Community led since 2001
Mobilising for Sustainability.
Every seedling we plant is a promise kept to a neighbour. We walk with families, elders and young people as they heal their land, grow their livelihoods and carry forward the wisdom that has always held communities together.
The continuum
From a community resource centre to a foundation for regenerative futures.
The Mary Munei Community Resource Centre (MCRC) was co-founded in 2001 by renowned educationist and environmentalist Alice Barasa Nabwera, together with tree planting enthusiast and environmental steward Francis Wanaswa. It was inspired by the desire to collaborate with local communities against wanton deforestation, environmental degradation and rural poverty.
Mary Munei Foundation is the natural progression of that work — the same grassroots authenticity, a broader mandate: regenerating landscapes and uplifting communities across Kenya and beyond. It is named in honour of Mary Munei, whose values of care and stewardship shaped generations.
Mary Munei Community Resource Centre
Inaugurated 2001
Mary Munei Foundation
Two decades on, expanded scope
Projects
Work on the ground, led by communities.
Three initiatives, one commitment: restoring landscapes and uplifting livelihoods across Kenya.
Featured project
Mkelekeleni Ridge Regenerative Project
Kwale County
110 acres of restored landscape in Kwale County, where indigenous trees, wetlands, apiculture and community collaboration are turning degraded farmland into a living ecosystem.
Explore the project →
Legacy project
Bungoma Primary Schools Environment Project
Bungoma County
A district wide school tree planting and environmental education programme, 2005–2010, planting 5,000 seedlings in each school and reaching nearly 300,000 children.
Explore the project →
Proposed project
Mount Elgon Ecosystem Restoration Initiative
Bungoma County
A proposed community anchored landscape restoration initiative for Mount Elgon, focused on water security, biodiversity, nature based livelihoods and local stewardship.
Explore the project →Priorities
Regeneration that is ecological, social and cultural.
Landscape Restoration
Tree planting, riverbank rehabilitation, soil recovery and biodiversity protection across the Mt Elgon area and the Lake Victoria catchment.
Cultural Stewardship
Integrating ancestral knowledge, taboos and rituals that safeguarded ecosystems long before conservation had a name.
Regenerative Agriculture
Demonstrative farming, agribusiness, water conservation and climate resilience built with — not for — local farmers.
Partnership Building
Working with local leaders, government agencies, academia and global allies to widen what one community started.
The Resource Centre
Two decades of grassroots trust.
We have been working shoulder to shoulder with local communities, private institutions, governmental agencies and individuals — from the Mt Elgon biodiversity area to a large portion of the Lake Victoria catchment.
- —Tree planting to benefit the environment
- —Conserving the Mt Elgon biodiversity area
- —Demonstrative farming and agribusiness projects
- —Education for needy students
Schools and communities at the centre
To build a sustainable culture of conservation, environmental education must sit on school curricula and be complemented with practical projects that reach the wider community. Our district wide school tree planting project supplied free seedlings and field support to schools while opening the same practical learning to community groups, delivered in close partnership with the government forestry department.
Self funded, now poised for partnership
For many years our activities have been funded from revenue generated by our own projects — beekeeping, dairy, poultry and greenhouse enterprises — supplemented by the founders' personal contributions in finances, time and resources in kind. This kept the work rooted, resilient and independent. Today we are poised to deepen partnerships and collaboration with like minded institutions, agencies and individuals who share our vision.
Give
Your gift becomes roots in the ground.
Every contribution is spent where it is raised — in nurseries, on riverbanks and in the hands of the farmers and young people doing the work. Choose the way of giving that suits you best.
M-Pesa gifts are processed instantly and you are taken straight to your receipt. PayPal and card gifts are still confirmed by hand while processing is set up — write to info@marymuneifoundation.org for those details.
Given before? View your giving history and receipts.
Ways to give
Forests, opportunities, resilient communities.
We welcome mentors, collaborators, partners and supporters to strengthen governance, expand reach and invest in long term resilience.
Start a conversation