The tenure factor in wildlife conservation

Abstract

Kakamega Forest and its environs have undergone rapid changes in land tenure and land use activities in recent years. Consequently, changing land tenure and land use and their impact on local communities’ conservation initiatives have become central in conservation debates. Despite this, wildlife conservation is constrained by a legacy of top‐down government approaches that do not recognize indigenous land and resource rights. Yet effective conservation is only possible where land ownership, tenure security, access and use rights and legitimacy of authority exist. This paper examines the link between land tenure and the Isukha community’s participation in wildlife conservation within and around Kakamega Forest National Reserve in Kenya. Results indicate that there is a link between land tenure and the Isukha community’s participation in wildlife conservation. Results also indicate that as in other African countries, the introduction of radical land reforms and wildlife conservation laws and policies impacted negatively on the community’s indigenous land rights as well as their participation in wildlife conservation.