Kenya Mountain Bongo Program: Rooted in Community

The energy is unmistakable. Beneath a marquee tent at the Eburu Forest fire tower, overlooking the forest below, people are singing, dancing, and flipping through new bird guidebooks, pointing out species they know by heart. There is a sense of pride that is hard to describe.

“This is theirs,” I keep thinking. “They own this completely.”

The guidebook has just been launched, and for the Community Conservation Champions who created it, this moment has been a long time coming.

I have been working in Kenya for 14 years, and this work blends reintroduction science and community-based conservation. We are trying to recover the Critically Endangered mountain bongo, which has all but vanished from its former range and exist only in Kenya. If we cannot save them here, they are gone from the wild.

But the work does not start with the species. It starts with people.

Over time, I’ve learned that when you take the time to listen, everything changes. You are no longer trying to convince people. You are working alongside them.

During COVID, we started a Community Conservation Champions program. These were people who kept showing up, asking how they could help. They were not paid — they simply cared about the forest. With training and tools, they began leading their own work.

They formed two groups: one focused on medicinal plants, the other on birds. Month after month, they built on knowledge already present in the community but never captured in this way.

After a couple of years, they wanted to aim for something more: guidebooks.

The first, on medicinal plants, is now used in schools and shared locally. The bird group followed, producing a guide featuring 36 common species. Seeing them hold that book, it is clear this is about more than identification. It is about ownership and connection.

That connection is essential to the future of the mountain bongo. With fewer than 65 individuals left in the wild, nothing will work unless the people living alongside the forest support it.

That is why everything we do connects back to community — from employment and education to projects like the guidebooks — and extends to preparing for the bongo’s return.

In 2025, we reached a milestone with the approval of a 15-year lease for forest land on Mount Kenya, creating space for research and reintroduction while also working with community members to grow the plant species bongo rely on.

This work takes time and requires many voices to come together.

After years of effort, that collaboration is starting to show. The program is growing, and we are being asked for input and leadership.

That progress has been hard earned, and while it’s something to be proud of, it belongs to everyone who has been part of the journey — from community partners to those supporting the work along the way.

Each plays a role, and together, it’s what makes this kind of work possible.