Across Kenya’s southern rangelands, more than 19,000 elephants move through a vast ecosystem stretching over 76,000 square kilometres. This landscape—linking the Mara, Amboseli, and Tsavo—depends on connected habitats, functioning wildlife corridors, and communities who live alongside wildlife.
This project is part of IFAW’s Room to Roam initiative, which works across eastern and southern Africa to secure resilient elephant populations in connected landscapes. In Kenya, protecting space for wildlife also means strengthening the policies that govern land use, conservation, and community rights.
The problem
Kenya’s Constitution guarantees public participation in governance. Yet many rural communities—especially women and young people—lack accessible information and practical support to influence environmental laws that directly affect their land and livelihoods.
The southern rangelands face increasing pressure from land fragmentation, competing land uses, and uneven policy coordination. Communities often bear the costs of human–wildlife conflict, while having limited opportunity to shape the conservation frameworks intended to address it.
As Kenya reviews and develops key wildlife, forest, and land-use legislation at national and county levels, complex legal processes risk sidelining local knowledge. Without informed and inclusive participation, policies may weaken wildlife connectivity and miss opportunities to support fair benefit-sharing and climate resilience.
The solution
IFAW is strengthening inclusive environmental governance by equipping communities with the tools to engage meaningfully in policy development and implementation.
We analyse draft laws and translate them into clear, accessible summaries explaining how proposed changes affect wildlife corridors, land use, and human–wildlife coexistence. In partnership with national conservation networks and local associations, we convene stakeholder forums that bring together landowners, conservancy leaders, youth, women’s groups, and government representatives to develop informed recommendations.
We support communities to compile and submit formal memoranda to Parliament, ministries, and county assemblies. A dedicated digital platform on ifaw.org will host simplified legal analyses and publish stakeholder submissions, widening access and increasing transparency. Throughout, we work to strengthen constructive relationships between communities and government agencies.
The impact
By embedding community voices into environmental law, we strengthen both governance and conservation outcomes.
This pilot will increase community awareness of conservation laws, expand participation by women and youth, and support informed submissions into active legislative processes. Stronger policies will better protect wildlife corridors, reduce human–wildlife conflict, and promote climate-resilient land management.
When communities help shape conservation policy, wildlife has more room to roam—and people have a stronger stake in protecting the landscapes they depend on.
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