Since 2010, communities, the private sector, non-profits and local governments have come together all over Kenya to establish conservancies, to serve the needs of local communities as well as wildlife. In 2010, there were... [ view full abstract ]
Since 2010, communities, the private sector, non-profits and local governments have come together all over Kenya to establish conservancies, to serve the needs of local communities as well as wildlife. In 2010, there were about 35-40 conservancies in Kenya; by 2015, the number nearly quadrupled to over 140. This rapid growth was partly spurred by the devolution of power and resources to the county level through the implementation of a new Kenyan constitution in 2013. In late 2014, we conducted a survey of 65 conservancy managers at Kenya’s first Conservancy Manager’s Meeting, hosted by the Kenya Wildlife Conservancy Association. The survey asked managers to describe why the community established their conservancy, what were community concerns about the conservancy idea, and the major successes and challenges they have encountered in the process. The 65 conservancies surveyed are spread across Kenya, with most in pastoral lands, but several in forested and coastal areas. All fell under twelve regional and one national umbrella organizations that support the work of individual conservancies. Conservancy managers described 38 reasons for establishing their conservancies. Wildlife conservation, revenue from wildlife and job creation were the major reasons for conservancy establishment. As community members established the conservancies, they were worried that the conservancy might take away their access to land and water, revenues would not be shared equitably, revenues from the conservancy would not be enough, or the conservancy would cause a loss of the pastoral way of life. The biggest successes of the conservancies included improved governance through conservancy establishment, more revenues and jobs with the conservancy and more space for wildlife. Respondents described remaining challenges as poaching, lack of funds to run the conservancy, and conflicts between people and wildlife. These results suggest that the conservancies are a major work in progress, with significant successes already, but very real challenges to sustainable and equitable implementation.
