Internship description:
The Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem (GMME) is one of the world’s famous reserve with an exceptional natural value. Threats to the GMME are increasing due to many causes, among which deforestation, declining Mara River flow, charcoal burning, human-wildlife conflict, agriculture land use, unplanned settlements and urbanization, unsustainable livestock grazing, and climate change effects. In particular, the most frequent human wildlife conflicts (HWCs) include livestock predation, disease transmission between herbivores and livestock, crop raiding, human injury or even loss of life (Leposo et al. 2023, Chepkwony and Lyakurwa 2025).
In this internship, we aim at providing a comprehensive understanding of some critical zones of the GMME for revisiting recommendations to mitigate HWC. Whereas past studies focused on some management strategies (Mukeka et al. 2019, Leposo et al. 2023) considered separately, we aim here at combining them into a coherent system modeled with a new kind of integrated modelling framework (Gaucherel and Pommereau 2019). We will model the social-ecological system of some target zones of GMME as a basis for a rich analysis of existing and future trajectories of system. According to the management plans, mitigation strategies of HWC in GMME/MMNR is already characterized by a combination of regulatory, community-based and technical interventions, among which we can find: wildlife Conservancies, fencing strategies, compensation schemes, community education and participatory governance (Chepkwony and Lyakurwa 2025).
Yet, these strategies are envisioned separately, without taking into account for their probable synergies, trade-offs and antagonisms. Some models have been developed for understanding social-ecosystems and for managing HWCs all around the world, although the modelling approach remains rare in this context (Mukeka et al. 2019). We propose here to model the GMME with qualitative modelling in a possibilist framework, for its intuitive and flexible ability to grasp social-ecological system functioning (Cosme et al. 2024). It helps anticipating the possible pathways of the focused system and tackling a range of related issues.
Allowance and conditions:
Practically, the work will consist in a combination of literature survey, of modeling tasks (a prototype of the code is already available), and of interpretations in environmental management. We look for an ecologist (environmental sciences) also mastering mathematics and/or computer sciences. The internship will be done in the AMAP laboratory, Montpellier, with the traditional Master allowance. If we are lucky to get a submitted project, the internship may be combined to a field trip in the MM reserve. Supervisor (to be contacted for applying): Cédric Gaucherel, cedric.gaucherel@inrae.fr
References
Chepkwony, M. C., and G. J. S. Lyakurwa, E. 2025. Human–Wildlife Conflicts, Household Livelihood Security, and Conservation Support Among Residents Adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Wild 2:1-21.
Cosme, M., A. Koné, F. Pommereau, and C. Gaucherel. 2024. Improving livelihood through crop-livestock integration: Insights from a farm trajectory model. Agricultural Systems 219
Gaucherel, C., and F. Pommereau. 2019. Using discrete systems to exhaustively characterize the dynamics of an integrated ecosystem. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 00:1–13.
Leposo, S., D. Sopia, E. Reson, L. Mbelati, A. Mwaura, D. R. Chepkwony, S. Ndambuki, P. Maina, D. Kaelo, D. I. Amoke, J. Senteu, and W. Sairowua. 2023. Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem Management Plan, 2023-32. The County Government of Narok, Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association, Kenya Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Nairobu, Kenya.
Mukeka, J. M., J. O. Ogutu, E. Kanga, and E. Røskaft. 2019. Human-wildlife conflicts and their correlates in Narok County, Kenya. Global Ecology and Conservation 18
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