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Flowers for Elephants: How a Conservation Movement in Kenya Offers Lessons for Us All
When northern Kenyans find elephant bones, they lay down blossoms and branches as a mark of respect, honouring their crucial connection with the wildlife they live alongside. In our changing world, these values are vitally important.
For decades, northern Kenya was one step away from a warzone, on the frontlines of climate change and habitat loss. People slept with their shoes on, fearing attack. Wildlife was decimated. Yet, facing the most extreme challenges, people united. What began as a last-ditch effort to save rhinos from extinction sparked a remarkable return of wildlife, with the once-struggling cattle ranch Lewa named a UN World Heritage Site for its outstanding value to humanity. This served as a catalyst for much broader action. Communities created a network of protected lands across an area larger than Switzerland. Through conservation, they built peace, driving social, environmental and political change.
From tracking elephants through the bush to gun battles with bandits and treks through Al-Qaeda territory, Peter Martell tells the exciting story of a conservation movement that gives hope. At a time when humanity is reassessing its broken relationship with nature, these communities offer an inspirational blueprint, proving that environmental change does not have to divide, but can bring us together.
For decades, northern Kenya was one step away from a warzone, on the frontlines of climate change and habitat loss. People slept with their shoes on, fearing attack. Wildlife was decimated. Yet, facing the most extreme challenges, people united. What began as a last-ditch effort to save rhinos from extinction sparked a remarkable return of wildlife, with the once-struggling cattle ranch Lewa named a UN World Heritage Site for its outstanding value to humanity. This served as a catalyst for much broader action. Communities created a network of protected lands across an area larger than Switzerland. Through conservation, they built peace, driving social, environmental and political change.
From tracking elephants through the bush to gun battles with bandits and treks through Al-Qaeda territory, Peter Martell tells the exciting story of a conservation movement that gives hope. At a time when humanity is reassessing its broken relationship with nature, these communities offer an inspirational blueprint, proving that environmental change does not have to divide, but can bring us together.
- GenresNonfiction
468 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 17, 2026
Martell is an elegant writer and I certainly learned a few things about northern Kenya from reading this fine book. The story is in many ways an uplifting one about peace coming to communities that had been at war over scarce resources. But one of his overarching conclusions - about the need for wildlife to bring benefits to African communities - is hardly original.
One glaring target that is missed is Kenya's ban on hunting, imposed in 1977. Martell quotes the former head of the East Africa Hunters Association as saying the ban was triggered to keep the "prying eyes" of hunters out of the bush after its last president Tony Dyer publicly accused top government officials of involvement in the lucrative ivory trade which was decimating Kenya's elephant population.
This was an angle I had never come across and it was spoor that Martell could have tracked - but he seems uncomfortable with the issue of sport and trophy hunting in general, which is a reflection of a segment of Western public opinion.
The notion that the hunting ban - regarded by many conservationists as a key reason behind the dramatic decline of Kenya's wildlife compared to African countries where hunting is allowed - was orchestrated to provide cover for state involvement in the ivory trade is hardly the narrative spun by the animal rights movement.
Animal rights activists, like climate change deniers who ignore the evidence before them, have held the Kenya up as a conservation model even as its wildlife numbers have plunged. Viewed through this prism, it seems that the Kenyans have been playing them like a violin all along - just as they play their White, middle-class, Western donors with emotional appeals that do little to advance the cause of conservation.
The Kenyan model of conservancies is not the only one. In countries such as Namibia, trophy hunting takes place on many of them, and the tangible benefits to communities can be seen in rising numbers of wildlife including the likes of elephants - a stark contrast to the Kenyan failures.
But I am grateful to Martell for opening my eyes to what is plausibly the real reason behind the Kenyan hunting ban and its abject failures as a conservation measure.
One glaring target that is missed is Kenya's ban on hunting, imposed in 1977. Martell quotes the former head of the East Africa Hunters Association as saying the ban was triggered to keep the "prying eyes" of hunters out of the bush after its last president Tony Dyer publicly accused top government officials of involvement in the lucrative ivory trade which was decimating Kenya's elephant population.
This was an angle I had never come across and it was spoor that Martell could have tracked - but he seems uncomfortable with the issue of sport and trophy hunting in general, which is a reflection of a segment of Western public opinion.
The notion that the hunting ban - regarded by many conservationists as a key reason behind the dramatic decline of Kenya's wildlife compared to African countries where hunting is allowed - was orchestrated to provide cover for state involvement in the ivory trade is hardly the narrative spun by the animal rights movement.
Animal rights activists, like climate change deniers who ignore the evidence before them, have held the Kenya up as a conservation model even as its wildlife numbers have plunged. Viewed through this prism, it seems that the Kenyans have been playing them like a violin all along - just as they play their White, middle-class, Western donors with emotional appeals that do little to advance the cause of conservation.
The Kenyan model of conservancies is not the only one. In countries such as Namibia, trophy hunting takes place on many of them, and the tangible benefits to communities can be seen in rising numbers of wildlife including the likes of elephants - a stark contrast to the Kenyan failures.
But I am grateful to Martell for opening my eyes to what is plausibly the real reason behind the Kenyan hunting ban and its abject failures as a conservation measure.
April 11, 2022
Gifted writer and compelling story, highly recommend
March 27, 2023
Everybody should read this!
January 1, 2025
An excellent record of the incredible achievements that Kenya's community conservation movement have made, and how this success was reached. Thoroughly researched, interesting and enjoyable.
June 13, 2022
Martell writes superbly. For anyone who loves animals, Africa and is thoughtful about the environment. Grab this book, it's a wonder.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews