Agriculture, research and tourism in the landscape of Lake Baringo, Kenya

Abstract

Lake Baringo and its environs are an incongruous landscape, an archetypal example of landscape degeneration, a laboratory for scientific research and a playground for the moderately prosperous. Landscape degeneration has resulted from natural processes of drought, deluge and locusts working in concert with overgrazing induced by land use changes accompanying colonialization. Scientists have concentrated on natural history topics as well as problems associated with land abuse. The landscape's recreation component is not readily explainable. It is based on Kenya's indigenous and resident middle class now supplemented by increasing numbers of birders and package tourists. The infrastructure supporting recreation eases the difficulty of scientific research, thus tending to stimulate it. Evidence suggests that the local population, though thoroughly grounded in pastoralism, nevertheless understands the various components of its landscape and exploits them accordingly. Lake Baringo and its environs are unsuitable for designation as a national park or equivalent reserve, and landscape restoration techniques may be broadly considered. So far however the area has been regarded only as degraded pasture, a single dimension that leaves little room for hope. Viewed as a landscape of several dimensions including pasture, research and recreation, the situation, particularly in light of the residents' reaction to the complex, is considerably more hopeful.