Pastoralism, biodiversity, and the shaping of savanna landscapes in East Africa

East Africa possesses a rich historical and archaeological record documenting the significant influences of pastoral land use on savanna habitats. In this article the author explores the heterogeneity of savanna landscapes and its effects on local resource use. It is suggested that fundamental misunderstanding of key resources—in this case, wetlands—and their importance to local social and economic systems has misdirected arguments about environmental degradation in pastoral savanna areas. By focusing on a region of northern Kenya—the Lake Baringo basin of Baringo District—where global concern about biodiversity loss and ‘desertification’ are both strongly voiced, the article argues that the causal connection of local social practice with either phenomenon has been vastly exaggerated. In the case of Baringo it shows (1) how the value of the basin's swamps is constantly misunderstood by the state and other outside interests, and (2) how the perceived role of African herding in creating environmental degradation (‘desertification’) contradicts the recent acknowledgement of pastoralism's positive contribution to maintaining biodiversity.