Collaboration key to resolving human-wildlife conflicts

President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua carried a pole during the commissioning of the Lariak Forest Wildlife electric fence in Laikipia County. [PCS]

Kenya is renowned worldwide for its natural beauty. Boasting stunning vistas teeming with tens of thousands of wildlife species and rich biodiversity.

Alongside bustling cityscapes, it is among a handful of countries classified as 'mega-biodiverse' and harbours the world's only national park within its capital city, Nairobi.

However, these accolades belie a precarious balance between the seemingly competing forces of socio-economic development and environmental conservation.

The exponential population growth has led to a proportional jump in resource consumption, pitting communities in escalating competition against wildlife. Expanding settlements are encroaching into natural habitats, migration corridors, and dispersal areas. Further encroachment is necessitated, to provide for increasing infrastructural, agricultural, and industrial needs.

A recent study on Kenya's rangelands perfectly encapsulates this dilemma - in 50 years the population of sheep and goats rose by 76 per cent, apace with the quintupled number of residents. Considered alongside exacerbating factors like climate change, poverty and, ironically, successful repopulation of species like elephants, hippos, lions among others, it has increased human-wildlife conflicts, posing big challenge for conservation.

These attacks are particularly common in or around protected areas or wildlife corridors, perpetrated mostly by elephants or other animals such as buffaloes, primates, hyenas, leopards, hippos and lions. This leads to loss of livelihoods, damage to property, physical injuries and even loss of land.

Further escalation of human-wildlife conflicts poses grave challenges, particularly to the most vulnerable communities. An estimated 2,150 wild animals were killed between 2005 and 2016 in Kenya. Thus, addressing human-wildlife conflict is a key priority. Though impossible to wholly eliminate, effectively integrated and well-informed methods can facilitate peaceful coexistence between society and conservation outside protected areas. It however needs the contribution of a variety of actors.

The government has been spearheading these efforts, recently launching the Human-Wildlife Coexistence Strategy and Action Plan 2024 - 2033. The strategy is a collaborative, multi-sectoral initiative to manage and mitigate these conflicts and their resulting impacts on the economy, communities, and the environment.

Developed by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), it aims to increase space and connectivity for protected areas and to recognise wildlife conservation as a land use option through appropriate policy. It will also increase funding for prevention, response and compensation while reframing community perspectives to view nature as an advantage. The State Department of Wildlife has already rolled out a pilot compensation insurance scheme in six counties with the highest cases of human-wildlife conflict.

All this unlocks more opportunities and benefits for biodiversity. It lays the groundwork for sustainable economic development in Kenya by directing funding towards long-term conservation solutions.

The writer is a director at The Nature Conservancy