Conservation works better when communities help write the rules

The challenge is not a lack of public participation in law, but a lack of accessibility.

Kenya's Constitution requires public involvement in government decision-making, yet many consultation processes remain inaccessible to the people living in remote conservation landscapes. Public notices are often published in English-language newspapers, submissions require written responses, and consultations are concentrated in urban centres.

Research examining the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 found that these processes risk 'elite capture', where participation is dominated by those with the resources, education and access to engage, leaving rural voices underrepresented.

For landscapes as vast and complex as southern Kenya, that has real consequences.

A critical conservation ecosystem

Covering more than 76,000 square kilometres, the Mara, Amboseli, and Tsavo ecosystems extend across protected areas, community conservancies, farms, and pastoral lands. Wildlife moves freely across these boundaries, making conservation dependent on the people who share space with elephants every day.

These connected landscapes are central to IFAW's Room to Roam initiative, which works to secure and reconnect the places wildlife need to move while supporting the communities living alongside them. Ensuring that local voices shape conservation policy is an important part of creating landscapes where both people and wildlife have space to move and live.

Rather than asking communities to travel to government, IFAW is helping bring government to communities.

Taking discussions directly to the people

Working alongside county authorities, traditional leaders and the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, the organisation supports public participation forums in remote areas where conservation policy has often been discussed without those most affected being present. Policy documents are translated into Kiswahili, technical language is made more accessible, and residents are given the opportunity to debate proposed legislation before it becomes law.

'Policy development is expensive and often shaped by competing political interests,' says Ben Wandago, IFAW's Kenya Country Director. 'We provide technical and financial support to county governments while ensuring public participation is meaningful by translating policy documents and taking the discussions directly to the people.'

The approach is already influencing conservation governance.