Malindi Marine Park

LEASING PART OF MALINDI MARINE PARK TO A FOREIGNER, NOT A PRIORITY

On Tuesday the 9^th of March 2011, community members adjacent to Malindi Marine Park in the Coastal Province went on streets protesting the proposed lease of part of the Park to an Italian Billionaire Mr. Flavio Briatore. The land owned by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is said to have been leased to the Italian whose intention is to build an exclusive club for the extremely wealthy.......

Arguing that many people benefited from the park and that this would deny women and youth access to the area where they earn their living, the residents rejected the 25 year lease program. They also said the leased land was an important environmental conservation area with rare indigenous medicinal plant species as well as a turtle conservation and rest centre.

The importance of wildlife to Kenya cannot be underestimated. Wildlife tourism generates more than one third of foreign exchange revenue with the livelihoods of many rural Kenyans connected to wildlife-related policies and businesses.

Interest in Kenyan wildlife spreads far beyond the country’s borders whereas neglecting the local people who actually spend most of their time with this wildlife tolerating the damages caused to their livestock and crops only for Kenya to celebrate. Representatives of businesses, conservation groups and non-governmental organizations from all over the world claim a stake in wildlife policies.

A Research from James Madison University, USA, discusses community-based wildlife resource management programmes in the context of current debates on wildlife conservation in Kenya. According to this research, two important approaches to conservation have shaped wildlife management programmes in the last fifteen years. One approach establishes partnerships between government and communities to enable community management of wildlife, and includes sharing out wildlife-related revenue. A more common approach however favours enforcing the boundaries of national reserves and parks as have been constantly done in Kenya. Certain experts also argue that poor people cannot make the right judgments about the protection of biodiversity, and should not be involved with managing wildlife. However, the research presents a case study of a conservation project in Maasailand, Maendeleo Kwa Uhifadhi (MKU) a community-led project, directed in part by two Maasai elders. Started as a conservation programme on a single piece of land, MKU gradually expanded to include neighbouring landowners. Later, a landowners association was launched, which allowed members to become shareholders in the business of conservation.

For many decades in Kenya, the communities were not empowered and have not played a key role in such activities. Fortunately, the registration of Kenya Land Conservation Trust (KLCT), whose real ownership lies firmly in the hands of the local people can now enable communities enjoy the benefits of their land through conservation.

 KLCT, an entity whose entire focus is on conservation exists in Kenya with all the legal rights of a private landowner. This is a first for Kenyan law, a landmark for Kenyan conservation, and a precedent-setting victory in the fight to conserve the lands that sustain life in Kenya. It creates a flexible new mechanism for private initiatives to supplement Kenya’s parks, some of which are too small to be viable for wildlife on their own. This is the best reward to Kenyans especially those with lands and has decided to set it aside for conservation.

With representation from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Land Owners Association and the Ministry of Lands and Housing, KLCT is a milestone as far as community involvement in conservation can go. In addition to those Trustees, there are representatives from businesses and universities.

KLCT is empowered to act as a player in the private marketplace – creating economic incentives and brokering agreements to encourage the conservation-friendly use of private lands. Its real ownership lies firmly in the hands of the local people. As an actor in the marketplace, the Trust can lease or purchase land. It can enter into management agreements with farmers or ranchers. It can even compensate landowners for the opportunity costs – the grass, plants and water – that wildlife consume on their land.

Therefore, if the argument that has always been held that poor people make the right judgments about the protection of biodiversity, and should not be involved with managing wildlife still exists; the residents of Malindi have an opportunity to be involved through the Kenya Land Conservation Trust, which has their interests at hand.

The proposal by the Italian for the club is a good one for Kenya. However, this is going to lcok out many people from this very important place to the residents both as a source of living and a resting place. Therefore, can the lease be prioritized and if possible let the locals be included in the project so that they can see it as an economical source to them not a barrier to their economic developments.