Purpose
The Rhino Ark Aberdare Electric fence is an ecosystem conservation tool. Its purpose is to resolve multiple challenges facing the protected area mountain forest ecosystem known as the Aberdare Conservation Area (ACA). The challenges include:
- Crop damage by wildlife in surrounding farming communities
- Death or injury to people by wildlife that strays onto surrounding farmland
- Poaching of wildlife for commercial sale of trophies
- Illegal bush meat hunting of wildlife
- Wildlife habitat encroachment and destruction by humans
- Illegal logging inside the protected area
- Illegal plantations inside the protected area
- Illegal grazing of domestic animals inside the protected area
Fence construction commenced in 1989 and was completed in August 2009. The fence is nearly 400km long and completely encircles the entire Aberdare Conservation Area – over 2,000 square kilometres. Click here to view the fence line map.
The fence has been constructed in 8 distinct ‘Phases’, plus an extra section that incorporates the 3,900 hectare Mt. Kipipiri range, which lies adjacent to the main Aberdare range, separated by a 4km long corridor. Highlights of the project are captured in the below table:
| Year | Event | Description |
| 1989 | Inception | Start of fence construction |
| 1991 | Phase I | Completion of Phase I of the fence |
| 1994 | Phase II | Completion of Phase II |
| 1999 | 1st Assessment | 1st assessment study of fence report presented |
| 2001 | Phase IV | Completion of Phase IV |
| 2002 | Phase III | Completion of Phase III |
| 2003 | Aerial Survey | Aerial Survey of fence conducted – Joint assessment by KWS, Rhino Ark and UNEP |
| Media Campaign | Start of print and electronic media public campaign by Nation Media Group to mobilize public support for the fence project | |
| 2005 | Phase V | Completion of Phase V |
| 2006 | GOK funding | Start of Government direct funding for project |
| 2007 | Phase VIII | Completion of Phase VIII |
| US$1 million/event | Rhino Charge event raises US$ 1 million for the first time | |
| 2008 | Phase VII | Completion of Phase VII |
| 2009 | Kipipiri/fence completion | Completion of Mount Kipipiri Extra Section: final post placed on 28 August 2009 |
| 2010 | Commissioning | Formal commissioning of fence by Head of State |
| 2nd Assessment | 2nd assessment of fence |
The timeline is presented in the graphic below:
Fence Design
The fence is designed with a dual purpose: to keep wildlife contained inside the ecosystem, and to deter human encroachment into the protected area. This has been achieved by the use of electrification of the fence using converted solar power. It is ‘live’ on a permanent basis, i.e. powered day and night. The fence is comprised of the following elements:
- Fence posts made of wood or plastic
- Fence wire made of galvanized steel
- Tight lock wire mesh
- Insulators to connect the wire to the posts
- Electrical charging system
The fence is two metres tall above ground and a further 1 metre below. This makes it effective against all ground dwelling animals, including burrowing animals such as porcupine.
Initially only wooden posts were used, but technological innovations have in recent times enabled the posts to be made from recycled plastic waste. 20% of the fence posts for the fence are now plastic.
The fence line crosses public roads in some areas. In such places, the wildlife can use the roads to escape the confined of fenced areas. To prevent this, a novel solution is used: Elephant Grids are specially designed structures constructed on the road surface to allow human and vehicular traffic to pass but prevent wildlife from doing so.
Manpower
To maintain the fence in good working condition at all times a team of fence scouts patrol the fence line daily to carry out maintenance duties which include:
- Clearing undergrowth
- Repair damage caused by fallen trees, wildlife or wilfully by criminal elements
- Replace worn out components
The scouts also act as a deterrent to potential human intruders as they will observe any suspect human activity and report this to the security teams the patrol the protected area. A team of two scouts is assigned to each approximately 8km section of fence. At present there are 100 scouts that maintain the fence.
Other Fence Structures
The scouts are based in Fence Energizer Stations. These stations are a core element of the fence infrastructure. Each station can power approximately 20km of fence line.
Each station is the administrative base for a section of the fence and serves the following roles:
- Housing and providing security for the fence energizer equipment
- Storage of fence maintenance tools and supplies
- Housing the fence scouts that maintain the fence
- Holding radio equipment and act as a field office for administration and communication
- Provide a location where local communities can contact the fence scouts to report on fence problems and also for meetings with the community
Essentially, an Energizer House is a multi function installation that acts as an administrative base for each 20km section of fence. It is from there that the fence scouts venture out daily to carry out their maintenance activities.
Currently, many of the Energizer stations are temporary structures, and part of the long term maintenance plan by Rhino Ark is sourcing funding for construction of permanent structures built to specification.
Project Partnership
The fence has been constructed through a partnership between Rhino Ark and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), with funds provided by Rhino Ark and the construction work managed by KWS. Some funding for construction has also been provided by the central Government, through the Treasury. Under the ‘Shilling-for-Shilling’ commitment, the Government undertook to match every shilling raised by Kenyan taxpayers for the project with a shilling of its own. Rhino Ark continues to advocate for this commitment to ensure that the fence is properly maintained.
