Sustaining indigenous Maasai Alalili silvo-pastoral conservation systems for improved community livelihood and biodiversity conservation in East African rangelands

490±139 ha while that of private Alalili was 215±44 ha. In contrast to other land use categories, NCA comprised of communal Alalili systems only with a mean area of 480±167 ha (Fig 5). 3.2.3 Overall area coverage of Alalili systems across land use and sizes. Alalili systems in the GCA had the highest proportion area covering 73% of the total Alalili area and it was only 4.5% of the entire area shielded by GCA (1,850,000 ha). NCA had a total Alalili area whose proportion was 10%, approximated to only 1.4% of the entire area covered by NCA (809,440 ha). Alalili systems in WMA had a total area coverage whose proportion was 9% which was approximated to only 1.6% of the entire area covered by WMA (643,544 ha). The open areas on the other hand had a total Alalili area coverage whose proportion was 8% being approximated to only 1.1% of the general area covered by studied village lands (785,000 ha). In the GCA, about 81.8%, 10%, and 8.2% of its total Alalili area were covered by large, small, and medium-sized Alalili systems respectively. Likewise, in the NCA, about 44.2%, 34.0%, and 21.8% of its total Alalili area were covered by large, small, and medium-sized Alalili systems respectively. In the WMA, about 74.1% and 25.9% of its total Alalili area were covered by large and small-sized Alalili respectively while medium-sized Alalili systems were not identified. In the open areas, about 41.7%, 29.3%, and 29.0% of its total Alalili area were covered by small, large, and medium-sized Alalili systems respectively (Table 1).

3.2.4 Area coverage of communal Alalili systems across land use and size. Communal Alalili systems in GCA had the highest area covering 73% of the total communal Alalili area. NCA was the second land use having communal Alalili systems with an area covering 11% of the total communal Alalili area. Communal Alalili systems in WMA covered an area equiva- lent to 9% of the total communal Alalili area while Alalili systems in the open areas covered an area equivalent to 7% of the total communal Alalili area (Table 1). Considering the area of communal Alalili systems across sizes within land uses, it was found that in GCA, about 81.6%, 10.0%, and 8.4% of its total communal Alalili area were covered by large, small, and medium-sized Alalili respectively. In NCA, about 44.2%, 34.0%, and 21.8% of its total commu- nal Alalili area were covered by large, small, and medium-sized Alalili respectively. In the WMA on the other hand, about 74.6% and 25.4% of its total communal Alalili area were Fig 5. The variation in sizes of Alalili types within the surveyed land use categories (the a, b, c; depicts mean areas that are significantly different (p < 0.05)). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303649.g005 PLOS ONE Sustaining Alalili systems in rangelands of East Africa PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303649 May 16, 2024 11 / 24