Committed to protecting and conserving the natural environment whilst promoting responsible tourism practices, Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp has been awarded a Silver Eco-rating certificate.
The certificate, awarded by Ecotourism Kenya, recognizes best practices in environmental conservation, responsible resource use and socio-economic investment among tourism accommodation facilities. Qualified applicants are awarded with a Bronze, Silver or Gold
eco-rating certification based on their performance.
The certificate was issued following a site visit which assessed the camp’s performance in nature conservation, environmental management, community development, education and awareness and environmental health and safety. This included inspection of key departments, including the kitchen, laundry, guest rooms, and staff quarters alongside interviewing hotel personnel and guests.
Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp is the latest property in the Serena portfolio to be awarded with the Silver Eco rating Certificate. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge, Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge and Serena Beach Hotel and Spa have all been rewarded with a Silver rating for their marked environmental efforts.
Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp which is situated in the Soysambu Conservancy and overlooks the shores of Lake Elmenteita, a soda lake in the Great Rift Valley, located between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru.
Lord Delamere established Soysambu ranch in 1897; A great adventurer, Delamere arrived in Kenya on foot after a 1000 mile walk from Somalia. He was the third Baron Delamere, and dedicated his foresight and fortune to pioneering farming methods in the Rift Valley, before passing away in 1913. Soysambu remains a working cattle ranch and the fifth Baron, today’s Lord Delamere, still lives on Soysambu, with some of the best Boran cattle in Kenya.
Declared a RAMSAR site (wetland of international importance) in 2005, Lake Elmenteita is home to over 450 species of bird including the rare Jackson’s Widow and the Grey – Crested Helmet – Shrike while the lake is the last breeding place in East Africa for the Great White Pelican.
In 2008, part of the ranch was transformed into a 48,000 acre exclusive conservancy, covering the north, west and part of the southern shores of Lake Elmenteita. Sharing a boundary with the famous Lake Nakuru National Park, Soysambu plays a major role in the Elmenteita-Nakuru Eco system, protecting over 50 mammal species including leopard and caracal and is home to 10% of the world’s entire population of the endangered Rotschild giraffe.
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the great lakes, Lake Elmenteita and the surrounding environs are a place of natural importance, providing an important and significant natural habitat for biological diversity.
With 25 tents, Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp has initiated a re-afforestation program involving the local community, charities and primary schools, including Kiboko Primary School, Echariria Primary School, Kasambara Youth Group, Soysambu Conservancy, Lions Club International and Elmenteita Serena Staff. So far, the initiative has planted over 1000 indigenous tree seedlings provided by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). In addition, the camp sponsors a routine monthly litter collection exercise along the busy Nakuru-Naivasha highway.
With 30% of the staff trained in first aid and about 80% having acquired firefighting skills the camp has a health and safety committee, which meets once a month, and undertakes quarterly risk analysis at the work place to spearhead health and safety issues at the facility. The camp has subscribed to SGS (SociétéGénérale de Surveillance), the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and a certification Company audits for its food safety and hygiene.
Enhancing support of the local communities Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp buys vegetables and fish from a local group, the Majimoto Youth Group, and supports the group by sending visitors to a spring managed by the group at a cost of Ksh.500 per person, payable to the youth group. All unskilled and semi-skilled labor is sourced from the neighboring Kasambara and Mbaruk villages. The camp promotes a community health education program for HIV awareness, a program managed by the resident nurse in Mbaruk Village. The camp also has a staff welfare committee established to cater for the employee’s needs, they are provided with free medical care, accommodation, food, uniform and transport.
Congratulations to the team at the Lake Elmenteita Serena Camp on this achieving this wonderful accolade.
