The Endorois people of Kenya are a semi-nomadic indigenous group of around 60,000 people who for centuries have made their living herding goats and cattle in the Lake Bogoria area of the Rift Valley.
In the `70s, their land was appropriated from them by the Kenyan government to create the Lake Bogoria National Reserve.
In February 2010 the African Union adopted a decision by the African Commission on Human and People`s Rights recognising indigenous people`s rights over traditionally occupied land and their right to be involved in, and to benefit from, any development affecting their land.
The decisions made by the AU and ACHPR were generally considered to be a landmark development.
Additionally, it is now considered best practise to involve local communities from the outset when establishing nature reserves and similar projects.
Two years after this historic decision, the Minority Rights Group has criticised "the Kenyan government`s lack of commitment to ensuring justice for the Endorois people" and has urged the authorities "to immediately restore ownership to the community of their ancestral lands around the Lake Bogoria National Reserve".
For the full story, see MRG press release "Two Years on From African Commision`s Ruling, Kenya Continues to Drag it`s Feet..." dated 1 Feb 2012, at www.minorityrights.org .
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