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UNDP COMPACT MURAL MAGIC - Art for the environment around Mount Kenya
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The Brush Against power Saw project is an initiative of
Tree is Life Trust aimed at enhancing awareness about
the significance of the Mount Kenya World Heritage Site
and hence the need to protect its rich biodiversity. It
is one of numerous initiatives by various community organizations
that have been implemented under the Community Management
of Protected Areas Conservation (COMPACT) that is jointly
funded by UNDP'S Global Environmental Facility Small Grants
Programme (GEF/SGP) and the United Nations Foundation.
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COMPACT offers financial and technical assistance to community -based initiatives that serve not only to improve livelihoods, but also to address the threats, which jeopardize ecological integrity around the World Heritage Site.
Mt. Kenya, Africa’s second largest mountain (at 5199m) was inscribed on the World Heritage Site list in 1997 for its impressive, breathtaking landscape and outstanding variation in flora and fauna. The mountain plays an important socio-cultural and economic role. It is a water catchment for the Tana and Ewaso Nyiro rivers, and provides tourism and recreational facilities. The ethnic groups living around the mountain consider it the home of their God, and its diverse life and non-life forms provides a platform for research. |
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| Brush Against Power Saw project was started in the year 2003. Tree is Life worked with local artists, learning institutions, businesspersons and other stakeholders in its endeavours to pass environmental conservation messages to the resident populations as well as visitors. The activities of the project portray themes addressed by COMPACT - supported projects |
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A baseline survey prior to implementation showed that there was a high dependence (over 90%) on charcoal and fuel wood for household energy needs amongst residents of the area. 50% of these products are sourced from prunings and mature trees in their farms with the other half coming from mount Kenya forest. Continued degradation of the forest made it increasingly unreliable in providing these products and other services. |
| All households had trees on their farms but some had only a handful, which were far below their wood demands. The communities also emphasized the importance of the mount Kenya ecosystem in providing economic and ecological benefits especially attracting rainfall, which has influenced their livelihoods. |
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To create awareness on the need to conserve the mount Kenya ecosystem and the environment in general, various activities have been implemented including -
- Offering training and technical skills to local artisans to be able to improve their artistic skills and to appreciate environmental artwork,
- Painting of environmental murals on walls in school compounds and other public areas,
- Erecting tree-shaped metallic sign boards with short conservation messages along roads connecting the target towns,
- Developing demonstration materials such as a model of mount Kenya representing activities of COMPACT and batiks with themes of different projects,
- Publishing of articles on efforts towards conserving the forest biodiversity in local and international newspapers and,
- Publish posters that highlight the various thematic outcomes and projects implemented by SGP COMPACT.
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At the project’s completion, ninety-three murals had been painted in and around three towns on the Northern side of Mt. Kenya, fifteen metal trees were erected at various points along the main road, thirty three newspaper articles published, two models of mount Kenya were developed, batiks developed and five thousand posters published and distributed to communities as well as stakeholders. |
The murals are drawn in full colour and are labeled with conservation messages. They now adorn walls on most buildings in the target areas. “They are catchy and thought provoking. Many people who gaze at them seem to be in deep thought perhaps due to their negative contribution to the state of the environment”, says Nduta whose premise faces a giant mural. Nduta, having contemplated the message on the mural thinks that increased deforestation in Mount Kenya forest has led to the intermittent water supply residents of Nanyuki town have faced over the recent years.
“ Many people now see themselves as the main source of the current water problems. Majority have vowed to start planting trees in their farms for fuel wood and other uses to ease pressure on the mountain forest”, says James Wachira one of the artists on mural painting. The messages on the metal trees prompt action from passers-by.
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The project activities have been instrumental in making an awakening call to especially the residents of the target areas around the mountain that the forest ecosystem is crucial for their own existence and that their contribution towards conserving it is necessary. They are now making greater positive actions in regard to the Mount Kenya forest and the environment at large for the good of current and future generations. Efforts are being made to ensure communities in all sides of the mountain have access to the murals and can get the conservation messages with ease. The success is also spreading to other parts of the country with the demand for the murals rising among premises owners and training institutions. |
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