Narok county adopts technology to secure Maasai Mara

Tourists watchthe wildebeest migration at the Mara River. [File, Standard).

Narok county government has invested in technology in efforts to secure Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The county government has adopted EarthRanger (ER), a software solution for wildlife conservation.

The county has partnered with The Safari Collection Footprint Trust and 51 Degrees Limited to construct a dedicated operations centre with a state-of-the-art control room to manage EarthRanger data within the reserve.

A Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) has also been installed to strengthen monitoring capabilities.

EarthRanger assists protected area managers, ecologists, and wildlife biologists in making informed decisions by providing real-time data from ranger patrols, remote imaging, and various sensors.

Developed in 2015 by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, EarthRanger was inspired by the Great Elephant Census and reflects the late Paul G. Allen's vision of leveraging AI for global conservation.

Narok Governor Patrick ole Ntutu noted that like many protected areas Maasai Mara faces challenges such as habitat loss, poaching, community encroachment, and climate change.

"Implementing EarthRanger provides a comprehensive monitoring system for tracking wildlife movements, which span from localised areas to continent-wide migrations. By consolidating historical and real-time data with field reports, EarthRanger offers a unified view of tagged wildlife, ranger activities, and infrastructure across protected zones," he said.

The governor said that EarthRanger, provides real-time data on ranger patrols, tourism vehicle movements, and tagged wildlife.

"EarthRanger is helping reserve managers protect Mara's black rhino population, manage visitor impact, reduce tourist overcrowding, mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, and shape conservation strategies," he added.

The inauguration of the EarthRanger system comes a year after the national government gazetted the Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem Management plan.

Maasai Mara has faced pressure from the local communities fighting for its resources--water and pasture--with wild animals. Local communities have also invaded it in search of firewood.

Rapidly changing land use in the greater Mara ecosystem and uncontrolled tourism infrastructure development, as per the management plan, has led to diminishing dispersal areas and migratory corridors for wildlife and escalating poaching and human-wildlife conflict.