Taking Ogiek’s environmental passion to a new level
Cindy Kobei, an environmental activist whose passion for climate and environmental advocacy was fuelled by her love for nature and the forest within which she was brought up - Mau Forest Complex.
What you need to know:
- Cindy Kobei is an Ogiek, a community living in the Mau Forest and known to use forest resources sustainably.
- She says climate change significantly hurts forest communities despite their conservation efforts.
- Climate change deepens gender inequalities in her community.
The apple does not fall far from the tree, so the saying goes.
This is the case for Cindy Kobei, a 23-year-old champion for environmental conservation.
Ms Kobei is an Ogiek, a community living in the Mau Forest and known to use forest resources sustainably.
Her passion for climate and environmental advocacy was fuelled by her love for nature and the forest within which she was brought up.
The hunter-gatherer community lives in the Mau Forest Complex and puts great premium on environmental protection. Ms Kobei, therefore, learnt the ropes from childhood.
She says climate change significantly hurts forest communities despite their conservation efforts. They rely on their traditional knowledge to promote the resilience of the ecosystems within their territories, but degradation at the national, regional and global levels means they also suffer the emerging crises.
Indigenous community
“Indigenous and minority communities lack the resources to cushion themselves against loss of habitat and climate-related disasters like floods, famine and severe droughts,” she notes.
She presented a high-level statement championing the participation and inclusion of indigenous communities in combating climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 (COP26) in Glasgow.
She also represented her community during the 20th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the 14th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and others.
She is the chairperson of Tirap Youth Trust that advocates human rights. The group has been engaging in forest restoration to counter illegal logging that threatens the country’s most important water tower. To date, they have planted more than 2,000 indigenous trees within the East-Mau Forest Complex.
No water
Ms Kobei also advocates empowerment of women and girls. She says climate change deepens gender inequalities in her community. Besides environmental impacts, women who bear the heaviest household workload also suffer social fallout.
“In a society that still prioritises a boy, when there is no water or food, girls suffer the most. They travel longer distances to access water, reducing their time to study or pursue other interests,” she says.
Ms Kobei, who is currently enrolled at the Kenya School of Law for her postgraduate diploma, chose to study law to advocate the rights and welfare of girls who face triple discrimination on account of their gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status.
To tackle the disparity, she has been running mentorship programmes during school holidays since 2020. She has reached more than 200 indigenous girls, training them on the effects of harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation, child marriages and educating them on their rights.
Ms Kobei says it takes courage and consistency to make a difference in society.
“If you want to see change, be the change,” she concludes.
