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Private wildlife parks now seek funding from government

TOM

Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA) chairman Tom Lalampaa. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Private wildlife conservancies have asked the government to fund them.

Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA) chairman Tom Lalampaa said in a statement that government funding would enable them to hire more rangers and uplift the lives of neighbouring communities, thus reducing conflict, as well as market them to tourists.

Earlier this year, herders invaded conservancies in Laikipia highlighting the precarious relationship with their neighbours.

“To date nearly 6.4 million hectares of land (10.9 per cent of Kenya’s landmass) is under conservancies spread across 27 counties,” Mr Lalampaa said, adding that allocation of government funds to privately owned conservancies would act as an incentive to communities with vast chunks of land to reserve some for wildlife conservation.

Mr Lalampaa said that private conservancies in northern Kenya employ 708 rangers and host 142 high-end camps providing 2,397 beds to Kenya’s tourism.