THE AFRICANCONSERVANCIESFUND© Art Wolfe/ www.artwolfe.com

The African Conservancies FundEvery year, thundering herds ofwildebeest, zebra, eland and gazelleembark on a “great migration,” following
seasonal rains from the Serengeti toKenya’s Maasai Mara region. It’s thelargest movement of animals on Earth —typically drawing droves of tourists whogenerate income and wages for local
communities.

Through a collaboration with landowners,
tourism partners, fellow NGOs and theMaasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies
Association, Conservation International
launched the African Conservancies Fund —a rescue package to offset lost revenues inthis critically important ecosystem. The loan
program aimed to:• Cover lease payments to landowners— maintaining household incomes forIn this area, Indigenous communities own
vast swaths of land, which they conserve
and lease to tourism companies for safaris.
The arrangement has effectively doubled
the area of land under conservation while
generating revenues for families that have
few other economic opportunities.
But in 2020, after the pandemic shut down
travel, tourism revenues in the Maasai Mara
dropped by more than 90 percent. This
steep decline threatened local livelihoods
and efforts to conserve Kenya’s iconic
wildlife and savannas. Communities in the
Maasai Mara needed immediate financial
support to weather the crisis. Without it,
they faced the difficult choice of replacing
lost income by fencing off their lands forgrazing, converting it to agriculture or
selling to developers — all of which would
have brought drastic consequences for the
Maasai Mara’s people and biodiversity.
© Leslie Russell

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 2

approximately 100,000 people in the area
who rely on tourism income.
• Keep conservancies intact — minimizing
land sales, agricultural conversion andother land-use changes that would
degrade the ecosystem.
• Build a more resilient and inclusive
management model for community-basedconservation.

Channeling funds to communities and conservationB

etween December 2020 and December
2022, Conservation International
supported the African Conservancies Fundby providing more than $2 million in loansthat were distributed to four conservancies
spanning a total of 70,000 hectares(173,000 acres).
The loans allowed families in the Maasai
Mara to continue receiving income
from their lands to pay for healthcare,home repairs, children’s school fees andmore. And because tourism revenues— not government funding — support
wildlife protection in the privately-owned
conservancies, partner organizations such as
the nonprofit Maliasili arranged grant funding
to ensure wildlife patrols continued normally,
with rangers working full time.

have expanded their lands, while others
have diversified their boards of directors orformalized lease agreements — legalizingverbal agreements that had previously been
sealed with a handshake.
Working with partners such as the Maasai
Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association,
Peace Parks and a network of private sector
investors, Conservation International is now
exploring funding for new conservancies andlooking for opportunities to extend the fundto other African countries. What began as
an effort to help the Indigenous landowners
in the Maasai Mara survive the pandemic
is evolving into a mechanism to strengthen
other conservancies so they can continue toinvest in communities and wildlife.

In addition, as a condition of the fund’s
financial support, the conservancies set
about improving their governance andoperations — and exploring opportunities
to diversify their revenue streams and build
financial resilience to future shocks.
Now, as tourism in the Maasai Mara returns
to pre-pandemic levels, conservancies arerepaying their loans well within expected
timeframes. They have not only survived thepandemic but are emerging stronger. Some

“COVID-19 WAS AN
EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO
THE ICONIC MAASAI MARAECOSYSTEM. THE SUDDEN
DROP IN TOURISM, MEANTWE WERE LOOKING AT THE
COLLAPSE OF COMMUNITYBASED CONSERVATION,WITH RIPPLE EFFECTS
FOR WILDLIFE ACROSS
THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.
WITH THIS FINANCINGMECHANISM, WE’VE WORKED
WITH LOCAL PARTNERS TO
HELP THE CONSERVANCIESBUILD BACK STRONGER.”
Bjorn StauchConservation International Vice Presidentof Conservation Finance© Jonathan Irish

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 3

What are conservancies and why do they matter?

