Stories

Field dispatches from Kenya’s heritage frontlines

Every story here comes from a visit, a forum or a walk with custodians. Coverage by African Heritage News, an arm of Discussion Publishers.

A custodian seated beside a wall painted with the words Porini Sanctuary and 'our lands are sacred'

FieldworkPorini

Inside Porini Sanctuary: the land people still call sacred

18 Aug 2026 · Porini Sanctuary, Murangai, Nanyuki

Utu Heritage travelled to Porini Sanctuary in Murangai, Nanyuki, where a hand-painted wall states the case plainly: our lands are sacred. Behind that sentence is a landscape under quiet siege.

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A dry, stony riverbed where the seasonal Murangai River once flowed

Aug

2026

Climate actionWater justice

The river that stopped coming back: Murangai River and the flower farms

Murangai River, Nanyuki

Utu Heritage delegation members in conversation on a hillside at Porini

Aug

2026

Indigenous knowledgeYouth

Elders, researchers and youth read one landscape at Porini

Porini Sanctuary, Nanyuki

Yaaku community members seated on the ground under acacia trees during a community forum

Aug

2026

Minority rightsMukogodo

Meeting the Yaaku of Mukogodo Forest, a people the map forgot

Sieku, Dol Dol, Mukogodo Forest, Laikipia

A Yaaku elder seated on the ground, one of the remaining speakers of Yaakunte

Aug

2026

Language revivalYaakunte

Yaakunte: bringing a language back from the edge of silence

Dol Dol, Laikipia

Yaaku community members discussing forest and land pressures at Dol Dol

Aug

2026

Land rightsBeekeeping

Bees, forest and title deeds: the fight for Mukogodo

Mukogodo Forest, Laikipia

Juliana in a cowrie-shell headband and traditional hide dress speaking into a microphone at Dol Dol

Aug

2026

VoicesCulture

Juliana takes the microphone at Dol Dol

Sieku, Dol Dol, Laikipia

Al-Amin Kimathi inspecting lemons on a netted orchard at Timau River Lodge

Aug

2026

LatestUtu Kilimo

Utu Kilimo Initiative launches at Timau River Lodge

Timau River Lodge, Meru

Utu Heritage members seated around a boardroom table during the Utu na Mazingira launch session

Aug

2026

LatestUtu na Mazingira

Utu na Mazingira: the initiative that puts humanity back into the environment

Utu Heritage grounds, Laikipia