Exploring the ‘layeredness’ of recurring natural resource conflicts: The role of Loita Maasai leadership in the Naimina Enkiyio Forest conflicts in Kenya

Territorial Conflicts, Agency and the Strategic Appropriation of Interventions in Kenya’s Southern Drylands

“…The politics and layered nature of the conflicts surrounding these two forest interventions are complex and have been discussed elsewhere [23]. Of relevance here is that a group of Loita leaders mobilized the IUCN forest project not only to ward off the local authority's forest plan but also to address the problem of ongoing Purko intrusion.…”

“…A renewed attempt to adjudicate the Loita into group ranches was made in the 1980s only that this time it was decided to form two group ranches. Once more, land adjudication failed, but this time it was not due to disputes with the Purko but due to quarrels within the Loita leadership about where the internal boundary should lie [23].…”

“…In the end, however, the implementation phase of the IUCN forest project never went ahead. For reasons that are beyond the scope of this article (but see [23]), Purko resistance to the IUCN forest project increased and also in Loita, people started to oppose the IUCN forest project. Opposition became aggressive and violent.…”

“…The latter are important because these are typically held to discuss problems affecting the Loita as a group (like the territorial conflict with the Purko Maasai) or to choose a path of action when faced with a new outside intervention, hence the focus on the practices of leaders in this article. It is important to note that although when facing external threats or developments Loita leaders typically act as a united group, this is not always the case as divisions and factions do exist in Loita leadership and sometimes reflect in their dealings with outside forces (see for example [23]). Three such meetings were attended and these were key for gaining an insight into the collective decision-and strategy-making of Loita leaders.…”

Games as Tools to Address Conservation Conflicts

“…Such conflicts are often complex, seemingly intractable and open-ended "wicked" problems [3][4][5]. Whilst superficially they may appear to be about lions attacking livestock, or the impact of superabundant geese in an agricultural landscape, in reality they involve complex layers of multiple stakeholders with different interests, values, goals, and life experiences in different political, cultural and historical settings [2,[6][7][8][9]. The complexity of conflicts challenges our ability to tease out critical elements, understand the dynamics of conflict and stakeholder behaviour, design effective interventions, understand how to promote engagement and build possible solutions.…”