Endangered species, particularly rhinos, continue to face pressure from poaching and loss of habitat across the continent. The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy’s solution to these challenges is to adopt a community-centric conservation model that recognises that conservation efforts can only be successful and long-term if the local people are involved, participate and derive value that supports their day to day livelihoods. Over the years, Lewa has used conservation as a platform to protect and grow populations of endangered and threatened wildlife species, carry out research and monitoring programmes, promote a safer landscape by providing security for both people and wildlife, initiate and support livelihood programmes, run low-impact tourism, and catalyse conservation across northern Kenya. As a result of its successes, Lewa has become one of the learning grounds of integrated private-community conservation practices, and how conservation can benefit both people and wildlife.
