
When Elders Govern Grass: Indigenous Adaptation in the Amboseli Ecosystem, Kenya
Climate change constitutes one of the most pressing global challenges of our time. Its impacts fall disproportionately upon indigenous communities who have contributed least to its causes yet possess generations of adaptive knowledge (Dorji et al., 2024). Across Africa, dryland ecosystems cover 40% of the continent’s landmass and support nearly 50% of its population, making pastoral communities particularly vulnerable to climate variabilities (FAO, 2018). This blog draws on insights from my AFAS-funded fieldwork to examine how Indigenous Knowledge systems shape adaptation strategies among Maasai pastoralists in the Kitenden-Amboseli ecosystem, focusing on indigenous grass reserves as a Nature-based Solution for climate adaptation.


