Responsible tourism in Kenya

Tourists gain an insight into local lifestyles – most commonly the Maasai who own many of the conservancies. The Maasai are able to stay on their land – and generate a sustainable income. Encroaching development is eating into the Maasai’s grazing lands – but with tracts being brought together as large conservancies, it is much harder to chip away at them. The landowners recognise the value of protecting the wildlife as they gain income from it directly. They will therefore do what they can to stop poachers – unlike other communities living on the border of protected areas, who gain no direct benefits from the presence of wildlife. In some cases there is more wildlife to be found in the conservancies than in the parks and reserves. In fact, the region’s largest pride of lions can be found on a conservancy – and smaller migrations of wildebeest and zebra pass through conservancies too. Activities such as bushwalks and nighttime game drives are permitted in the conservancies – but not in the other protected areas. There is a distinct lack of transparency regarding national park and game reserve fees, which are paid to KWS and local councils. The fees and lease money paid to the conservancies is directly reinvested in the land and the community. Conservancies have much fewer visitors – and beds – per square kilometre than the Masai Mara Game Reserve, for example. This creates a much more personalised experience for tourists, and avoids the overexploitation that is happening in other protected areas, where lodges and camps are springing up at an alarming rate.

Always ahead of the game in African tourism, Kenya banned trophy hunting in 1977, as it became clear that wildlife could be worth more alive than dead thanks to its growing tourism industry. Long-established national parks and newly gazetted communal conservancies across the country strive to protect the nation’s wildlife – including many threatened species such as wild dogs and black and white rhino. But shockingly, wildlife numbers have declined on average by 68 per cent between 1977 and 2016*. Drought and a wave of violence in Laikipia County, involving armed herders invading properties and killing wildlife, are having a huge impact. In addition, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which manages Kenya’s national parks, is unable to provide the kind of 24-hour surveillance needed to deter poachers, and recent investigations even revealed that KWS staff were involved in poaching, going as far as killing other poachers to cover their tracks.** And as a huge amount of wildlife actually lives outside of these protected areas, human-wildlife conflict results in the poisoning of predators, which threaten livestock, as well as the illegal hunting of game for meat.

In several other African countries where controlled hunting is permitted (including Zimbabwe and Namibia) wildlife is on the increase and high trophy hunting fees have been reinvested in wildlife conservation. Inevitably, there has, therefore, been talk of introducing hunting permits in Kenya. This would be a highly controversial move, not only amongst animal welfare groups, but with those who feel that this would be a step backwards for conservation. There are concerns about the potential for corruption and the ability – and conflicting interests – of the KWS to manage the permits, as well as the negative image this would bring to the tourism industry.

*Source: International Livestock Research Institute
**Source: Save the Rhino

The discovery of oil around Lake Turkana, along with enormous investment from the Chinese, means that Kenya’s landscape is about to change. In May 2017, a new, Chinese funded high speed rail link between Mombasa and Nairobi was opened, and a huge port and dams are some of the projects being planned, mainly funded by Chinese state-owned companies.

While no one can deny the Kenya’s right to develop these industries, and create much needed income and employment for its people – especially in the impoverished and often drought-afflicted north –  some of the incentives behind these developments are troubling. Not only has China been regularly accused of siphoning off the natural assets of developing African nations for its own gain (which could be said of many Western nations, too), but its environmental record is deplorable. The new wave of poaching threatening East Africa’s elephants has been boosted by donations from the Chinese government, which has allegedly equipped the poachers with firearms and GPS devices*, and ivory carving can even be studied at Chinese universities. While China claims to oppose poaching and has led campaigns against illegal ivory, their actions do not match their words; Chinese officials are well-known in East Africa as being the largest purchasers of ivory.**

Given this record of environmental exploitation, hopes are not high that development will be carried out in a cautious way. Tiny Lamu is Kenya’s oldest town, dating back to the 14th century, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the deepwater port here, along with the oil refinery and pipeline, have enormous environmental implications for the coastline and marine life including endangered sea turtles that nest here. Local communities have not been consulted and indigenous groups have lost land to the project, without their agreement or compensation.

Longer term, the emissions from these new projects contribute further to pollution and to climate change, which has been largely responsible for the droughts which have ravaged East Africa in recent years – 2015, 2016 and 2017 were all drought years – when the resulting crop failure and famine killed thousands.

*Source: The Telegraph
**Source: Al Jazeera

What you can do Save Lamu is a local campaign group set up to raise awareness of the threats facing Lamu County, and to advocate on behalf of its people and businesses. The website has a wealth of information, well worth reading.

Chris Morris, from our supplier IntoAfrica, on Kenyan culture: “If there’s one overarching issue it is perhaps to realise that often the people you’ll meet in Kenya have very different attitudes, concepts, beliefs and thought patterns from yours. Don’t be too quick to judge folk as inferior; what might seem strange to your way of thinking invariably has a function you’ve not understood yet. Try to understand and enjoy this difference.”

Kenya is a conservative country, especially in rural areas and along the predominantly Muslim coast and islands. Skimpy clothing is inappropriate outside of the beach resorts, and women especially should cover their legs and upper arms. One good tip is to buy a kanga – a kind of local sarong, which can be used as a quick cover up (even wrapped over trousers for extra modesty) as well as a towel, blanket or scarf at other times. They have local sayings written on them in Swahili – find one that’s appropriate for you and it will also make a lovely souvenir! Swahili is the dominant language along the coast, and it’s surprisingly easy to learn and pronounce. Do make an effort to learn a few words, and remember that “Jambo!” is in fact the tourist greeting – “Hujambo” or “Habari” are better ways to say “Hello, how are you?” Learn the three way African handshake too – sure to be an icebreaker with the unsuspecting locals.