Wildlife conservation and management in Kenya: a study of the role of law in the protection of wildlife

This thesis is intended to be a contribution to the need for workable solutions to one of the problems confronting wildlife, that is, ensuring the proper conservation and management of wildlife. It is an attempt to examine the law relating to the conservation and management of wildlife in Kenya, with a view to exposing some of ~ne ~ea~ne~~e~ o~ the law and making suggestions towards improving the situation. Chapter one examines the case for the proper conservation and management of wildlife. It brings out the factors that contribute to the extinction of wildlife species. It examines the extent to which expanding agriculture, population growth, commercial exploitation of forest products and the destruction of wildlife habitats contribute to the extinction of wildlife. Other issues-examined include trade in wildlife products and the pollution of the environment which have a negative impact on wildlife conservation. The chapter also underscores the fact that in the process Bf properly conserving and managing wildlife, man enhances the aesthetic, cultural and scientific contribution of wildlife species to the process of development. There is therefore a strong case for proper legal mechanisms for the conservation and management of wildlife. Chapter two sets out the legal strategies that the law ought to employ in order to allow for the proper conservation and management of wildlife. It therefore examines the role of law in establishing protected areas, protecting individual species of wildlife, controlling the destruction of forests and how the law may provide for incentives that have an impact of protecting wildlife against extinction. . The chapter also examines how the law may, by making provisions relating to environmental impact assessment, air and water pollution, and trade in wildlife and its products may offe~'1nciaental protection to wildlife. Other measures of wildlife protection, including antipoaching measures, the creation of private game ranches, the promotion of wildlife based tourism and public education programmes are also examined as strategies that enhance the conservation and management of wildlife. The chapter shows that the law is not the only solution to the issue of wildlife conservation. Community attitudes towards conservation are also important. ' Chapter three examines the nature and scope of obligations undertaken by states parties to the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1968) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and flora (1973). The chapter examines the extent to which the two conventions go in the creation of an effective wildlife protection strategy. The chapter also emphasises that the protection of wildlife is not a matter of individual countries to perform separately. It must be one of cooperation between states. In taking this approach, we are able to tell how Kenya's law measures to major strategies for the protection of wildlife, which are provided by these two conventions. Chapter four examines the policy and the law relating to wildlife conservation and management in Kenya. It sets out the requirements of policy which are hoped to be achieved by the law. The chapter examines Kenya's wildlife law and how it implements the requirements of policy and those of the international treaties referred to above. The conclusion arrived at is that although Kenya's law attempts to achieve the requirements of policy and those of the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, (1968) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and flora, (1973), there are still some gaps within the law, and that much still needs to be done. Chapter five is a short concluding chapter. It puts in summary the findings of the study noting that Kenya's law relating to wildlife conservation and management is inadequate to achieve the requirements of proper conservation and management. It pinpoints some of the measures, by way of recommendation, which ought to be taken in order to achieve sustainable use of wildlife resources, and therefore better protection of wildlife.