Battle Between Kenya’s Farmers and Wildlife Conservationists Reaches Boiling Point

May 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Fierce debate is raging over land use in rural Kenya. While ranchers benefit from government schemes, conservationists argue that wildlife is being destroyed and that tourism offers a more sustainable option.

Conservationists highlight the plight of Kenya’s lions as an example of the damage being done.  Ranchers have been blamed for much of this decline as their work leads to the destruction of native lion habitats. Hunting and poisoning are also on the list of accusations aimed at the ranching community in Kenya, eight lions have been poisoned by ranchers in just the last few weeks.

The Kenya Wildlife Service recently took a group of ranchers to visit conservancies to highlight the economic benefits that tourism can bring.  

One model of this alternative is the Empaash Olorienito Convervancy, established by the native Maasai community in 2010. While ranchers still farm livestock on this land, the conservancy draws visitors from around the world who bring extra income to the ranchers.  This extra income allows the conservancy to keep the farming to a smaller scale, which in turn keeps it from interfering with the native animal populations.

If you are interested in getting involved, The Empaash Olorienito Convervancy has partnered with Global Vision International (GVI).  Through GVI volunteers travel to Kenya to work at the Conservancy on a number of important conservancy projects.

For more information on getting involved, visit www.gvi.co.uk.

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GVI's mission is to offer qualifying projects the necessary financial and volunteer assistance required to achieve their goals in conservation and community development. GVI sends over 2,000 volunteers away every year to aid-reliant projects worldwide.