Genre: Information/Explanation

This paper looks at conservation policy responses to the potential loss of biodiversity benefits in Kenya from the conversion of essentially wild and undeveloped land to developed agriculture . One fundamental issue is the extent to which traditional owners and users of land have the right to benefit from the development potential of their land to further their economic and social progress , even if by so doing they create domestic and global externalities through the loss of biodiversity . Property rights are central to the debate , and we discuss here the interaction between three completely different property rights : the state over its own land , private land owners over their land , and the state over individual wild animals which migrate between state and privately owned lan