ON THE GROUND: Kasigau Community Wildlife Sanctuary

Over 70% of all Kenya’s wildlife is found outside parks and reserves sharing land with the local communities. Due to this competition for space, human-wildlife conflicts are almost inevitable in most areas. As such, we have been partnering with these communities to ensure that wildlife benefits them.

Since 2005, Taita Discovery Centre (TDC) has been working with Nyangala Grazers’ Society and Kasigau Conservation Trust to help establish Kasigau Community Wildlife Sanctuary. This area has been set aside for conservation and forms part of a migratory corridor for elephants between Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks. It’s also a dispersal area for several other wildlife species such as lions, giraffes and buffalos.

Through this initiative, a total of 16 community-owned ranches covering a total of a million acres will eventually form the sanctuary. Towards this end, we have been holding meetings with local community representatives and individual landowners. So far, 25 community game scouts with hand-held radios for ease of communication have been recruited. They have been patrolling the area to keep off poachers and illegal charcoal burning activities. We have also helped to build local capacity and support infrastructural development of Nyangala Grazers’ Society to better manage the sanctuary.

The setting up of a community wildlife sanctuary is anticipated to generate income through tourism-related activities. The local community no longer considers wildlife as a nuisance but as an asset that is giving them the much needed livelihood.