The Amboseli Ecosystem Conservation Authority (AECA), a semi-autonomous management authority, is set to take over the management of Amboseli National Reserve once it is returned to the Kajiado County government.
The independent authority’s operations will tap into the legal framework of the semi-autonomous Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the county said.
“The creation of a semi-autonomous body will insulate the reserve management from political interference and ensure the highest standards of park management are maintained,” the devolved unit said in a two-year strategic plan launched on Friday by Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku and the Principal Secretary for Wildlife Sylvia Museiya.
The national government in 2005 proclaimed the transfer of Amboseli back to Kajiado County as provided for in Article 187 of the Constitution.
The proclamation was however not acted on until last year when President William Ruto ordered its implementation. KWS ran Amboseli on behalf of the national government.
Mr Lenku said the new plan for Amboseli would address community benefits and help reduce human-wildlife conflict.
"We are moving away from militarisation of conservation to community-owned conservation. Cases of wildlife conflict must be eradicated. Amboseli rakes in at least Sh1.5 million annually and there are concerns that the revenue could go up to Sh2 million with a friendlier strategy” Mr Lenku said.
Samuel Parashina, Kajiado South MP- where the park is located said the return of the park to the devolved unit, is a correction of one of the historical injustices suffered by the Maa community.
"The benefits of the park to the community have been too little compared to their suffering for hosting the wildlife. Now we have a plan on how we can extend more benefits to the people," he said.
The local community has also offered more than 1 million acres of land to be extended as conservation areas through eleven group ranches in the area.
The donors of land include the Olgulului Ololarashi group ranch, which has offered 241,185 hectares of grazing land and 145,000 hectares of conservation land, the Imbirikani Group Ranch has offered 133,300 hectares of grazing land and 123,000 hectares of conservancy land, while the Eselenkei Group Ranch has offered 159,000 hectares (grazing land) and 44,500 hectares (conservancy land).
The plan aims to increase conservancy areas for sustainability, as 90 percent of Amboseli's wildlife lives outside the park. The park is only 80,000 acres and contains only 10 percent of the wildlife.