Two-thirds of Africa’s total protectedareas lie outside of national parks— that’s 170 million hectares (656,000square miles), more than twice the sizeof France. They have varying degrees ofconservation and are organized under
different legal structures. One of thoseis known as a conservancy: land thatis collectively owned and managed by
Indigenous communities — and set aside
for protection.
In the Maasai Mara, conservancies offer
a way for communities with historic ties
to the land to benefit financially from theirstewardship of these important habitats.
They help safeguard wildlife, drive
sustainable development and conserve
cultural heritage.
Communal landowners earn income fromtourism-based ventures like ecolodges,
entrance fees and other services. The
income is distributed to Indigenous
landowners as rent — helping to reduce
rural poverty, stimulate local economies
and fund schools, health clinics and otherservices.
“Under the conservancy model,
community members profit from protecting
their lands,” said Daniel Sopia, Chief© Jonathan Irish

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 4

Executive Officer of the Maasai Mara
Wildlife Conservancies Association. “Ratherthan turning to practices like slash-andburn farming or poaching for bushmeat
in order to survive, local people receive
tangible benefits from conservation — which
ultimately provides a global good.”
In addition to supporting local communities,
the conservancy model is vitally importantfor elephants, wildebeest, lions and otheranimals that migrate across vast grasslands,
traveling in and out of protected andunprotected areas. Studies show that inopen ecosystems, African species spend
about 80 percent of their time outside theboundaries of national parks. This makes
conservancies, like those that buffer theMaasai Mara National Reserve and otherstate-owned parks, critically importantto protecting the diminishing savanna
wilderness.

“TOURISM IS OUR
MAIN SOURCE OF
LIVELIHOOD. WE
PARTIALLY LOST
OUR LIVELIHOODS,BUT WE HAVE ANOPPORTUNITY TO
BOUNCE BACK,THANKS TO THE
EMERGENCYSUPPORT WE
RECEIVED.”
Meliyio Noosaron
Mara North landowner© Jonathan Irish

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 5

African Conservancies Fund locations
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Name
TypeStatus
1 Nyekweri Oloirien Conservancy
Developing Forest Conservation Area
2 Nyekweri Kimintet Conservancy
Developing Forest Conservation Area
3 LemekConservancy
Established Conservancy
4 Olchorro Oirouwa ConservancyEstablished Conservancy
5 Ol'kinyeiConservancy
Established Conservancy
6 SianaConservancy
Established Conservancy
7 Olarro North
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
Developing Conservancy
8 Olarro South
Conservancy
9 Ol'derkesi
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
10 Isaaten
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
11 Oloisukut
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
12 Mara North
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
13 Olerai
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
14 NaboishoConservancy
Established Conservancy
15 Nashulai
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
16 Olare OrokConservancy
Established Conservancy
17 Motorogi
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
18 Orpua MaraConservancy
Developing Conservancy
19 Maasai MoranConservancy
Developing Forest Conservation Area
20 Enonkishu
Conservancy
Established Conservancy
21 Mbokishi
Conservancy
Established Conservation Area
22 Enarau
Conservancy
Proposed Conservancy
23 Mt Suswa
Conservancy
Developing Conservancy
24 Oloosekin
Conservation Area Proposed Conservation Area
25 Muntoroben
Conservation Area Proposed Conservation Area
26 Pardamat
Conservation Area Established Conservation Area
27 Nashulai East
Conservation Area Proposed Conservation Area
28 Ol'derkersi
Conservancy
Proposed Conservation Area
29 Isinya
Conservation Area Proposed Conservation Area

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RESULTS

Wildlife and habitat protection“T

he conservancies supported by thefund are privately owned; their antipoaching patrols and other enforcement
actions are completely reliant on tourism.
Though these wildlife areas do not receive
public funds, they play an important role inproviding Africa’s species with safe room
to roam. For example, the conservancies
bordering the Maasai Mara National
Reserve — including those supported by
the African Conservancies Fund — havein effect doubled the size of the region’s
protected areas.
During the pandemic, with no cash influx fromtourism, many conservancies across Africa
feared they would have to decrease antipoaching patrols, cut wages for rangers andcurtail other enforcement actions that protect
threatened species.
In the Maasai Mara, loans deployed to theconservancies allowed wildlife rangers towork full time, earning 100 percent of theirsalaries. Funding — complemented by agrant pool arranged by the nonprofit Maliasili— helped pay for expenses associated withprotecting wildlife, from the gasoline thatpowers rangers’ vehicles to radios and cell
phones for communication, and more.
While reports of widespread poaching andother crimes emerged in Kenya and East

© MMWCA-Versatile Photographers

Africa, the Mara largely remained safe forwildlife. Rangers conducted at least threepatrols a day, marking the locations of key
species, such as lions, elephants, cheetahs
and leopards. No cases of poaching werereported in the supported conservancies,
although there were attempts as rangers
recovered snares. According to the Mara
Predator Conservation Program, there havebeen no notable differences in wildlifepopulations observed during the COVID
crisis other than expected fluctuations.

