EAST AFRICA’S MARA-SERENGETI, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is renowned for its wildlife and natural beauty. Synonymous with wildlife safaris and the great wildebeest migration, the region — which encompasses Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park — is home to about 70 large mammal species, including elephants, zebras, giraffes, cheetahs, and some 500 bird species, as well as hundreds of thousands of people. But it is also a region in peril.

The entire Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and those living around it are facing multiple threats from human population growth, land degradation, poaching, increasing drought, and political pressure to remove the Maasai people from traditional grazing areas.

Between 1960 and 2024, the minimum average temperature of the Mara-Serengeti rose by a startling 9.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and that has had a “significant impact on wildlife populations and biodiversity in the area,” according to Joseph Ogutu, a researcher at the University of Hohenheim who led a recent study there. “Vegetation and water are gradually drying. Competition between wildlife, livestock, and people for resources is increasing. Wildlife numbers are falling, and there are changes in patterns of migration and breeding.”

Climate change is adding to the impact of ongoing population growth here to create complex threats for both humans and wildlife. A finite amount of degrading land around the Serengeti is being shared by more and more people. In fact, the region has seen a 400 percent increase in human population over the last decade. The Serengeti is fast reaching its carrying limit.

Overall, these pressures mean that life is less certain for not only the wildlife but also the people who live here. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable. Research shows that, for a variety of complex socioeconomic reasons, natural disasters and climate change can disproportionately impact women. “They are also often excluded from participating in decision-making within the household and community, or in risk-reduction activities that could expose them to life-saving information, resources, and skills,” according to research by the Brookings Institution. At the same time, female leaders “are incredibly effective in conservation and are more likely to pursue more sustainable futures for their communities.”

“Girls from all over the world hold the key to our most pressing challenges, including climate change and environmental sustainability,” says Damaris Parsitau, who is the first Maasai woman to earn a PhD and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and the Brookings Institution. “Studies suggest girls’ education significantly and positively impacts families and communities. Investing in girls’ education is imperative.”

At Serengeti Watch, our response to the pressures on this unique ecosystem is a holistic eco-agricultural program to promote human welfare and biodiversity through improved dairy, land management, and women’s empowerment. The approach was developed by Meyasi Meshilieck, a Maasai with a degree in science education and founder of Serengeti Preservation Foundation. Meshilieck herded cattle as a young boy, sneaking books to read while he watched his family’s livestock.

We believe it’s important to both reduce herd size and increase milk production for Maasai herders. Our program introduces improved dairy cattle breeds that produce significantly higher milk yields compared to traditional herds. This means that herders can lower the number of cows they keep, alleviating pressure on grazing lands and improving soil health. We bolster this initiative through workshops that equip Maasai women with the skills to care for these breeds, ensuring sustainable production and herd management.

The empowerment of Maasai women is central to the program. Women are organized into cooperatives, and they receive training and gain access to hybrid dairy cattle. Income generated from milk sales provides financial independence, enabling them to invest in their families’ nutrition, health, and education. Increased school enrollment for girls, coupled with reduced early-age marriages, contributes to long-term socioeconomic benefits.

“Mothers are the untapped social capital in Maasai girls’ education,” Parsitau says. “The need for role models is particularly acute for rural Maasai girls who have only been exposed to adult women with traditional roles in the home.”

We also aim to enroll more Maasai girls in school. This is helpful in several ways. An educated woman is more likely to know her rights and have the confidence to stand up for them, according to the Maasai Girls Education Fund. “She will choose whom to marry and when to marry. She will have fewer children, and they will be healthier and better educated than the previous generation.” Such education and empowerment can create virtuous feedback loops to help counter the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. There is ample evidence, for example, that getting girls into school has a direct bearing on population growth.

While we work to provide more opportunities to people, we also have programs aimed at mitigating climate impacts and land degradation. We encourage improved grazing practices, forage production, and the use of manure to regenerate degraded lands, enhance carbon sequestration, and bolster climate resilience. We also train on techniques such as “zero grazing” — the harvesting of fresh grass for housed livestock — to minimize environmental impacts, conserve water, and reduce conflict over resources.

Taken together, these efforts conserve biodiversity and protect ecosystems by reducing habitat encroachment and promoting coexistence between wildlife and livestock. A healthy ecosystem supports sustainable tourism, a critical source of income for local communities and the broader economy.

Learn more about this Earth Island Project at serengetiwatch.org

Finally, we’re working to scale our programs, which have proven feasible and replicable. Right now, our work is focused on the Serengeti National Park and surrounding protected areas, like the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The goal is to introduce positive change for the Maasai, by improving their welfare and helping to preserve their culture. This program was developed within the Maasai community, not from the top down from the outside. To be successful, such programs need to grow organically from the ground up. Serengeti Watch is just a facilitator in this. With expanded training, monitoring, veterinary services, and marketing infrastructure, there is both hope and good reason to believe our efforts will gain notice and be replicated.

The bottom line is that the Maasai, as with people everywhere, need the full participation, talent, and energy of women, girls, boys, and men in order to face the challenges the Mara-Serengeti is now facing. Conservation and human welfare are not incompatible. In fact, they are interdependent.