Responsible tourism in Kenya

While there’s no doubting the contribution that conservancies make to environmental protection, there have been accusations that these set-ups sometimes resemble a land grab, or even a modern form of colonialism, dispossessing communities of their ancestral lands in the name of conservation.

The argument goes that local people give up unfettered access to their grazing pastures and are directed into low-paid jobs in the conservancies such as cleaning, driving or gift shop staff, while the land is used for big-bucks wildlife tourism.

One prominent conservation agency is the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), which works closely with the well-known Lewa Conservancy and receives funding from USAID and the European Union, among other organisations. The NRT has been accused of serious human rights abuses and the control of land that is even greater than that of the Kenyan government.

Always ahead of the game in African tourism, Kenya banned trophy hunting in 1977. Long-established national parks and newly gazetted communal conservancies across the country strive to protect the nation’s wildlife – including many threatened species such as wild dogs and black and white rhino. But shockingly, wildlife numbers have declined substantially since hunting was banned.

There are many reasons behind the decline, including drought, a wave of violence in Laikipia County involving armed herders invading properties and killing wildlife, and human populations spreading into wildlife habitats. Protecting wildlife also costs huge amounts of money and even when it’s properly funded it can be controversial.

Herders and farmers need to be compensated if a lion is killing their cattle, or they’re simply going to go out and kill it. And as a huge amount of wildlife lives outside protected areas, human-wildlife conflict results in the poisoning of predators that threaten livestock.

In several other African countries where controlled hunting is permitted (including Zimbabwe and Namibia), wildlife numbers are on the increase and high trophy hunting fees have been reinvested in wildlife conservation. Inevitably, then, there continues to be talk of introducing hunting permits in Kenya.

This would be a highly controversial move, not only amongst animal welfare groups, but with those who feel that this would be a step backwards for conservation. There are concerns about the potential for corruption and the ability of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to manage the permits, as well as the negative image this would bring to the tourism industry.

Does hunting help conservation?
Hunting in Kenya is complicated. We do see the argument that well-regulated hunting can help to manage wildlife populations as well as raise considerable funds for conservation projects. But the principle that saw Kenya ban hunting all those decades ago – that wildlife is worth more alive than dead – is just as valid today. By visiting Kenya, taking a game drive and paying your entry fees to national parks and reserves, you are demonstrating this.

Responsible communal conservancies are a fantastic example of how land use can affect the fortunes of wildlife. Rather than fees being paid to KWS, they are paid directly to the community that owns the land, so that local people can see instantly the benefits of protecting the wildlife, which is what visitors come to see.

The conservancies create important buffer zones around the parks and wildlife reserves, form extended wildlife corridors and deter poachers in a kind of Kenyan “Neighbourhood Watch”. So visiting responsible conservancies and creating income for those who have set aside their own land for the protection of wildlife sends an important message to those who may otherwise be poaching or poisoning.

If you want to support a specific programme in Kenya, take a look at Save the Rhino, which runs several field programmes protecting the endangered rhino and the areas they live in.

Kenya has seen a massive decline in elephant poaching, which is down 80 percent since 2012. Meanwhile, elephant numbers have surged, up 21 percent to approximately 36,280 in about the same period. This success is a result of determined efforts to combat the poachers and international agreements to end the ivory trade.

The USA banned sales of ivory almost entirely and China, which has a 3,000-year-old history of carving ivory, swiftly followed suit, with dozens of workshops and retail outlets closing down. The UK, which has a long history in ivory trading, then introduced a very comprehensive ban – although the Born Free Foundation has pointed out that there are still potential loopholes which could allow ivory products to be sold.

There are reasons to feel positive, then, although there remains substantial demand for ivory products. A survey by the World Wildlife Fund of Chinese travelers found that though domestic demand has dropped considerably, vacationmakers would still seek out ivory artworks if they could. Many countries have yet to ban ivory.

What you can do to combat elephant poaching in Kenya
Never buy ivory products, new or second hand, and if you see ivory being sold in Kenya then report it to the local police.

Responsible elephant tourism proves to those in power that there is an economic case to protect these precious animals as well as a moral one. The more people pay to see them in the wild, the more likely they are to remain protected.