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 7

AT THE ONSET OF
THE COVID CRISIS, WE
HAD ORGANIZED TO
CUT A NUMBER OFRANGERS BECAUSE
OF REDUCED INCOME.
LUCKILY, SUPPORTCAME ON TIME, SO
WE NORMALIZEDOPERATIONS AS IF
THERE WERE NO
CRISIS. WE ARENOW OPERATING A
FULL HOUSE. OUR
RANGELANDS HAVEREMAINED SECURE.”
Simon Nkoitoi
Senior Warden,Ol Kinyei conservancy

RESULTS

Governance, transparency and inclusionTraditionally, most of the Maraconservancies have been governed
by elder male leaders. Many also lacked
transparent voting mechanisms at annualmeetings.

policies on human resources, benefit
sharing, grazing and finance.

The African Conservancies Fund
linked rescue loans to improvements ingovernance, with the goal of promoting
more equitable and representative decision
making around the management of andbenefits from natural resources. The Maasai
Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association
helped the four participating conservancies,
plus many others in the region, develop

To date, directors and members of
all participating conservancies havesigned binding resolutions to improve
representation and voting procedures.
They also have requirements to ensurethat one-third of their boards are made up
of women and youth representatives —and have committed to provide training tobuild the capacity of women leaders. This
commitment is reflected in an increase in
the number of female rangers, from 10 to 34
since 2020.

All four participating conservancies havealso committed to making tourist occupancytransparent. Previously, there was little
disclosure of tourism volumes and revenues,
resulting at times in a lack of trust between
landowners and tourism partners, suchas lodge managers and tour operators.
Occupancy rates are now reported by eachtourism partner to the conservancy andaccessible to all stakeholders to improve theirunderstanding of the funding flows and theresulting share in benefits.

“FOR LONG, WE HAVE LAGGED, BUT THIS IS SLOWLY
CHANGING IN THE LANDSCAPE AS CONSERVANCIESINCLUDE WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP.”
Nailepu Kereto
Landowners’ Committee member at Mara North Conservancy© MMWCA-William Sankau

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 8RESULTS

Financial resilience

Conservancies are solely dependent
on revenues from ecotourism andhistorically have had no financial reservesto operate when those revenues ran dry –as they did during the pandemic.
The fund sought to improve conservancies’
financial management by helping them set
up reserve fund minimums, to cover lease
payments, rangers’ salaries and operationalcosts in the event of another emergency.
All four conservancies that participated in
the fund signed resolutions to contributea portion of their tourism proceeds totheir reserve funds. At the time of writing,contributions to these reserve funds havealready begun, building the base of a robust
financial structure.

develop alternative revenue streams for local
communities. Carbon credits, which provide
financial incentives to protect rangelands
for the purpose of storing planet-warming
carbon, present one option to strengthen
landowners’ financial resilience. Together
with the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies
Association, Conservation International iscurrently conducting a feasibility study acrossthe entire Mara ecosystem to determine how
to establish and govern a carbon project forthe landscape and its people.

The Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies
Association reported that new landowners
committed parcels of land to conservation
during the pandemic when they realized
it was a reliable livelihood option. The
association also helped establish newconservancies to the Northeast of the originalones, further expanding the disbursal areas
for the great migration.
Conservation International has now begun
to work with partners in the region to“

WITHOUT THE
EMERGENCY
FUND, I THINKEVERYTHING WOULD
HAVE COLLAPSED.
CONSERVATIONWOULD HAVECOLLAPSED. WE
WOULD LITERALLYHAVE LOST
EVERYTHING.”
Calvin Cottar
tourism Investor© Jonathan Irish

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 9RESULTS

At-a-glance$2 million in COVID

Funds provided a lifeline for
100,000 people in the Maasai
Mara, who rely on tourism revenues.

Loans were linked to improvements
in conservancies’ governanceand transparency, resulting in
new requirements for women andyouth to make up one-third ofconservancies’ boards.

Conservancies remained

Four new conservancies wereNo interruption in wildlife

emergency loans disbursed to four
conservancies spanning 70,000
hectares (173,000 acres).

established to benefit local
communities and wildlife.

protected and intact,

avoiding conversion to agriculture ordevelopment.

ranger patrols and no notabledifferences in species populations.
© Sutirta Budiman/Unsplash

THE AFRICAN CONSERVANCIES FUND IMPACT REPORT | 10www.conservation.org© Jonathan Irish