Negotiating the Sacred: Conservation, Land Dynamics and Governance Tensions in Loita Enaimina Enkiyio Forest, Kenya

This research elaborates on the impact of Kenya's sacred forests on indigenous communities and their way of life. The forests are more than just a natural resource. They are a source of identity and shape the livelihoods of those who rely on them. However, competing land uses and interests in indigenous forests lead to challenges for the forest communities. These challenges include changes in tenure and ownership claims, which have resulted in ownership and governance challenges. Despite this, indigenous forest communities resist complete transformation in the form of displacement and dispossession. The research focuses on understanding how indigenous forest communities mobilise the notion of the sacred in negotiating alternative outcomes concerning their sacred forests. As highlighted in the table below, this question is further elaborated in four parts.

Governance

How is the sacred mobilised in the multilevel/hybrid governance of sacred indigenous forests? 

Land

What are the changing claims on the Loita territory, including the sacred Enaimina Enkiyio forest, brought about by the land adjudication process (LAP)?

How has the notion of the sacred impacted land use transformation and tenure reform in rangeland resource commons, specifically for sacred forests?

Gender

How are the women of Loita positioning themselves amidst the changing land relations brought about by the Land adjudication process (LAP)? What is its effect on gender relations and, subsequently, the care for land and sacred forests?

Conservation

How does the Loita community mobilise the sacred value to negotiate and mediate access and use rights, ultimately engendering the desired conservation outcomes?

The research conceptualises sacred resource commons as social-ecological systems and operationalises social innovation theory to explain how Loita Maasai mobilise the sacred innovatively to meet their neglected needs. A qualitative case study approach from an interpretive-constructivist paradigm was instrumental in understanding the Loita context. The study focuses on the Loita Enaimina Enkiyio forest in Kenya, which is linked to the Loita Maasai community. The case selection was informed by its sacred connotation, the stewardship of the residing community and the traditional governance structure. The research findings emphasize that the sacred is integral in negotiating alternative outcomes in sacred resource commons. Institutionalising the sacred can support governance when it allows for a hybrid approach combining traditional and formal frameworks. The sacred informs the Loita community's relationship with nature and culture, promoting solidarity in some instances, as seen in the contestation over conservation approaches. In other cases, however, differing views among the community members, as seen in the land adjudication process, result in conflicting positions over the changing land dynamics. The sacred informs the care dynamics as seen through ethics of care for the environment and the familial burden of care. Caring is inherent in the sacred. In Loita Enaimina Enkiyio, the sacred provides an alternative motivation for conservation, reinforcing a sustainable approach culturally and by law. The role of the sacred today is an opportunity to support indigenous communities through innovation grounded in the nature-culture nexus.