South Rift Association of Land Owners

What South Rift Association of Land Owners does

SORALO (South Rift Association of Land Owners) is a Kenya-registered non-profit community-based conservation organization founded in 2004 and headquartered in the Karen area of Nairobi within the African Conservation Centre offices, with primary field operations at the Lale'enok Resource Centre in Magadi. The organization serves approximately 240,000 Maasai pastoralist communities living across 1.5 million hectares of communally owned rangeland in Kenya's South Rift Valley, a corridor bridging the Maasai Mara and Amboseli ecosystems that hosts one of the richest large mammal populations on Earth, including 85-125 lions, 30-40 cheetahs, and 50-55 wild dogs outside formally protected areas.

SORALO delivers its mission through five interconnected thematic programs: Rangelands (Eramatare) for restoration of degraded rangelands via Earth Smiles (semi-circular soil bunds), women-led grass seed banks, and invasive species management; Governance, which has registered three community lands covering more than 100,000 acres and nearly 30 conservancies through participatory land-use planning; Knowledge Sharing and Learning, delivered through three conservation hubs (Lale'enok, Olmesutie, Olorgesailie) including the Junior Pastoral Conservationist Programme, Evade and Avoid training, and partnerships with University of New England, Miami University Project Dragonfly, and The Sprout Experience; Inclusion and Well-Being, applying a One Health approach with health outreach, women's entrepreneurship (e.g., grass seed banks generating over Kshs. 814,800), and disability inclusion; and Coexistence, supported by community rangers who ranked 1st in Kenya and 7th in Africa in the 2024 Wildlife Ranger Challenge. Operational tools include satellite imagery monitoring, the Community-Driven Indicator Framework co-developed with EWCL, and a developing Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre at Olorgesailie in partnership with National Museums of Kenya and the Smithsonian.

The organization is funded through a diversified portfolio of donations (routed via ACC Africa US), grants from foundations and bilateral donors (IUCN/EU, WWF, National Geographic, Wildlife Conservation Society, Cartier Philanthropy, TerraFund, Lion Recovery Fund, Elephant Crisis Fund, US Fish and Wildlife Service), strategic partnerships (Cincinnati Zoo, Maliasili, EWCL, LEAD Ranger, Justdiggit, KWCA), and a nascent ecotourism revenue stream including the 3,200-acre Empaash Oloolorienito Conservancy Eco Campsite launched in 2024. SORALO functions as a facilitative organization supporting community-led processes rather than imposing external programs, and operates with 1-10 disclosed employees supplemented by field rangers, women's groups, and community-based personnel across the South Rift landscape.

Name

South Rift Association of Land Owners

Legal name

South Rift Association of Land Owners

Website

https://soralo.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SORALO is a Kenya-based non-profit conservation organization that supports approximately 240,000 Maasai pastoralist communities across 1.5 million hectares in the South Rift Valley through land tenure registration, rangeland restoration, conservation education, and human-wildlife coexistence programs funded by grants, donations, and ecotourism.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Conservation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219), Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Agricultural Services (700), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Nature, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Conservation (BPADALAE)

Keywords

• Community-based conservation
• Rangeland restoration
• Human-wildlife coexistence
• Conservation education
• Community land governance

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: SORALO operates primarily through donations from individuals and organizations supporting conservation. The organization maintains a donate page and receives contributions through ACC Africa US.
2. Grant Funding: The organization receives grant funding from various conservation-focused foundations and organizations including IUCN, European Union, and other international donors.
3. Ecotourism Revenue: Lale'enok Resource Centre generates revenue from visitors including overseas students who pay to learn about Maasai culture, land management, and conservation practices. In 2018, the centre received 161 visitors and earned significant revenues.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SORALO delivers community-based conservation programs for Maasai pastoralist communities across 1.5 million hectares of Kenya's South Rift Valley, spanning the bridge between the Maasai Mara and Amboseli ecosystems. Its core offerings include rangeland restoration, community land registration and conservancy establishment, conservation education and youth programs, inclusion and well-being initiatives for women and persons with disabilities, and human-wildlife coexistence programs. Services are delivered through three field hubs (Lale'enok Resource Centre, Olmesutie Resource Centre, and the Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre at Olorgesailie) and supplemented by ecotourism revenue.

