Aderema Hills Sustainable Tourism Initiative – Fundraising Appeal

THE CRISIS

The entire ecosystem and the inhabitants of the Aderema Hills in western Kenya are under threat. Unsustainable utilization of natural resources, unethical farming trends, hunting of game meat, and unchecked soil erosion are threatening the Aderema Hills community's livelihoods.

The Iteso in Kenya, numbering about 578,000, live mainly in Busia County. Unlike the other Teso-speaking ethnic groups, the Iteso have never been nomadic; agriculture has played a significant role in their social, economic, and expressive lives as cattle have among the other groups.

Frequent runoff on the hill slopes because of poor farming practices carries soil into the streams, rivers, and further down to the plains. Deforestation on the hills through slush and burning is destroying wildlife habitats and pushing the community to look for alternative livelihoods in the steep hills and groves that are also the sources of springs and streams. Aderema Hills are among the few habitats in western Kenya that are made home to some of Kenya’s poorly known bird species. The bad side is that these birds are localized in these last habitats and are their last strongholds. Apart from birds, the hills are also home to the common Vervet monkey and a small number of De Brazza's monkeys whose populations are globally endangered because they are restricted to small, isolated pockets of forests amid expanding farmland within western Kenya

This is unprecedented and the future of Aderema is of great concern. With different interests competing for land, including large-scale agriculture, the Aderema Hills are in dire need of support.

THE ADEREMA HILLS SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE

Oluokos Signature has been supporting the Aderema Hills community to diversify their livelihoods through sustainable and regenerative tourism. This has been an effective method to support income generation, although still exposes the communities to challenges of food security. We are now in a position to start supporting the next step of the longer-term plan for the Aderema Hills Sustainable Tourism Initiative by supporting the community in its efforts to establish sustainable tourism in the Aderema Hills. This would ensure that the organically grown fruits, herbs, and vegetables could be sold to the Oluokos Signature guests and to the neighboring communities and markets.

This will help improve the community’s GDP in the village and allow for additional revenue to get back to the community through the making and sale of crafts to the local and global markets.

We believe we have an attractive model that combines conservation, communities, and commerce with an incentive to work towards increased nature conservation, complementing the existing ecotourism business and further empowering Aderema families. The project is jointly run between Oluokos Signature and our overseas partners, and the Aderema Hills community.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

It is calculated that the Aderema Hills Sustainable Tourism Initiative will require start-up funding of US$57,000. This money will cover the cost of building our office, accommodation cottages, camping ground ablution block, expertise, and management. Our initiative is simple, sustainable, and regenerative, and the efforts of the Aderema village will serve as a model for rolling out similarly practical, mixed-use projects across the wider Amukura Hills. The longer-term aim is for the Aderema Hills Initiative to take legal tenure of the land, establish its own conservancy, and so take ownership of a sustainable local economy, spearheaded by the ecotourism enterprise.

THE INITIATIVE

In the year 2021, we bought a four-acre piece of land on the boulders that beautifully overlook a ravine down and the valleys, hills, and plains that command some stunning views of Kenya’s second-highest peak, Mount Elgon. Our first four acres are fondly referred to as the Oluokos Fair Acres and we are in the process of establishing a wider nature conservancy by conserving at least 20% of our beautiful landscapes at the Aderema Hills for biodiversity recovery.

We want to accelerate our conservation work through sustainable travel. This will help to ensure that the Aderema Hills rare bird species, primates, trees, and bushes thrive well by connecting and restoring beautiful wild places – places that store carbon and help tackle the climate crisis too.

EXPECTED OUTPUT

The aim of our strategy is to protect 20% of land in the Aderema Hills for the benefit of nature and people. This means securing land to protect nature through purchase, gifts, and working in partnership with the community. In return, this will help to deliver nature’s recovery by creating an improved ecosystem.

Our dedicated nature ecosystem in the Aderema Hills will be a unique and special habitat. We want this habitat and its nature to flow into the surrounding land, allowing nature and man to coexist in harmony. To help make this happen we will work with other landowners across the Aderema Hills, as well as on our own newly acquired land, in managing sites for wildlife.

We plan to scale up accommodation capacity in the village to new families, which will increase the number of guests who can be accommodated in the homestay program. In return, this will create job opportunities for over 50 individuals.

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION

The community is expected to contribute:

• The access roads, footpaths, and nature trails.
• Labor to initially clear and maintain the tracks.
• A dedicated community to provide policing.
• Materials and labor to build and maintain roads, footpaths, and nature trails.
• Natural materials for making the crafts.
• Attendance at any training courses.

OLUOKOS SIGNATURE CONTRIBUTION

Oluokos Signature, Kenya, which owns Oluokos Fair Acres, will provide:

• Marketing for the Aderema Hills.
• Costs for trainers and training materials.
• Costs to cover training courses and associated transport.
• Management of the development of the initiative

ADEREMA HILLS SUSTAINABLE TOURISM INITIATIVE EXPANSION AND SUPPORT

The supported expansion of the Adrema Hills Sustainable Tourism Initiative will help to build a more robust community of families, each working for the common interest of sustainability, and so supporting the core management functions of our team.

• Diversifying sources of revenue and income through job opportunities, training, and direct revenue flow builds a more robust and resilient future for the Aderema Hills communities.

