How underfunding hampers wildlife management

When KWS personnel released Mountain Bongos at the 776-acre Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy during their rewilding, on May 7, 2024. [File, Standard]

Historical underfunding amid rising visitor numbers is hampering infrastructure upgrades within the country's wildlife-protected areas.

In addition, Kenya Wildlife Service officials say harsh environmental factors that accelerate degradation, high maintenance costs in remote and rugged national parks as well as overreliance on public funding were cited as other challenges hindering the smooth operations within the parks.

Currently, KWS is rehabilitating 3,272km of roads across 19 national parks at a cost of Sh1.3 billion, with most works targeted for completion by mid this year. In Nairobi National Park alone, KWS has rehabilitated 150km of road at a cost Sh160 million. KWS manages over 10,000km of park road networks. However, only 30 per cent are maintained due to budget limitations with the conservation body receiving less than one per cent of the Road Maintenance Fuel Levy Fund (RMLF).

KWS urgently needs to close a critical Sh12 billion annual funding gap, a shortfall caused by stagnated income, inflationary pressures, and rising operational demands that have significantly constrained the service's capacity to fulfill its conservation mandate.

In the just concluded financial year, KWS generated Sh7.92 billion against a requirement of Sh19.79 billion, limiting its ability to protect wildlife, restore degraded ecosystems, and respond to challenges such as human-wildlife conflict and poaching. To help bridge this gap, KWS through the draft Wildlife Conservation and Management (Access and Conservation Fees) Regulations, 2025, proposes to raise access fees to national parks, reserves, sanctuaries, and marine protected areas. this, it says, will be "the first comprehensive review of conservation fees in 18 years".

"For over a decade, our conservation fee structure has remained static, despite rising costs, evolving visitor expectations, and increasing threats to wildlife," said KWS Director General, Prof Erustus Kanga.