KWCA mission for the next seven years is to accelerate the growth of effectively managed conservancies to positively impact local communities and wildlife.
By 2030 KWCA aims to;
- Strengthen the capacity for landscape associations
- Advance enabling policies to incentive conservancies’ growth
- Deliver sustainable benefits to communities through effective, inclusive and resilient conservancies
- Secure durable financing for locally led conservation
- Strengthen the association to lead a vibrant conservancy network
Read more to learn about our 2030 plans.
Over 10 years ago, KWCA became an independent national association for conservancies focused on positioning the conservancy model as a holistic strategy that not only delivers impact beyond conservation but as a community institution that promotes good governance at the local levels, strengthening land and resource rights and as a tested strategy for better land management.
Since then, we have witnessed how our impact has helped to entrench conservancies in wildlife policies, laws and government conservation plans; strengthened the conservancy rangers network, championed youth and women inclusion in conservancies; increased conservancy membership and partnerships and scaling up our efforts in community led conservation.
Join us in celebrating our 10 years journey by reading our KWCA @10 impact report.
KWCA wishes to inform on the withdrawal of the Guide to Carbon Projects for Conservancies from our Website and other social media platforms. We are re-editing the Guide, following feedback received on Guide, which we appreciate and are reviewing. We shall be sharing a re-edited version soonest.
KWCA Youth Engagement Strategy has been developed in consultations with youths drawn from select conservancies to ensure inclusive practices are mainstreamed in conservancies. The strategy highlights guiding principles for youth engagement and focuses on four strategic approaches for youth engagement in conservancies; Youth Leadership, Knowledge Building and Awareness, Economic Empowerment, and Institutional Strengthening.
The Annual Report highlights our 2023 achievements and lessons learnt. Read to learn the progress we made in our work in 2o23.
Ending Gender Based Violence in Conservancies guide has been developed for managers, leaders and staff of conservancies including conservancy stakeholders to learn about GBV; what it is, how it manifests in conservancies, why conservancies should address it and actions to take to address GBV in conservancies.
KWCA is driven by the desire for men and women to contribute meaningfully and benefit equitably from wildlife conservancies in Kenya. When women are fully engaged in conservancy activities and decision-making, with and alongside men, conservancies thrive.
These guidelines have been prepared for the staff, managers, and leaders of community conservancies and landscape conservancy associations, although their contents will be relevant more widely. While the focus is on community conservancies, the guidelines are relevant and applicable to all types of conservancies, landscape conservancy associations and any other conservation or natural resource base initiatives led by or working with communities.
KWCA has developed the FREE PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT (FPIC) guide to promote community safeguards for the benefit of the people and nature. This guide is designed to inform conservancy members and conservancy stakeholders on what FPIC is all about and how to apply FPIC when developments and investments are occurring in community lands and conservancies.
KWCA recognizes and respects the right by communities as the primary stewards of land and natural resources, thereby their inherent right to self-determination. KWCA is committed to the principles that safeguard and promote human rights-based approaches to conservation.
The Youth Engagement in Wildlife Conservancies Strategy provides a framework to guide the entire conservancy network on its work with and for youth, strengthens the network to engage young people and benefit from their insights, energy and resourcefulness, and ensures that the work of the conservancy network on youth issues is carried out in a coordinated and holistic manner.
Conducting an Effective AGM guide has been developed for AGM planners and participants of group and community conservancies to ensure AGMs are effective platforms to attain informed consent, decision-making and clarity in how the conservancy is accountable and transparent to its members and partners, ultimately strengthening conservancy governance and management structures.
An AGM is the top decision-making organ of community and group conservancies and is an annual opportunity to update conservancy members and seek their approval on important decisions that will determine the future of the conservancy
This factsheet answers some of the most frequently asked questions on the management of community land under the Community Land Management Act 2016. It shares information on the formation of community management land committees, their functions and duties, the Do’s and Don’ts, the role of county governments, and how to settle disputes related to community land.
The Natural Resources (Benefit Sharing) Bill was first introduced in Senate in 2014, re-published in 2018 and 2020. KWCA, on behalf of its member conservancies, developed and submitted a memorandum in December 2022.
