Protecting Wildlife and Their Habitats
The Amboseli National Park is too small to independently support viable wildlife populations. It, therefore, relies on the water and forage of the surrounding areas.
Rapid habitat fragmentation, pasture and water scarcity, human-wildlife conflict and changes in land tenure and land use pose great threats to the human-wildlife co-existence in the landscape.
ALOCA’s wildlife programme is advancing a holistic approach to wildlife conservation, striking a balance between the socioeconomic goals of the landowners and the conservation priorities in the Amboseli ecosystem. The programme has three core focus areas as outlined below.
1. Wildlife Protection
The ALOCA conservancies have 30+ community rangers from the local Maasai community, who have been trained and equipped to protect and monitor wildlife, avert human-wildlife conflict and combat poaching—prior to the establishment of ALOCA member conservancies, the area was prone to poaching for game meat; the presence of the rangers has reduced poaching in the area to almost zero in the recent years.
2. Community Conservancies
ALOCA’s model supports landowners to consolidate their land parcels to form a network of conservancies with the aim of restoring the crucial migratory corridors.
The conservancies also help in enhancing the local community’s understanding and appreciation of integrating land use practices that are compatible with wildlife conservation.
The revived connectivity is enabling wildlife to move and thrive in increased habitat availability while creating additional livelihood streams for the local community.
3. Predator Consolation Fund
The Amboseli is home to the pastoralist Maasai whose way of life and source of livelihood is deeply entwined with their livestock herds.
To foster sustainable wildlife conservation while effectively mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, ALOCA has developed a Predator Consolation Fund. The fund compensates the landowners when they lose their livestock to the predators of Amboseli to avert predators being killed in retaliation.
The fund has a verification process to prevent false claims and abate cases of negligence. It incorporates community engagement forums where information is share on how best to prevent livestock depredation.
