Mt Elgon Integrated Conservation and Development Project sponsored this workshop on integrated natural resources management planning for the Mt Elgon ecosystem at the Kitale Museum from 6th to 10th September 1999. Fifty seven people drawn from a range of stakeholders in the Mt Elgon ecosystem participated in the workshop. The purposes of the workshop were:
- To establish a participatory process that will result in the production, by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Kenya Forest Department (KFD), of an integrated natural resources management plan for the National Park and Forest Reserve on Mt Elgon.
- To collect and share information about Mt Elgon and its resources and issues impinging on their management.
- To disseminate, via documentation of the proceedings of the workshop, information about Mt Elgon, its resources and their management.
The workshop was arranged around two broad themes:
- Information about Mt Elgon's natural resources, issues related to their management, and how this information and these issues should be addressed in management planning for Mt Elgon
- Devising a process for preparation of a new integrated ecosystem management
Twenty one papers were presented during plenary sessions of the workshop and formed the basis for group discussions. Brief synopses of these papers are presented in this report. The full text of the papers and also the workshop discussions and findings are to be collated and published as workshop proceedings by the end of 1999. Major conclusions of the workshop were:
- The planning process should be driven from the field by the two principal partner agencies - KWS and KFD. Specialist support is available from the headquarters of these two agencies. The project can provide some resources to facilitate the planning process.
- WS and KFD should constitute locally a Steering Committee to oversee the preparation of the plan. This committee would consist of the DFOs of Trans-Nzoia and Mt Elgon District plus the Warden of Mt Elgon National Park. The Project Manager and Chief Technical Advisor would be available in an advisory capacity to support the Steering Committee.
- The Steering Committee should convene a first meeting within two weeks of the workshop to initiate preparation of the management plan.
