The government has affirmed her commitment to engender legislative reforms intended to deal with the growing human-wildlife conflict and environmental degradation.
Principal Secretary, State Department for Wildlife and Tourism, Ms Silvia Museiya said the proposed Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2025 was a crucial step towards restoring the balance between conservation efforts and community welfare adding that the current legislation was outdated and inadequate in protecting vulnerable communities living near wildlife habitats.
Ms Museiya said the proposed Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2025 seeks to modernize how the nation governs, conserves, utilizes, and shares benefits from wildlife resources for the good of all Kenyans.
The PS lamented that despite wildlife conservation being a key pillar of Kenya’s economy supporting the tourism sector among other forms of wildlife economy, the sector faces many challenges including human-wildlife conflicts, climate change and associated impacts, habitat loss, outdated legislation and inequitable benefit sharing mechanisms.
The Principal Secretary was however happy that the proposed statute had the potential to transform the economy by introducing a forward-looking agenda for Kenya’s conservation sector.
Ms Museiya pointed out that the Bill could lead to a more inclusive and effective approach to wildlife conservation, benefiting both nature and humans.
The PS made the remarks in a speech delivered on her behalf by the Deputy Director, Wildlife Conservation, State Department for Wildlife (SDW) Mr Eric Watende, during a public participation forum at the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner’s plenary hall where stakeholders discussed various amendments to the Bill.
Through a gazette notice dated April 22, 2025, the Ministry is engaging citizens across all the 47 counties from May 7 2025 to May 26, 2025 to gather views on the proposed Bill.
The Wildlife Bill 2025 (amendment) aims to harmonize wildlife laws with the Constitution of Kenya (2010), integrate the National Wildlife Policy (2020) and Wildlife Strategy (2030), and clarify roles between national and county governments.
It also addresses emerging conservation issues such as habitat loss and climate change and reengineers the wildlife compensation system for faster and fairer outcomes.
It further aims to amend the existing Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, No. 47 of 2013, primarily to enable joint management and revenue sharing between county governments and the national government concerning national parks.
Nakuru residents welcomed the exercise but raised concerns over delayed compensation for wildlife-related damages, delayed response after being attacked by wild animals, lack of compensation when farmers’ livestock and crops are destroyed by wildlife, and restricted access to traditionally owned communal lands due to gazettement of protected areas.
While submitting his views, Jackson Raini, an expert in Environmental Planning, Management and Governance decried the increased destruction of crops and attacks on humans by baboons in Free-Area, Race Track, Barut and Naka Estates, a sentiment that was shared by other participants.
Mr Raini emphasized the need for fair and timely compensation and proposed that primates be included in the wildlife species that are eligible for compensation.
Currently, the 3rd schedule of the Act points out specific wildlife species where compensation may be paid if the animals cause crop destruction, and they include lion, buffalo, wildebeest, leopard, hippos, rhinos, elephants, hyena, zebra, crocodile, snakes and wild dogs.
The expert said compensation for cases of communities losing crops, property, and even lives was slow and inconsistent adding that there was need for a legal framework that reflects realities on the ground.
He faulted the current compensation model, advocating for a simplified and efficient process to ensure timely relief for victims of wildlife-related damage and emphasized the importance of aligning the proposed reforms with the Constitution of Kenya (2010) the National Wildlife Policy (2020) and Kenya Vision 2030.
Other residents offered that the Bill needed to be clear on who maintains the register for conservancies, urging for the need for a clear distinction to avoid a lot of bureaucracies and time-consuming processes.
The visiting Wildlife Law Review Committee led by Deputy Director, Wildlife Conservation, State Department for Wildlife (SDW) Mr Eric Watende, explained that the ongoing countrywide process was part of their constitutional obligation under Article 10 and seeks to bring on board citizens and stakeholders in shaping a law that reflects their concerns and aspirations.
They indicated that Bill proposed reforms in governance structures, sustainable financing, human-wildlife conflict management, enforcement, research, and equitable benefit sharing with local communities.
It further aims to create a unified legal framework for wildlife management, incorporating key policies and strategies and seeks to define the respective responsibilities of the national and county governments in wildlife matters.
The Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill 2025 defines conservation areas as an area set aside for wildlife conservation and includes national parks, national reserves, national sanctuaries, conservancies or wildlife critical areas designated as such.
By Esther Mwangi and Nelly Kiarie
