Njambini Kenya: Long before people began farming, many bird species adapted to exist in open environments such as grasslands. In order to save the Sharpe’s Longclaw bird species, a youth group from Kenya is persuading farmers to preserve grasslands at the foot of the Aberdare Mountains, around an hour’s drive from Lake Naivasha. The Njambini Wool Crafters buy wool from these farmers to help them make a life from sheepkeeping. The business spins yarn from raw sheep’s wool.
Listen how Nyandarua, once a bird paradise has been lost to farming.
These yarns are distributed to stores or turned into blankets, carpets, rugs, throw blankets, scarves, shawls, and socks. According to BirdLife International’s figures, there were between 10 and 20,000 mature Sharpe’s Longclaw birds in Kenya in 2000, according to Samuel Bakari, an ecologist with the Friends of Kinangop Plateau. Bakari believes that this number has been decreased to less than 2000 people after more than 20 years.
