Harvesting rain water in small pan dams..  the initial idea behind this was the fact, due to poaching, that there were no elephants or rhinos left north of the Milgis lugga by the end of the 1980's.. Sadly the rhinos all disappeared, but the elephants have come back, thank goodness,  as we have seen they are vital for the survival of of these unique northern mountain forests, that are the water towers for the semi deserts all round.. The elephants naturally make pan dams in the flat semi desert lands in between these mountains, as they migrate backwards and forwards during the rainy seasons.. They have done for millennia.. All these big animals keep the pans 'alive'  just by drinking and bathing, rubbing themselves in the mud, which naturally makes them bigger and better... Unfortunately during the 30-40 years these huge animals had gone,  their pan dams also disappeared..  For the nomadic peoples moving in search of greener pastures, this was a disaster, as these pan dams were essential for their survival..

Additionally when the rains come, the rivers flood and destroy all the hand dug wells that communities have been relying on, during the dry season they sometimes walk huge distances to get to water. Imagine waking up after a rain storm to the little pan full of water..  Also the beginning of the rains does not necessarily signal the end of harsh times. Cold and damp conditions weaken the immune systems of livestock that have just endured the harsh dry season.

Taking this all into consideration we realised that the best way of alleviating this problem is to harvest the rainwater and build storage in the form of pan dams near their homes. The pan dams not only provide water for the pastoralists and their livestock but also for the wildlife in the area.