The Kenya Land Conservation Trust – A New Chapter in Conservation

In Kenya, land can be owned by the government, an individual or the community. And while the government has set aside a lot of protected land, there has never been a legal framework to encourage communities to do the same – until now.

After years of hard work, AWF has helped create the Kenya Land Conservation Trust (KLCT) – the first community land trust in the nation’s history.

Modeled on the successful Tanzania Land Conservation Trust – the first of its kind in Africa and one AWF also helped create – the KLCT offers new promise for a sustainable system of protected lands that will benefit the country’s wildlife, its people and its economy.

The legal framework for conservation in any given country is critical - especially in African countries, where law and policy are still evolving after decades of colonial rule. In Kenya, conservation is particularly important to sustaining the wildlife-based tourism that forms one of the most important sectors of the economy. With the KLCT, tourism no longer depends solely on Kenya’s parks, some of which are too small to be viable for wildlife on their own. The KLCT creates a flexible new mechanism for private initiatives to supplement government-protected areas.

The KLCT is empowered to act as a player in the private marketplace – creating economic incentives and brokering agreements to encourage the conservation-friendly use of private lands. Overseen by a board of directors, with community representation, the formation of the KLCT was facilitated by AWF, but its real ownership lies firmly in the hands of the local people. As an actor in the marketplace, the Trust can lease or purchase land. It can enter into management agreements with farmers or ranchers. It can even compensate landowners for the opportunity costs – the grass, plants and water – that wildlife consume on their land.

For the first time, an entity whose entire focus is on conservation exists in Kenya with all the legal rights of a private landowner. This is a first for Kenyan law, a landmark for Kenyan conservation, and a precedent-setting victory in the fight to conserve the lands that sustain life across East Africa.

The new Trust will greatly enhance efforts to safeguard the habitats of some of Africa’s most renowned yet increasingly threatened species, including rhinos and elephants. Among the habitats and wildlife most likely to benefit are Kenya’s Laikipia region. Site of several AWF programs, such as the African wild dog research, the Laikipia plateau in central Kenya stretches from the edge of the Great Rift Valley to the peaks of Mount Kenya. All of Africa’s “Big Five” – rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo – are found on Laikipia’s vast acacia-studded plains. It is also home to half of Kenya’s black rhino population. The endangered Grevy’s zebra, African wild dog, and the only viable population of Jackson’s hartebeest are also found in Laikipia.

If wildlife could talk, they might take humans to court. Humans have been infringing on their space throughout Africa for decades. Today, the law can rule in favor of both animals and people – through an innovative land use mechanism that ensures space for wildlife while protecting the rights and prosperity of local communities.