The Maa Trust

The Maa Trust is a non-profit organization based in community-owned conservancies in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. We work to increase the benefits of wildlife and conservation to Maasai families so that they appreciate, and contribute to the protection of, wild animals on their land, and we aim to unite communities by involving them in conservation at a management level. At The Maa Trust, we believe in research-based development and undertake detailed baseline and endline assessments so as to both quantify and qualify our impact. Our team has spent years going door-to-door asking thousands of ordinary people for their views, needs, and aspirations. We listen carefully to what they say, think, and ask for, and we act on this, rather than what donors want to give. By directing funding appropriately, and ensuring projects are set up and handed over in a sustainable manner, we help people to help themselves. Unlike many organizations working in remote areas of Kenya, we are a permanent presence on the ground in the Maasai Mara and we directly oversee all of our projects. While we strongly encourage communities to take ownership of projects upon completion, we continually monitor our work, and we are on hand should they need advice or guidance with repairs or maintenance issues.