Conservation business is booming in East Africa, but is threatened by major long term wildlife declines. Pastoralist rangelands are among the highest-earning and fastest-growing tourism destinations, but their populations have mean incomes and development indices consistently below national averages. Governments and conservation organisations see green development, often through community-based conservation (CBC), as building sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in EA rangelands.

A summary of IUCN's work with the Resource Advocacy Project and the communities of Garba Tula, in order to secure rights to resources and improve conservatin practices.

It is increasingly recognised that pastoralism is essential for sustainable management and ecosystem health of dryland environments, yet natural resource management strategies are increasingly threatened by many different factors. The key to the successful conservation of dryland environments in the Horn of Africa lies in the ability of pastoralists to observe and manage variations in vegetation and precipitation in order to maintain pastoral livelihoods and growth.

IUCN’s work in Garba Tula (GT) through this project has now been underway for almost two years, and to date a number of activities have been implemented in the area. This has included: sensitization and awareness raising of local community members; providing support to help strengthen the operations of the Resource Advocacy Programme (RAP – a local NGO working in the Garba Tula area); and supporting work carried out by RAP members to document traditional institutions and strategies for governing natural resources in the Garba Tula area.

In most areas within the livestock wildlife environment interface, nomadism by pastoralists is gradually being replaced by sedentarism and migration corridors are closed by settlements from the ever-increasing human population. Faced by a reducing pasture resource and yet slow to adopt de-stocking, pastoralists have now embraced the practical and novel ‘Conservancy’ concept in order to earn from tourism and subsidise income from livestock. However, sustaining wildlife on pasture land is a challenge that has now found a solution in the form of conservancy zonation schemes.

The Kenyan Dry land Livestock and Wildlife Environment Interface Project (DLWEIP), An African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) have developed a Community Scout Based Natural Resources Monitoring Programme for Naibung’a Conservancy of Laikipia District in February 2007. A wildlife and habitat monitoring programme was established at four group ranches in Naibung’a conservancy including Tiamamut, Kijabe, Koija and Nkiloriti.

Between 1999 and 2002, interviews were conducted in Laikipia District to examine whether pastoralists also experience conflict, and to determine whether wildlife conservation provided appreciable benefits to residents, or fostered pro-conservation attitudes

Conservation enterprises are commercial activities designed to create benefit flows that support a conservation objective. The Koija ‘Starbeds’ Ecolodge was created jointly by a community group, a private sector partner and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to help protect a critical wildlife corridor and habitat along the Ewaso Nyiro River in the Samburu Heartland (www.awf.org). Many conservation enterprises claim success mainly based on their noble intentions,

A series of papers on land use administration, land use change, securing of rights to resources and other in Laikipia, Kenya.

This paper presents a discussion of the communal tenure system in Olkiramatian, a group ranch in the southern rangelands of Kenya which has granted the residents the flexibility and choice to pursue diversification alternatives that demand open landscapes.

The research begins by describing the land access and tenure context in Laikipia, Kenya. The paper also incudes:
•• Pastoralism researchers analyse coping innovations during
the 2009 drought that pushed Maasai herders to Mount Kenya.
•• Despite previous brittle social relations, agreements between
ranchers and farmers permitted limited grazing of cattle and sheep inside commercial ranches on a controlled basis

The report describes the relationships and linkages between the Magadi Soda Company and four group ranches including Olkiramatian. Discussions and planning is carried out to develop mutually beneficial rural development and land use planning.