Abstract

With such extensive biological diversity existing outside protected areas in Africa and whose survival solely depends on the goodwill extended by private landowners; time is long overdue to actively integrate local stake-holding landowners into the decision making machinery in most conservation matters. To ensure that mutually beneficial partnerships can be developed and sustained with local landowners, it is important that appropriate, timely and inclusive conservation policies be developed to support landowner acceptance and participation in land use management decisions that, hopefully, will lead to better biodiversity conservation efforts. This paper focuses on contentious public policy and development issues that must be addressed if local stake-holders are to remain interested and become genuinely-engaged active participants in community-based conservation programs in Laikipia District, an important biodiversity conservation area in the heart of Kenya. The ideas discussed in this paper were developed after a thorough review of the existing literature in the field and by conducting interviews with 377 private landowners falling in three categories: small-scale, pastoralist and large-scale in Laikipia District of north-central Kenya. Among the important research, policy and developmental issues found critical to discussions involving biodiversity conservation in this region are: wildlife utilization legislation, wildlife proprietorship, human population stabilization, identification of core biodiversity areas, coordinated electric fencing, institutional development, biodiversity education, negotiations with landowners and incorporation of incentives, wildlife damage compensation, ecotourism development and an enabling political environment.