Regarding state-led conservationism in colonial Kenya- see David
Throup's chapter on the 1940s resistance to communal terracing in
Murang'a, found in *Economic and Social Origins of Mau Mau*. Throup
relies exclusively on government archives, but his discussion of the
women's "revolt" against the colonial terracing program is quite
useful. Jean Davison's *Voices from Mutira* includes several life
histories of Gikuyu women; there may be some mention of the incidents
about which you inquire.