Product overview

SORALO offers a portfolio of interconnected conservation and community development programs organized across five thematic areas: Rangelands (Eramatare) for landscape restoration, Knowledge Sharing and Learning for education, Governance for community land rights, Inclusion and Well-Being for marginalized groups, and Coexistence for human-wildlife conflict mitigation. The organization operates through two field centres (Lale'enok Resource Centre and Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre) and delivers specific initiatives including the Evade and Avoid Training, Junior Pastoral Conservationist Programme, women-led Grass Seed Banks, the Osotua Tournament, and the Empaash Oloolorienito Conservancy Eco Campsite for tourism. These programs work together to achieve SORALO's vision of a healthy South Rift landscape where communities and wildlife thrive.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rangelands (Eramatare) Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Three community lands covering more than 100,000 acres officially registered, strengthening community ownership and security
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• African Conservation Centre (ACC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACC provides office space and operational support for SORALO's Nairobi headquarters. The organizations have collaborated for over a decade in supporting Maasai communities with conservation and sustainable land management initiatives.
• Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical GardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA 20-year partnership focused on strengthening community-led conservation. CZBG provides fundraising support, technical assistance, and facilitates volunteer groups and board members who visit SORALO programs. The partnership has been documented in academic papers as a model for zoo-community conservation collaborations.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSORALO works with IUCN Save Our Species (SOS) program and received European Union funding through IUCN for carnivore conservation work, specifically supporting communities to coexist with lions, cheetah, and wild dogs.
• MaliasilicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCapacity development partner that supported SORALO in redefining strategy (2018), clarifying organizational structure, and rebranding. Maliasili continues to facilitate strategic planning workshops for organizational development.
• Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKWCA participates in conservancy development discussions with SORALO, emphasizing the need for comprehensive Management Plans to guide sustainable tourism and conservation development.
• JustdiggitmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrassroots organization working to re-green African landscapes. Jointly supports the women-led grass seedbank restoration project with SORALO, contributing to rangeland restoration efforts.
• Big Life FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization working on conservation in the region.
• Great Plains FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupports conservation and wildlife initiatives.
• Bush and BeyondminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConservation partner organization.
• McGill UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research collaboration and student engagement.
• Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnects conservation leaders worldwide for training and real-world projects. EWCL partnered with SORALO to deliver a workshop on human-wildlife coexistence, bringing 38 community members together to define coexistence indicators. Teams are also developing data-driven dashboards for community-driven monitoring.
• LEAD RangermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFacilitates ranger training programs including refresher courses at Rukinga in Tsavo landscape, providing specialized bush survival and conservation skills training.
• University of New EnglandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSends students to Lale'enok Resource Centre for conservation education and field-based learning experiences.
• The Sprout ExperienceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner that sends students for conservation learning experiences at SORALO field centres.
• Earth ExpeditionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational program bringing students to Lale'enok Resource Centre for field-based conservation education.
• Miami University Project DragonflyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic program that sends graduate students to SORALO for field experiences and conservation learning.
• Smithsonian InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssisted in creating documentation for the Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre project at Olorgesailie.
• National Museums of KenyamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the developing Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre located next to the prehistoric site at Olorgesailie within the SORALO landscape.
• ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership supporting livestock development and pastoralist livelihood programs.
• Sustain East AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreparing the upcoming 'State of Conservation' report examining changes, threats, and opportunities in the South Rift landscape including rangelands, water, forests, wildlife, and people.
• Glenstal Abbey SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner engaged with SORALO programs.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office: Global conservation union that channels EU and Save Our Species funding to SORALO. Functions simultaneously as a key institutional partner and as a broader incumbent setting conservation standards and program agendas across the same region.
• African Wildlife Foundation: Pan-African conservation NGO with a long-standing Africa-wide footprint including community conservancies, land-use planning and wildlife coexistence programs. Larger, broader portfolio than SORALO but operates in overlapping geographies and program models.
• Conservation International: Global conservation NGO with significant East Africa community-conservation and ecosystem-service programs. Larger, more diversified portfolio than SORALO; comparable at the level of community-based conservation, capacity building and biodiversity finance.

Direct peers

• Northern Rangelands Trust: Kenya-based community conservancy organization supporting community-led conservation across northern Kenya rangelands. Directly comparable to SORALO in community-first governance, conservancy establishment, rangeland management and human-wildlife coexistence across pastoralist landscapes.
• Grevy's Zebra Trust: Kenya-based community-based wildlife conservation NGO that works with pastoralist communities to protect Grevy's zebra and other species. Directly comparable to SORALO in using community rangeland stewardship and livelihoods to deliver species conservation.
• Save the Elephants: Kenya-based research and conservation NGO focused on elephant protection and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. Overlaps with SORALO on coexistence work, satellite monitoring and community engagement in the same East African ecosystems.
• Big Life Foundation: Kenya-Tanzania community-based predator and wildlife conservation organization with ranger operations, community compensation schemes, and coexistence programming. Direct peer to SORALO on Kenya predator conservation and is an existing SORALO partner.

Emerging players

• Justdiggit: African rangeland and landscape restoration organization active in Kenya and Tanzania. Co-implements the SORALO women-led grass seed bank program with TerraFund and operates adjacent landscape-restoration models relevant to SORALO's Eramatare rangelands program.

Others

• Maliasili: Africa-focused capacity development and strategy advisor for community-centered conservation and natural resource organizations. Existing SORALO partner; operates as an enabler rather than competitor, but highly comparable in mission and operating model.
• Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association: National umbrella body for community and private conservancies in Kenya. An existing SORALO partner (KWCA); not a direct competitor, but the sectoral association that SORALO participates in and is benchmarked against for conservancy governance models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SORALOorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=61562044841312
• Instagraminstagram.com/rebuilding_the_pride
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/south-rift-association-of-land-owners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about South Rift Association of Land Owners