Celebrating Kenya's New Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill

Gayane Margaryan January 14, 2014

About the Author

Gayane Margaryan is African Wildlife Foundation's former Director of Marketing & Creative. Gayane is passionate about communicating the message of conservation through new tools and technologies and converting audiences into wildlife advocates. She is a graduate of the University of Florida,… More

Elephant tusk close up. Photo by Billy Dodson

The conservation community had even more reason to celebrate during the holiday season as Kenya passed a new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill.

The country’s conservationists have been calling for harsher punishment for poaching and trafficking for years, and in May 2013 Kenya’s parliament even passed a revolutionary emergency amendment to the Wildlife Act, which elevated penalties for wildlife crime.

Under this new law, parties involved in wildlife crime, at all levels—from financiers, to poachers, to traders—can expect to face higher fines and longer prison terms. Individuals caught at airports possessing prohibited wildlife products, like blood ivory, will face fines of no less than KSH1 million (US$11,628).

AWF has been working with Kenya judicial and law enforcement officials to increase penalties for wildlife crimes, and the passage of the new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill is indeed welcome news.

With its new bill, Kenya shows its leadership in conservation, and we hope that it will serve as a model to other countries and as a strong deterrent to criminals.