The Sarara Foundation

The Sarara Foundation is working to protect the 850,000-acre Matthews Forest Range, located in the heart of Northern Kenya, the wildlife and Indigenous Samburu who call this land their home.

Indigenous communities are the custodians of some of the largest remaining wilderness left in Africa, including many key endangered species.

By empowering Indigenous Peoples to manage biodiversity in their own territories, we create a more sustained and cost effective solution to protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity

The Challenge Indigenous Communities face today:

• 80% of the world's remaining diversity is protected by just 6% of the world's population, all of whom are Indigenous Peoples.
• 70% of Africa’s wildlife exists outside of national parks and reserves.
• Most of Africa’s remaining biodiversity is co-habited by wildlife and Indigenous Peoples
• Preserving biodiversity is key to turning around the climate crisis, as these areas are major carbon sinks.
• The cycle of poverty in Indigenous Peoples are deepening due to biodiversity loss, climate change, loss of indigenous identity and critical watershed damage.
  
  

Our Impact and Programs

Education and Healthcare:
The Sarara Foundation is heavily investing in a sustainable and opportunity-rich future for the next generation of indigenous communities of Northern Kenya.

Wildlife and Conservation
Sarara’s conservation approach focuses on human environmental impact and human-wildlife conflict. Special emphasis is placed on managing the effects of rapid population increase and resulting issues with pollution, biodiversity, natural resources and wildlife

• Sarara actively supports the management of 39 orphan elephants housed at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary.
• Sarara has overseen the return of a free ranging population of near 6,000 elephant to the Mathews Range.
  
• Sarara oversees the protection of the largest herd of Reticulated Giraffe in Africa numbering over 480 individuals
  
• Active rangeland restoration plan
  
  

Never has there been a time when the need for people and nature to live in harmonious co-existence is of more paramount importance. This is the philosophy that drives the core of the work we at the foundation do.

Meeting critical human needs now creates a future for both wildlife and people, breaking the cycle of poverty before it truly sets in, is perhaps the most important thing we can do.

With gratitude,
Joffy & Jeremy Bastard
http://sararafoundation.org

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One of our three Montesorri pre-schools in within Namunyak Conservancy.

A Montesorri classrooms immediately stands out!




The formidable Nurse Dorcas, the Head of our Healthcare Program measuring a pregnant mamma's HB level. Previously mammas would have to walk 30km over a mountain pass to the nearest clinic.

Mammas waiting to see Nurse Parito. He is a Samburu who grew up here in Namunyak Conservancy. He is also fluent in Italian and French!

Milk Mammas selling goat milk to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. There are no over 450 milk mammas in the program!

The Sarara Foundation also supports 75 wildlife rangers who patrols and monitors wildlife across the 850,000 acre Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy.

Namunyak Community Conservancy in Northern Kenya.

Samburu Warriors