By GPC News Desk
Kenya has secured a Sh20.7 billion ($160 million) conservation financing deal with international donors to protect some of its most important wildlife habitats and strengthen the management of protected areas across the country.
The 10-year programme, dubbed Thamani Asili, meaning ‘value of nature’ in Kiswahili, will cover 173,000 square kilometres of natural landscapes, stretching from the Great Rift Valley to the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
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According to Reuters, the initiative brings together $80 million (about Sh10.4 billion) in commitments from international donors and a matching contribution from the Kenyan Government over the next decade.
The donors include wealthy members of the Walton and Cargill families, whose fortunes are linked to Walmart and agricultural giant Cargill.
The financing will support the establishment of new conservation areas and improve the management of existing ones through a model known as Project Finance for Permanence (PFP).
Under the arrangement, funding is tied to the implementation of key government policy reforms and long-term conservation commitments.
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano said the programme would not only safeguard Kenya’s wildlife but also benefit farmers and communities living alongside protected landscapes.
The targeted areas are home to thousands of elephants, rhinos, lions and other wildlife species, making them critical to Kenya’s biodiversity and tourism industry.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which helped develop the programme, said the initiative would initially concentrate on four priority regions.
One of the areas is Tsavo, which hosts Kenya’s largest national parks and is home to about 40 per cent of the country’s elephant population and 20 per cent of its critically endangered black rhinos.
Another priority landscape lies along the Kenya-Tanzania border, encompassing the Maasai Mara National Reserve and its ecological connection to Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem.
The programme is also expected to help Kenya move closer to the global target of protecting at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and sea areas by 2030.
TNC estimates that between 20 and 23 per cent of Kenya’s land is currently under protection.
“There is a substantial gap that would be largely closed,” said Ryan Bidwell, head of TNC’s Project Finance for Permanence programme, as quoted by Reuters.
The investment comes amid growing attention to the balance between environmental protection and economic development in Kenya.
In recent weeks, the country’s environmental record has attracted international attention following the groundbreaking of a proposed $16 billion oil refinery at the Coast by President William Ruto and African billionaire Aliko Dangote.
A United Nations Environment Programme report, citing previous government estimates, indicates that about 42 per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product and 70 per cent of employment depend on nature in one form or another.
The Project Finance for Permanence model is gaining traction globally, with Brazil and Gabon announcing similar arrangements last year, while comparable initiatives are being developed in Namibia and Botswana.
