Case Studies
Koiyaki Guiding School

Koiyaki Guiding School
Koiyaki is abound with natural beauty and is an important wildlife dispersal area. It forms part of the great Serengeti-Masai Mara wildebeest migration route and supports substantial lion, leopard and elephant populations together with great diversity of other wildlife including cheetah, rhinoceros, birds, reptiles and insects.
Koiyaki Guiding School provides local Maasai youth with education in the tourism industry and in eco-friendly land management, thereby providing valuable employment potential whilst encouraging and promoting the conservation of the unique Masai Mara ecosystem, with particular emphasis on the Koiyaki-Lemek conservation area.The school caters for 25 residential students per annum drawn from local Maasai school-leavers over 18 years of age (both male and female). Applications are carefully vetted, taking into account headmasters’ reports, academic achievement, English language and literacy skills, personality, communication skill and motivation.
Goals
To enhance conservation of Masai Mara wildlife by converting this region into an economically viable conservation area.
To equip local people with the professional skills needed to participate in and promote conservation and wildlife management. To disburse the revenue from tourism and other forms of eco-friendly land use to local communities, thus reinforcing the advantages of a conservation-based economy. To reduce the encroachment onto wildlife habitat of farming communities, thereby reducing human /wildlife conflict.


Funding

The capital cost of building Koiyaki Guiding School and the associated Wilderness Camp have been largely funded by the EU through the Community Development Trust Fund and Tourism Trust Fund of the EU, together with contributions from the Maasai Community and many private donors.

Key Programmes