Finding space for wildlife beyond national parks and reducing conflict through community-based conservation: The Kenya experience

Abstract

Protected area coverage has expanded rapidly in the last few decades and is set to span 17 per cent of the world’s terrestrial area by 2020. Despite the conservation gains, biodiversity is declining and human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is increasing, especially in Africa. Recognizing that vertebrates require far more space than the protected areas cover and that most biodiversity resides in human-modified landscapes, conservation efforts are turning to rural landscapes. Biodiversity conservation in rural lands hinges on landowners accommodating wildlife, and resolving HWC that undermines their willingness to conserve. We look at policies and practices embedded in community-based conservation in Kenya that address HWC through devolved rights and responsibilities for wildlife management dating from the 1970s, drawing on lessons from traditional practices rooted in coexistence.