The Kesho Trust

About us

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The Enguserosambu Forest Conservation and Development Trust is a registered, independent, non-partisan, voluntary community-based organization in Enguserosambu Village, Tanzania with an elected board of directors from the four villages that reside within the forest. Eleven board members, a coordinator and a community liaison officer are committed to implementing the Trust’s mandate on behalf of the Loita Maasai of Enguserosambu Ward.

The Trust’s vision is:

  • to be a model of conservation for community-based forest management throughout Tanzania and the rest of the world and protect and secure Loita Maasai cultural identity and a sustainable way of life for future generations of Maasai.

The Trust’s management goal is:

  • to manage the Enguserosambu Community Forest sustainably to protect Maasai pastoralism and the underlying forest ecosystems and biodiversity that Maasai culture and livelihoods are dependent upon and the wildlife with which Maasai coexist.

The mandate of The Enguserosambu Community Forest Trust is:

  • to prepare a forest lands resource assessment needs to determine the current condition of the resources and their use;
  • to develop a forest lands management plan with clear zones that reflect use and management according to the importance of the forest lands to the communities and the Loliondo area at large;
  • to generate by-laws that will be used to regulate the use of and manage the resources of the forest lands;
  • to enforce by-laws ensuring the appropriate use of the forest lands according to the management plan; and,
  • to promote community awareness of and commitment to the forest lands as a preserve of the Maasai culture and traditions.

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Administration

Our Board of Trustees is elected from the four villages. The current board has 10 members, six men and four women. They were elected by the village assemblies from their respective villages. This gives them representational role, while managing the forest. The Board is registered at the national level, and making it the first Board of Trustees established to manage a community forest in Tanzania.

The Board is responsible for management of the forest and report directly to the community. It also develop policies for effective community based conservation and has the capacity to enter into agreement with other partners, within and outside the country for the purposes of meeting the community goal of conserved forest.