Colonialism introduced the Western conceptions of wildlife conservation in Kenya. This was achieved through the
promulgation of uniform laws and policies, which became enforceable over the entire territory. The development and
application of such laws and policies were neither consultative nor uniformly acceptable among members of the different
indigenous peoples’ communities and local communities (IPLCs). In addition, the contents of such laws and policies were
generally foreign to the IPLCs’ understanding of wildlife conservation, given that they were often borrowed from Western
values. Therefore, colonialism introduced a top-down approach to wildlife conservation in Kenya, which culminated in the concept of exclusive wildlife conservation through the ‘protected areas’ approach. As a result, the implementation of wildlife
conservation programs resembled an apartheid system, as they were detached from the day-to-day lives of members of the
IPLCs. This led to a degree of indifference towards wildlife conservation by many members of the IPLCs. The colonial policy of wildlife conservation continues to be implemented today through the concept of protected conservation areas such asgame parks and game reserves.
These wildlife protected areas are located within public lands, also known as public tenure.However, it is now recognized that conservation efforts cannot be processes exclusively driven by the government within the limited protected areas. In this regard, the emerging trend has been to encourage individuals and communities to become active participants in wildlife conservation initiatives. In Kenya, these initiatives have gained traction through the concept of conservancies.Conservancies provide private individuals and community members with the rights and opportunities to participate in wildlife conservation outside the system of protected areas. As such, wildlife conservation is understood as a collaborative effort between the state and its citizens.
Conservancies have now received statutory support through both the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act
(WCMA) 2013 and the Community Land Act (CLA) 2016. Conservancies exist in two forms: private and community
conservancies. This Guide focuses on community conservancies. It aims to provide guidance to community members who
wish to establish conservancies within their communally held lands. Therefore, the Guide is intended as a simple toolkit to
assist community members in setting up and managing conservancies on their communally owned lands, after registration.
