Human-wildlife conflict in Laikipia district: area specific strategy recommendations

Abstract

The evolution of conflict often arise from divergent view points and the manner to derive benefits from a common resource. The increasingly limited supply of natural resources especially, in Arid and Semi Arid Lands exacerbates tension between various actors with vested interests in the use of the same resources. Wildlife is an important natural resource in Kenya as an environmental heritage, and cultural source of both food and revenue. Thus the government of Kenya has taken important measures to protect wildlife through gazetting certain areas for exclusive use by wildlife such as Parks and Reserves. Recent research findings have indicated that protected areas only contains less than 20 percent of the total wildlife species found in Kenya. The other 80 percent resides outside the protected areas in privately owned land where the wildlife is often in conflict with human settlement. Laikipia District is a case in point which is an important wildlife refuge outside these protected areas. Continued presence of wild animals in the District is now threatened by changes in land use brought about by demographic changes occasioned by continued influx of population from the high potential areas of Central Province. The incoming population bring with them intensive agricultural land use practices which are incompatible with migratory regimes of the wild animals in the region. The farms are thereby exposed to continuous destruction by elephants and other wild animals. This. problem is more serious in Ngobit, Sirima, and Salama Locations where this study was carried out. This study aimed to investigate the types, intensity and effects of human-wildlife conflict and to suggest a mechanism for spatial resolution of the conflict. It further sought to assess how the government and the community reach at resolutions aimed to abet conflict, and the types of solutions in the context of existing policy. In order to achieve the above broad objectives three conflict zones namely, Kariunga/Mutirithia, Ngobit ISirima and Ethi ILaikipia East were selected for detailed data collection and analysis. The three areas do have land use conflicts generated between wild animals on the one hand; and farming of livestock and crop rearing. A number of methods were used to collect data on the field, the most widely used being questionnaires, interviews, filed obserVations and photography among others. Respondents were mature household heads or their representatives. randomly selected .