Over 27 conservancies in Taita-Taveta County are pushing for inclusion in the ongoing high-level discussion between the national and county governments on Tsavo National Park revenue-sharing agreement arguing that conservancies form a critical component of wildlife management and conservation in the region.
Taita-Taveta Wildlife Conservancy Association (TTWCA) chair Mr. Bong’osa Mcharo noted that conservancies had over a million acres of land which had become home to thousands of wildlife from Tsavo National Park.
He said that apart from housing species like elephants, buffaloes and lions, the ranches formed crucial secure corridors for wildlife that migrate from Tsavo National Park in Kenya to Mkomazi National Park in Northern Tanzania.
Mcharo stated that ranches had embraced the conservation model as part of an improved land management system that would see them reap the benefits of both rearing livestock for international beef market and engaging in wildlife management. The ranches would enhance the carbon trade to diversify their revenue streams.
He was speaking at Lumo community conservancy during an event to launch community rangers’ savings and credit cooperative society as part of promoting access to affordable credit for over 400 community rangers in the region.
“Our conservancies are home to many species of wildlife. Those animals have become part of our conservation model. We have agreed to transform into conservancies to reap the dividends of conservation,” he said.
African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Country Director Ms. Nancy Githaiga, who was the chief guest during the event, urged the conservancies to take a proactive approach in lobbying to be included in the revenue discussion noting that conservancies had become natural homes to wildlife in Tsavo landscape.
She pointed out that as part of widening the potential revenue sources, the sharing of monies from Tsavo would also benefit the conservancies and help bolster conservation activities through continued preservation of biodiversity in the entire Tsavo ecosystem.
“The Tsavo revenue-sharing debate needs your input as persons in conservancies because it is all about monies arising from conservation activities. That is what you are also doing,” she said.
The launch of Tsavo Landscape Conservancies Sacco was also attended by officials from World Wide Fund (WWF), County government and senior national government officials.
Taita-Taveta County is currently engaged in detailed talks on modalities of sharing revenue from Tsavo National Park. Tsavo, the biggest national park in Kenya, had taken over 62 percent of Taita-Taveta landmass triggering a loud agitation by leaders to have the county get a share of Tsavo revenues.
The talks are being spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Technical Relations Committee (ITGRC) that is bringing together other key stakeholders including State Department for Wildlife, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Commission for Revenue Allocation amongst others.
Ms. Hadija Juma, a commissioner with Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) said the Commission was willing to assist in building the capacity of Taita-Taveta County to generate extra revenue to bolster development in the region.
During a recent visit to the region, Ms. Juma noted that the county was generating approximately Sh350 millions of Own-Source Revenue (OSR) but could generate at least one Sh1 billion if other sources were tapped.
She disclosed that the revenue discussions were pushing for the county to receive at least 15 percent of total Tsavo National Park revenue but said nothing was conclusive as talks were still ongoing.
“The stakeholders brought together by ITGRC are still engaged in talks and discussions with a proposal of at least 15 percent of revenue going to the county. The parties will have to agree before anything is made conclusive,” she said.
Deputy Governor Christine Kilalo who is representing the county government expressed her optimism that the talks would yield positive results.
She noted that apart from the park taking the biggest chunk of the county land mass, the region was also a hotspot for human-wildlife conflict that had seen thousands of farmers incur losses from crop destruction by elephants.
She pointed out that sharing of revenue from the park would partly ameliorate the suffering of the locals and allow the county to take development projects to areas affected by wildlife menace.
“We are asking for a share of the revenue so that the county should feel included in local activities. The resources making that money belong to the people of this region and they have a right to benefit,” she said.
The county’s efforts to have a share of Tsavo revenues received a major boost after president William Ruto directed the revenue be shared on a 50-50 basis between KWS and the Taita-Taveta County government.
The Head of State was speaking during an interdenominational prayer session in Mwatate town a fortnight ago.
By Wagema Mwangi
