NaPO Conservation Cup: youth-led dryland restoration in northern Kenya

About Nature and People as One (NaPO)

Nature and People as One (NaPO) was established by young people from the Rendille pastoralist community in northern Kenya. The organization emerged from mounting environmental pressures and deep community desire to revive traditional stewardship practices while adapting to rapidly changing landscapes, guided by a simple belief: communities closest to the land hold both the knowledge and motivation to restore it. The Rendille have practiced pastoralism in these drylands for generations, developing sophisticated systems for managing rangelands, conserving water, and coexisting with wildlife. However, prolonged droughts intensified by climate change, invasive species spreading across grazing lands, and weakening traditional governance threatened both livelihoods and ecosystems. We witnessed our elders' ecological knowledge being marginalized while external conservation approaches failed to account for pastoralist realities. We recognized effective conservation required centering

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