Across the sweeping grasslands of Kenya’s Masai Mara, conservation is often portrayed through wildlife and tourism. But the deeper story is unfolding in the hands of the Maasai communities who call this land home. As land subdivision, fencing, and outside development rise, the Mara faces an urgent threat: fragmentation.
Rooted reframes conservation through Indigenous perspectives, following the work of Maasai conservationist Eric Reson as he supports landowners to reconvene fragmented parcels into community land trusts, remove internal fencing, and keep land open for both livestock and wildlife. This isn’t just a return to tradition—it’s a radical, locally led solution to preserve identity, ecology, and future generations.
Through powerful, intimate photographs, Rooted captures the quiet strength of daily life—herders, rangers, women leaders, and the land itself—across the community lands that border and protect the heart of this iconic ecosystem.
This story invites us to listen, to learn, and to stand alongside communities who are reshaping what conservation can mean. In the courage of those keeping their land together lies a powerful truth: that the future of the Mara—and of many ecosystems like it—depends not on taking land away, but on supporting those rooted in it. These Indigenous perspectives and successes offer not only hope for the Mara, but potential insights—perhaps even a blueprint—for more just and sustainable conservation models around the world.
This collection of images are from Rooted: Land, Livestock & Legacy in the Masai Mara — a long-term visual storytelling project led by photographer Georgina Goodwin in partnership with Maasai conservationist Eric Reson. Together, they are committed to documenting how Indigenous knowledge and collective land ownership are protecting both community livelihoods and wildlife in the Masai Mara’s rapidly changing savannahs. This story offers not only a local vision—but a possible blueprint for conservation worldwide.
