By Ongaga Ongaga
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has concluded its nationwide public participation forums on the proposed review of conservation fees regulations.
KWS capped the exercise with a final meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Friday.
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The Nairobi forum marked the 20th and final stop in a series of consultations held over the past ten days across 19 counties spanning Northern Kenya, Eastern, Western, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Central, and Coast regions.
The forums brought together a diverse mix of stakeholders, including tourism industry players, conservation experts, youth representatives, and officials from both county and national governments.
KWS Director General Prof. Erustus Kanga lauded the robust engagement and broad support received throughout the process.
“We are deeply grateful for the support shown by the tourism sector and the Kenyan public,” he said.
“A majority of the stakeholders we engaged with expressed strong support for the review, acknowledging that KWS is operating under constrained resources and that a fee adjustment is long overdue.”
Participants across the forums emphasized the importance of transparent fund utilization and called for improvements in park infrastructure, visitor facilities, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.
There was also strong advocacy for a flexible pricing model tailored to each park’s unique offerings, regular fee reviews to avoid steep hikes, and expanded Corporate Social Initiatives (CSI) to empower community-led conservation efforts.
KWS confirmed that all feedback, including written submissions sent via email and received at its offices, will be reviewed and incorporated into the second draft of the Wildlife Conservation and Management (Access and Conservation Fees) Regulations, 2025.
This draft will undergo further stakeholder validation before being submitted to Parliament for approval.
The proposed review, the first in 18 years, aims to address a Ksh 12 billion annual funding shortfall that has hampered KWS’s ability to safeguard wildlife, rehabilitate ecosystems, and meet evolving conservation demands.
