[Source: Daily Nation, by Lucy Mkanyika]
Conservation efforts in Taita- Taveta County will receive a major boost after the government announced that it has set aside Sh1 billion for sustainable management of natural resources in 160 community conservancies countrywide.
More than 28 ranches that recently transformed themselves into conservancies will get a share of the grants announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta last week.
The conservancies, which occupy more than 950,000 acres of rangeland, came together in order to reap maximum benefits from the Tsavo ecosystem, which is home to thousands of wild animals.
The Taita-Taveta Wildlife Conservancies Association (TTWCA) said it has sent proposals to the government on some of the projects it would wish to be funded through the grants.
TTWCA Chairperson Mcharo Bong’osa said the projects relate to the formation of management plans for the ranches, the employment of wildlife scouts, and capacity building for the conservancy members.
Mr Bong’osa said they expect to get a share of the funds, not just to champion the development of the conservancies, but the related economic activities among the members.
He revealed that some projects had stalled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, saying that donors had stopped funding some, thus affecting their conservation efforts.
Mr Bong’osa said they had positioned themselves to reap from wildlife tourism to lift thousands of residents out of poverty.
He said the conservancies benefit more than 30,000 members of the groups directly.
Taita-Taveta neighbours the world-renowned Tsavo National Park, where the Big Five can be found.
Before the conservancies were formed, the ranchers would lease their land to grazers, who took advantage of porous park boundaries to sneak their livestock into the park, destroying its vegetation and forcing wildlife to invade nearby communities.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Lucy Mkanyika]
