Conservation of wildlife for the benefit of local communities: Involving communities in anti-poaching and conservation

Big life Foundation (BLF), which merged with the Maasailand Preservation Trust in 2012, uses a community-based collaborative approach to conserve and protect wildlife in East Africa. Working across over 2 million acres in the... [ view full abstract ]

Big life Foundation (BLF), which merged with the Maasailand Preservation Trust in 2012, uses a community-based collaborative approach to conserve and protect wildlife in East Africa. Working across over 2 million acres in the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem in southern Kenya, BLF projects are based on the philosophy that “conservation supports the people and people support conservation.” The region is predominantly occupied by Maasai pastoralists. However, there is an increasing level of agriculture resulting in blockage of wildlife migratory corridors and a high level of human-wildlife conflicts. In collaboration with other partners. BLF engages local communities in conservation and anti-poaching using various strategies linked to effective law enforcement networks. This presentation will describe BLF’s major projects, including the Predator Compensation Fund and the Community Rangers Program. Big Life was the first organization in East Africa with co-ordinated anti-poaching teams across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The Rangers Program provides general security, anti-poaching and rapid response units for wildlife security operations. As a result of collaborative anti-poaching strategies and involvement of the local communities, poaching in the landscape has decreased significantly. Between 2013 and 2014 the Kenyan side recorded a 54% decrease; while there has been no known elephant poaching on the Tanzania side. This success is attributed to the joint cross-border anti-poaching collaborations and increased network of wildlife security agents.