This factsheet highlights content of the bill, the issues, what's at stake and what needs to be done.
KWCA in partnership with African Nature-Based Tourism platform collaborated on this survey to assess the degree in which Kenyan conservancies were impacted by COVID-19 and to better understand their involvement in conservation and tourism, how the COVID-19 pandemic affected them, and what their resulting needs were.
This Rangers Code of Conduct was developed by the International Ranger Federation following global, iterative consultation process with rangers, ranger associations, ranger employers, national and regional government bodies, human rights organisations and other relevant stakeholders, to guide behaviour, professionalise the ranger workforce and maintain high standards of practice and ethics. The document provides a common definition for a ranger and working templates for ranger values and codes of conduct.
The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife launched the Tourism and Travel Health and Safety Protocols on 1st July 2020 to provide guidance for the tourism sector's proper reopening once it is safe to do so.
KWCA participated in the drafting of the protocols as a member of the National Tourism and Hospitality Protocols Taskforce to provide conservancy related guidelines. The protocols go along way in building confidence of the market in kenya's tourism brand.
The protocols have been endorsed by the World Tourism and Travel Council and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation
The Baringo County Conservancies Profile Report demonstrates the current status of community conservancies in Baringo and highlights significant gaps and opportunities to develop the conservancy movement through which ecosystems services will be enhanced and local livelihoods supported.
In our first phase ( 2015-2018), we demonstrated the importance of growing as a network, providing a united voice and raising the national and international profile of conservancies in Kenya’s wildlife industry. We were able to establish the first national state of conservancies report including Kenya’s conservancies map. In our second journey (2019-2023), we realise more is expected from us this time round.
While our ultimate goal remains the same – to help wildlife conservancies in Kenya thrive – our approach and our role in doing that has shifted. Most critically is that KWCA sees our role as that of a ‘catalyst’ in the conservancy movement, helping to create an enabling environment that will allow conservancies and those working with them grow stronger and more effective
From the plan you’ll learn more about our ambitious goals
The National Wildlife Conservation Status Report gives the status of all National Parks and Reserves; Conservancies and Sanctuaries; community wildlife scouts in Conservancies; Management Plans; all listed species in Schedule 6 and 7 and their recovery status. Focus is given to the conservation status of endangered listed species, their habitats and factors that influence their population trends.
The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (WCMA, 2013) Part Vi- Conservation, Protection And Management, section 49 (4) requires the Cabinet Secretary to report biannually to the National Assembly through the National Wildlife Conservation Status Report the status of the efforts to develop and implement recovery plans for all nationally listed species and the status of all species for which such plans have been developed.
Section 87 sub section (b) of the WCMA, 2013 states; “The Service shall maintain registers of- National Parks, National Reserves, Wildlife Conservancies and Sanctuaries established under this Act and management thereof”. In section (c) it notes that; “The Service shall maintain registers of all community scouts involved in the Conservation and management of wildlife”. In section (d) it notes- “The Service will maintain registers of- all management plans developed pursuant to the provisions of this Act”.
World Bank has published a report, When Good Conservation becomes Good Economics: Kenya’s Vanishing Herds. The report determines the contribution of wildlife in the economy mainly through tourism; investigates the primary factors driving the rapid decline in wildlife and recommends win-win policies that simultaneously deliver on development and conservation. In addition, it closely examines the role of wildlife conservancies and recommends ways of leveraging these to address the issue of declining wildlife while generating economic activity.
The Cabinet Secretary Tourism and Wildlife Hon. Najib Balala has appointed members of the Community Wildlife Conservation Committees (CWCC) in all 47 counties as per gazette notice Vol. No CXX- No.105.
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 18 of 2018, introduced CWCC as an amendment to the County Wildlife Conservation and Compensation Committee (CWCCC)
On 27th and 28th March 2019 KWCA held its 4th Annual Conservancy Leaders Conference at Multimedia University Conference Centre Nairobi. The conference attended by 121 community and private conservancies leaders from 27 Counties was officially opened by Dr John Waithaka, Chairperson KWS Board of Trustees.
The conference involved engaging presentations by KWCA members and partners, panel discussions during the plenary sessions, as well as thought-provoking group sessions on salient conservancy development issues.
