Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya

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xv CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ELEPHANT IN KENYA FOREWORD by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of KWS The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is a State Corporation established by the Act of Parliament, CAP 376 and amendment Act No. 16 of 1989 with a mandate of wildlife conservation and management in Kenya. Since its inception in 1990, KWS has achieved much in curbing poaching, enlisting support in conservation and establishing infrastructure and human capacity development. The success has been made possible through support from the Government of Kenya, and local and international partners. The vision of KWS is to become a “World Leader in Wildlife Conservation” with a mission to “sustainably conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife and its habitats in collaboration with stakeholders for posterity”. Kenya’s elephant population was reduced from 167,000 in 1973 to 20,000 individuals in 1989 due to massive poaching for the ivory. As a result of the ivory trade ban in 1989 and increased security efforts by KWS, poaching was significantly reduced by the 1990s. The elephant range in Kenya covers almost a fifth of the country of which almost half is within protected areas. The subsequent increase in elephant numbers coupled with loss and fragmentation of elephant range, as a result of human population increase and limited long term land use planning, has brought new management challenges. These challenges arise from conflicts between people and elephants as they compete for limited resources and habitat degradation by elephants due to confinement. Human-elephant conflict is emerging as the major threat to elephant conservation in Kenya. Its effective mitigation along with enhanced security will require dedicated effort from KWS, relevant government departments, private landholders, communities, county councils and local and international partners. The highly threatened elephant is Kenya’s national treasure and KWS will continue to support all stakeholders in its conservation. None of this can be done without financial resources, and KWS is taking steps towards self sustainability in this regard. Meanwhile, Kenya thanks donors for their continued support in elephant conservation. Currently, there is increased allocation of funds by the Government to wildlife conservation and there are a number of new initiatives by KWS to increase revenue. The current KWS budget of Ksh 5.1 billion represents an increased allocation of 13.3 percent from the previous allocation. The Government is increasing its support and has promised to improve budget allocation to KWS. We can confirm that there will be continued internal financial support for the core business of elephant conservation. KWS will continue to support local landowners and communities in elephant conservation and work closely with NGOs and private sector. To enhance these successes, KWS regularly reviews its policies and activities. The previous KWS Strategic Plan has been successfully completed before its end date and a new strategic formulated and currently being implemented. These strategies are designed to be achievable irrespective of socio-political and economic changes. The strategies are now also resilient to internal managerial changes. We strive to achieve management that is people, science and technology driven. To this end, I am proud to present to you the first Edition of the Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya. The Board of Trustees calls upon the Government of Kenya, local landowners and communities, private sector, donors and conservation partners to support the implementation of the activities in this document. Hon. David Mwiraria Chairman, KWS Board of Trustees
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ELEPHANT IN KENYA xvi “ The highly threatened elephant is Kenya’s national treasure and KWS will continue to support all stakeholders in its conservation ” [ TOP ] Plate 12. Adult male, Mara ecosystem. Renaud Fulconis - Awely, Wildlife and People
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Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya

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