Conservation and Management Strategy for the Elephant in Kenya

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ELEPHANT IN KENYA 29
2.1.2.3 Ecology and Socio-economics
Elephants are critical to sustaining a functional ecosystem in the
drylands of Kenya and are an essential draw for tourism.
The importance of elephants in sustaining the functionality of
these ecosystems cannot be understated, and the decline of
elephants in the latter half of the 20th century has seen a major
shift in vegetation from grassland to bushland and scrubland in
much of their former range. This has led to a decline in livestock
numbers and increased poverty as a result of poor livestock returns.
The natural, renewable resource-based, economy of the rangelands
is undervalued in the national statistics, and the communities have
largely been marginalised politically and remain outside mainstream
development, particularly in education and health care. Since
limate change has emerged as a major threat to biodiversity and
intensive livestock systems are considered a contributory factor to
this, open nomadic rangeland is being considered as a more
sustainable production system with lower impacts. This will provide
incentives in future for conserving these ecosystems.
[ TOP ] Plate 25.
Group of elephants in the Tsavo ecosystem
– Charles Ooro, Kenya Wildlife Service
Elephants through their cyclical stimulus assist woody plant regeneration, through heavy browsing. They promote
seed dispersal through dung - essential for maintaining forest plant diversity. Seeds of some tree species are
dependent on elephant digestion for germination. Thus the expansion of elephant distribution, especially in the
northern rangelands, will provide important opportunities for simultaneously conserving biodiversity and reducing
vulnerability to ecosystem degradation. The contribution of elephants to achieving overarching national biodiversity
conservation objectives can be considerable. Kenya is a leader in tourism in Africa and its presence is often quoted
as the saviour of wildlife but the true facts are that this economic sector fails to fully translate the potential
socioeconomic benefits and share them equitably, and this is a concern. It is ironic that the poorest communities in
Kenya are those living with wildlife when the contribution of tourism to GDP in the country is so large (63%)
amounting to approximately 60 billion ksh a year and providing the bulk of the country’s foreign exchange. Local
communities that co-exist with elephants are forced to seek livelihoods based mainly on livestock and subsistence
agriculture, or to poach the animals as a source of supplementary protein or cash through sale of products. The
centralisation of tourism revenue and the scramble for locations for lodges in key sites, like in Samburu, Amboseli
and Mara, increases pressure on elephants, reducing availability to key forage and water resources, forcing them
to use marginal resources and increasing conflict with local people. Although this is causing considerable difficulty
for and pressure on the local and central government to resolve HEC, it is the poverty issue that is most threatening
especially in remote areas where hitherto human society had remained remarkably tolerant of elephant. Most of the
extirpations were a result of organised poaching gangs from distant communities, often financed from urban centres
and through international traders. Rural people appreciate the ecological function of elephants and appraisal has
shown that many pastoralists regret the decline in elephants that they observe annually, which is resulting in
declining pastures from encroachment of bushland.
In response to the desire for better integration of communities living with wildlife in the tourism economy, Kenyans
have developed novel community-based ecotourism initiatives, many in elephant ranges outside national parks
and reserves and this phenomenon is expanding. Continued development of this sector at a sophisticated level
within unfenced ecosystems, provides tourists with opportunities that are culturally interesting as well as providing
spectacular scenery and wildlife - giving Kenya a competitive edge over other major tourism destinations. A strategy
which will provide the basis for elephant expansion into historical range will give further impetus to ecotourism
development and bring more remote and poverty-stricken communities into tourism management, providing
opportunities for improving their livelihoods sustainably.