. Kenya
A Jubilant Ogiek Woman (Teresa Chemosop) Celebrates During Community Assemblies at Laboot, Mt. Elgon. Photo by Mutai/CIPDP
Samburu Indigenous Peoples doing Community Resource Mapping at Kiltamany, Kenya
Samburu Indigenous Peoples doing Community Resource Mapping at Kiltamany. Photo by Indigenous Information Network (IIN)