Mukutan Conservancy - Greenspoon

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Mukutan Conservancy

est. 2019 | employees 15

Mukutan Honey contributes directly to Community Development on Ol Ari Nyiro, as well as towards the protection of elephants. The busy bees that live on the Mukutan Conservancy, at Ol Ari Nyiro  enjoy 88,000 acres of wilderness to forage happily on a variety of exclusively indigenous plants.

Biodiversity and Bees

Mukutan Conservancy has an abundance of wilderness and wildlife, and a natural biodiversity which is key to the environmental sustainability of the region. The conservancy employs local Pokot youths for all elements of honey production, thus supporting the local community. To make one jar of Mukutan honey, bees have gathered nectar from over 1 million flowers – an incredible statistic that shows both the importance of ecology as well as the need for bees to pollinate and continue the cycle of life. Bees are responsible for the pollination of 80% of the world’s food crops; can we really imagine a world without them?

The Mukutan Conservancy protects 88, 000 acres of pure wilderness and wildlife on the western extreme of Kenya’s famed Laikipia Plateau. It is home to over 300 elephants, numerous lion, leopard, buffalo as well as a multitude of smaller species. 

Due to its topography – perched on the edge of the Great Rift Valley, this dramatic landscape encompasses a wide variety of eco-systems , such as riverine forest, acacia woodland and cedar forest and therefore hosts an unusual diversity of botanical  species and has been described as ‘the most diverse non-forested area in East Africa’ (T.P Young 1990) .

Due to this botanical diversity, and the remoteness of the conservancy, far from pesticides and other pollutants, the Mukutan Conservancy hosts a thriving population of bees and other pollinators.

WILD HONEY

The Mukutan Wild Honey Project was established in 2016 in partnership with the local Pokot community, as a way to foster a stewardship of the environment whilst providing an income.  Beekeeping is already practiced widely in this community, the Mukutan Wild Honey project has been equipping youth and women’s groups with modern beehives (which protect the bee colonies) and provides training. Mukutan also harvests and processes ALL the honey from the community hives to ensure purity.

There are 150 langstroth beehives within the conservancy and 200 langstroth and 600 Kenya Top Bar hives in the community.

CONSERVANCY HONEY 

The conservancy’s 150 beehives have been placed in different locations (apiaries) to make the most of the diverse forage flora of the conservancy. Many of the plant species that the bees forage on have medicinal properties.  We are establishing a floral calendar for each apiary which we will soon update on a new website. As a result one harvest of conservancy honey can be completely different to a batch from a different apiary or season, reflecting the diverse indigenous flora the bees have been feasting on.

The Mukutan Wild Conservancy honey is 100% ORGANIC- which is rare, as there are few places in the world that can guarantee that bees cannot forage on pesticide polluted plants.  Once we are selling a sufficient volume of honey we will be able to get the organic certifications.  Once we have done this, we will label the honey accordingly.

COMMUNITY HONEY

The community apiaries consist of 20 hives in each location. The community area is drier and predominately acacia woodland so the honey is mainly acacia honey.

Conservancy beekeepers assist in the management and harvesting of the community honey and are always present at harvest time. The raw honey and comb is transported to the conservancy for processing to ensure purity. Whilst we believe that the honey is organic we cannot guarantee 100% that it is because a minimal number of community members practice subsistence agriculture.

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