NAIROBI, Oct 22 – Kenya has signed a $160 million conservation agreement with international donors to protect 173,000 square kilometres of natural landscapes, including major wildlife habitats spanning the Great Rift Valley and Maasai Mara.
The Thamani Asili initiative, whose name translates to “value of nature” in Kiswahili, will operate over 10 years, with $80 million expected from private and institutional donors and a matching contribution from the Kenyan government.
The programme is designed to establish new conservation areas and improve the management of existing protected landscapes. It will use a financing structure known as Project Finance for Permanence (PFP), which links long-term funding to agreed government policy and conservation commitments.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Rebecca Miano, said the initiative would support wildlife protection while providing benefits to farmers and communities living alongside conservation areas.
The programme comes as Kenya seeks to balance environmental protection with economic development. A United Nations Environment Programme report, citing earlier government estimates, said approximately 42% of Kenya’s gross domestic product and 70% of employment depend on nature in some form.
Donor Funding to Support Key Conservation Regions
The programme will initially concentrate on four regions, according to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which helped develop the initiative.
One priority is Tsavo, a region containing Kenya’s largest national parks and significant populations of elephants and critically endangered black rhinos. Another focus area in southern Kenya encompasses the Maasai Mara National Reserve and its ecological connection with Tanzania’s Serengeti ecosystem.
The wider programme targets biodiversity hotspots that support elephants, rhinos, lions and numerous other species. Funding is intended to strengthen conservation management and expand the areas under protection.
Contributors include donors linked to the Walton and Cargill families, alongside other private and institutional supporters. The Kenyan government’s matching commitment is intended to provide a long-term financing framework rather than relying solely on short-term donations.
Project Finance for Permanence Gains Traction
The PFP model seeks to provide conservation programmes with predictable funding over extended periods in exchange for defined policy and implementation commitments from governments.
Similar arrangements have been announced in Brazil and Gabon, while initiatives have also been under development in Namibia and Botswana. The model is attracting interest as governments and conservation organisations look for ways to finance large-scale habitat protection over multiple years.
For Kenya, the agreement could help narrow the gap between its current protected land and marine areas and the international goal of conserving 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030.
TNC estimates that approximately 20% to 23% of Kenya’s territory is currently protected under the relevant conservation measures. Ryan Bidwell, who leads the organisation’s PFP programme, said the new initiative would substantially reduce the remaining gap.
Conservation Commitments Amid Expanding Energy Investment
The agreement also highlights the challenge of reconciling biodiversity commitments with large-scale infrastructure and energy development.
Kenya has recently drawn attention over plans for a proposed $16 billion oil refinery on its coast, following a groundbreaking ceremony involving President William Ruto and Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote.
The refinery project and the conservation initiative represent different dimensions of Kenya’s economic development strategy, with the government pursuing investment while also seeking to protect ecosystems that support employment, tourism and other economic activities.
The effectiveness of the conservation programme will depend on how funding is deployed, whether government commitments are implemented and how protected landscapes are managed over the next decade. Its progress will also help determine how much Kenya advances towards the 2030 biodiversity target.