Under the theme ‘Delivering Innovative and Inclusive Solutions for People and Wildlife’, the participants at the conference deliberated on the following;
1. KWCA’s Progress since its inception;
2. KWS role in the establishment and management of conservancies and as a strategic and supportive partner of KWCA;
3. New Laws and policies that impact on conservancies;
4. Achievements and current challenges in the governance and management of conservancies;
5. KWCA’s value to regions and conservancies through a SWOT analysis provided by conservancy representatives to feed into KWCA’s next strategic plan.
The full report is accessible on the link below.
KWCA’s commitment to gender integration is designed in an incremental and phased manner cognisant of the cultural, conservation and biodiversity dynamics. As such it is outlined work towards institutionalising gender mainstreaming in all KWCA’s organisational arrangement, governance and operational processes.
This gender strategy articulates and institutionalises gender mainstreaming within KWCA its Regional Associations and conservancy members.
The strategy anchored on three mutually reinforcing and interconnected objectives that address gender issues identified within conservancies. These are:
- To enhance KWCA’s capacity for gender mainstreaming in its programs and activities
- To promote women’s representation and participation in conservancy governance and management
- To strengthen equitable access to conservation economic benefits (both assets and incomes).
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 18 of 2018, passed on 31st December 2018 and effective 4th January 2019 substantially amends the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013, focusing on;
- Institutional structures & functions changes;
- New offences and penalties on wildlife crimes
The National Wildlife Strategy 2030 is a roadmap for transforming wildlife conservation in Kenya. It is aligned to Kenya's Vision 2030 and the Government's Big Four Agenda. It identifies a clear set of five (5) year priority goals and strategies around four key pillars: Resilient Ecosystems; Engagement by all Kenyans, Evidence Based Decision Making and Sustainability and Governance. In Addition to these targets, the strategy establishes an implementation framework to enhance communication, coordination and collaboration to inspire engagement and participation, and catalyse conservation actions with all stakeholders.
The 3rd Annual Conservancy Leaders Conference was held on 27th February 2018 and brought together over 100 conservancy leaders drawn from 28 counties to share experiences and lessons from the growing conservancy network and discuss opportunities and challenges regarding the growth of conservancies in Kenya. This report summarises the proceedings of the conference with speeches by the guests and key note speaker; the working group sessions; plenary sessions and a picture gallery. The report also includes a list of participants.
This report provides a comprehensive synthesis of the wildlife dispersal areas and migratory corridors in Kenya’s rangeland and coastal terrestrial ecosystems. It explicitly identifies and maps wildlife habitat connectivity and associated conservation issues and concerns. It also suggests salient recommendations on strategies for securing the dispersal areas and migratory corridors within the specific context of different regions and landscapes.
Kenya’s wildlife is the envy of the world and a key economic asset for the country and the
region. Wildlife is an important driver of economic development and provides irreplaceable cultural and social value to the people of Kenya. For example, the highest returns from wildlife based tourism and photography was in 2011 and it contributed $1.16 billion to national revenue, translating to about 13.7 % of the gross domestic product and generating more than 10% of national formal sector employment.
This summary shares key highlights about Kenya’s wildlife conservancies today. It is based on the 2016
status report, which was prepared by Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA) as part of the
implementation of the USAID-Kenya funded Community Conservancy Policy Support program (CCSP)
implemented by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and KWCA.
Since the emergence of the first conservancies in the 1970s, conservancies have grown in number and their institutional complexity broadened beyond wildlife conservation and tourism to include peace and security, livestock management, land and natural resources management. More recently conservancies are demonstrating impacts as a platform for securing rural community livelihoods, developing social infrastructure, promoting peaceful co-existence and building community resilience to environmental shocks.
Conservancies are Kenya’s response to the challenges of poaching, human-wildlife conflict, land degradation and rising poverty. They are based on the premise that given the necessary support, incentives and policy framework, communities and Land-owners can be the stewards of wildlife conservation working together with Count and National Government to protect and benefit from a healthy and productive environment. Since the first few Conservancies began in the 1990s their scope and institutional complexity has grown far beyond just wildlife conservation and tourism to include peace and conflict resolution, land management, income generation, employment, community cohesion and community-led development.