The story of Borana

Kenya’s pre-colonial history was not well-documented in writing and unfortunately many of the oral histories of the land, including those of the people of Borana, have been lost over the years since Kenya’s independence in 1963. Borana Conservancy is committed to understanding and documenting the history of the land and people of Borana before colonial settlers arrived.

Borana’s history, like much of modern Kenya, cannot be separated from the reality of colonial rule. After the First World War, British soldiers were ‘gifted’ tracts of land in Kenya by the British colonial government as part of the colonial settler policy. The area now known as Borana Conservancy began as one of these parcels of land in what was then known as Nyeri County and started to take shape in 1928. At that time it was primarily used as a ranch for livestock grazing, wool production, and farming alongside the wildlife that freely roamed the expansive rangelands. 

A desire to protect this wildlife - whilst also acknowledging the realities of a modern developing nation like Kenya - has been the driving factor behind Borana Ranch for all these years. In 1984 Michael Dyer began his role as caretaker of Borana Ranch. By reframing the ideas behind conservation also to include the viewpoints of the communities who are passionate about, and have used and benefited from the land and environment for many years, a new convivial approach to conservation began to take shape which put an emphasis on opening up the area to all. By the early 1990’s the Group Ranch Act came into effect and the management of Borana committed resources, time, and energy, to developing more progressive partnerships with the Il’Ngwesi people. This led to the creation of two wholly-community-owned tourism enterprises Il’Ngwesi Lodge and Tassia. 

Rhino were reintroduced into the landscape in 1984 on Lewa and subsequently onto Borana and Il’Ngwesi. In 2012 Borana Ranch became Borana Conservancy and was formally recognised by the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Ministry of Tourism as a gazetted protected area.

Beyond Borana

Today Borana continues its mission of ensuring that the nature and wildlife being looked after are accessible to all people. The conservancy recognises that looking inward is not a sustainable way to achieve this aim. 

Environmental degradation and ecosystem collapse across parts of this landscape, and indeed globally, contribute negatively to climate change and remain a significant - but solvable - challenge for us all. 

Borana is deeply committed to knowledge sharing not only between local communities but also on an international scale. By creating a linkage between community lands, private sector conservation partners, and also the government, the aim is to implement lasting solutions that create resilience - both social and environmental - that protects land, connects people, and preserves cultural values. 

The land regeneration and share stock programmes that have been recently implemented are the foundation projects on which the future of Borana Conservancy is built.