LONGEVITY AND THE FUTURE

If we can prove that this model works, we plan to roll this out over the broader Aderema Hills, and into what we hope will be considered Aderema Hills Conservancy, stretching from Aderema to the southern boundaries with Karisa Hill. There are options in terms of buying more land to establish the conservancy that we are currently exploring, we expect this to be a much longer journey. The model needs to be simple to build and maintain, and scalable across a larger area. Never has there been a more critical time for the Aderema to build resilient and sustainable tourism ecosystems and income generation models as camps and curio shops, organic farms to replace a traditional the current land use plan.

FUNDING REQUIRED US$ 57,000

• Guesthouse construction - $25,000
• Office construction - $10,000
• Solar power installation - $15,000
• Marketing - $7,000
• Training on crafts making, community tour guides, community nature scouts – Cost covered by Oluokos Signature
• Land - Cost covered by Oluokos Signature

LONGER-TERM OUTLOOK AND PLANS FOR THE ADEREMA HILLS CONSERVANCY,

The long-term view for our work in the Aderema Hills is to support indigenous and local communities in the Aderema village, altogether approx. 500 people by establishing a roadmap for long-term sustainable use of natural resources that is scalable to other areas. We aim to help communities maintain culture-based livelihoods on their ancestral lands while supporting adaption to sustainable resource utilization.

We will carry out the necessary research, community engagement, government engagement, and participatory planning to help the Aderema Hills communities in creating the Aderema Conservancy in the western Kenya region, Kenya. The Aderema conservancy would blend organic farming with conservation and ecotourism, providing a long-term and financially sustainable model for conservation and sustainable livelihoods.

To be able to take ownership of the potential opportunity, the first step will be securing legal tenure. We will assist the Aderema to organize their communities into an association so that they can register an interest in the land, taking the first step in developing the Aderema conservancy.

We envisage a multi-use community conservancy, where ecotourism will be able to generate revenues for the communities and incentivize them to protect the biodiversity in and around them.

The Aderema Hills community will be able to put in place alternative livelihoods through the establishment. Of the sustainable tourism initiative. This will be done through different activities; the community will be able to harness natural resources sustainably, whilst being incentivized to protect the surrounding environment.

Linking the economic benefits of tourism directly to the conservation of biodiversity and improved food security will offer the dual advantage of providing measurable economic opportunities to the Aderema community, alongside long-term sustainable financing for and implementation of conservation.

THE FUTURE

Ouma Oluoko and Awuor Oluoko herein the founders of the Oluokos Signature will provide the essential linkage between supply and demand by liaising with several eco-conscious organizations to design responsible tour packages that integrate environmental, cultural, and social considerations. Our desire to protect and develop the local and the wider communities makes us an indispensable asset to both western Kenya and the great lakes region in general.

Our tentative long-term plans, which need to be realized with the Aderema Hills community, include the following:

• To generate revenue from tourism for the area to reinvest back into the community conservancy.
• Invest in the community’s organic farming projects for fruits, vegetables, grain, and legumes.
• Invest in health and education in the area
• Conserve nature in the area - which will increase tourism revenue flow to the community.
• Controlling numbers of visitors to the hills through a low volume-high cost sustainable tourism model supported by Oluokos Signature, through operating an accommodation facility at the Oluokos Fair Acers in the Aderem Hills.
• Invest in improving the road access and network.

The initiative will adapt to community needs and the results of various participatory processes conducted with the communities.

- Research into legal structures for establishing the conservancy – taking lessons learned from elsewhere

- Stakeholder mapping.

PROJECT PERSONNEL PROJECT ROLES

Ouma Oluoko & CEO, Technical input on sustainable tourism initiative in the community.

Awuor Oluoko: Operations Director, Technical input on conservation, enterprise, and financial structuring.

Jorge Zuleta: Europe and North America, Oluokos Signature, overseas marketing.

ABOUT US

At Oluokos Signature, we are committed to ensuring that you get up close and personal life-changing life experiences whilst promoting responsible travel and supporting local conservation in our handpicked destinations.

Our operations are designed to provide multiple ways to invest in the future of Africa’s nature-based tourism venture, its people, wildlife, and wilderness. Our aim is to protect at-risk African ecosystems by creating mechanisms to support high-quality community and conservation projects alongside investing much-needed capital and technical support in start-up ecotourism projects with local communities. We bring together conservation and sustainable travel specialists to deliver this positive impact travel-driven conservation investment model.

Vision: To connect travelers with responsible and ethical nature conservation programs and community development initiatives, through life-changing experiences that have a positive impact on the ecosystems and the communities.

Mission: To deliver a sustainable travel-driven and nature-based conservation investment model to support the fragile ecosystems, nature, and communities across East Africa.

Ambition: To safeguard through nature the protection of threatened ecosystems and wildlife species by empowering communities to realize the value of their natural assets through the development of community-based tourism enterprises.

WE HAVE FOUR PROGRAMS

Positive Travel: We offer unique and low carbon footprint experiences through Oluokos Signature.

Positive Invest: We support and invest in sustainable tourism initiative start-ups with local communities enabling them to scale up their businesses.

Nature Conservation: We support conservation by arranging visits to the local learning institutions to introduce ecotourism and nature conservation concepts and projects through lectures, nature walks, presentations, and documentary shows. We are also eager to teach them about bird watching and the importance of birds conservation

Positive Philanthropy: We support high-impact social and conservation projects such as the Aderema Hills conservancy.

Let it not just be an imagination… Let’s make it a reality. Together, we can save the Aderema Hills, in western Kenya. Please visit our website for more details