Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has embarked on a wildlife conservation and management review to enable the service to implement its 2024-2028 strategic plan.

Northern conservation area senior assistant director Mungumi Bakari said the access and conservation regulations 2025 seeks to allow the service to revise entry charges to game parks, national reserves and sanctuaries and fees such as licences for involvement in wildlife conservation by other entities.

Bakari said KWS was now seeking views over the matter by holding public participation forums across the country with the forum for the northern conservation area, which covers the three counties of Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera scheduled for tomorrow at the Marsabit National Park Museum Hall.

The director says the move was informed by the rising conservation and operational costs, the need to enhance human-wildlife coexistence, the impacts of climate change and to meet evolving tourism market trends.

While calling on local residents and stakeholders to take an active role by participating in the review exercise, Bakari added that conducting public participation forums to collect feedback and input from stakeholders the KWS also aims at promoting transparency and inclusivity. 

The strategic plan focuses on enhancing wildlife populations, restoring degraded ecosystems, enriching visitor experiences, strengthening community engagement and benefit-sharing in conservation.

“Key stakeholders who include the tour operators, conservation partners, communities and the public will be involved in this important national exercise so that we can succeed in our conservation agenda,” he said.

The revised fees, he said, were also expected to restore public trust by ensuring that tourism remains a tool for conservation advocacy and sustainable development as envisaged in Vision 2030 and the bottom up economic transformation agenda.

Currently KWS relies on the exchequer for funding and donor grants which has proven unsustainable hence the strategic and policy driven reform to stabilize revenue sources for uninterrupted delivery of conservation services.   

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Sebastian Miriti