Kenya has a large diversity of ecological zones and habitats, including lowland and mountain forests, wooded and open grasslands, semi-arid scrubland, dry woodlands, inland aquatic, as well as coastal and marine ecosystems.
Kenya’s protected area system consists mainly of wildlife protected areas (WPAs) and forest protected areas (FPAs). These two major types of protected area cover about 10% of Kenya’s 582,646 km2 land mass. Of the 10% protected area cover, 8.2% belongs to WPAs while 1.8% belongs to forests. It is, however, useful to note that WPAs and FPAs are not completely separate entities. There are several cases in which these two protected area types overlap. For the 8.2% of Kenya’s land mass that is WPAs, 8.04% (46,897 km2) is occupied by terrestrial parks, reserves, sanctuaries and conservancies while 0.13% (776 km2) is occupied by marine parks and marine reserves. Kenya was the pilot country for testing the Green List in its early stages in 2014. Many partners have contributed to the Green List process in one way or another so far including, KWS, KWCA, MMWCA, WWF, East African Wildlife Society, Conservation International, Ecotourism Kenya, and Laikipia Wildlife Forum.
| Site Name | WDPA ID | Country | Region | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ol Kinyei Conservancy | 555555517 | Kenya | East and Southern Africa | Listed |
| Lewa Wildlife Conservancy | 555555490 | Kenya | East and Southern Africa | Listed |
| Ol Pejeta Conservancy | 555555499 | Kenya | East and Southern Africa | Listed |
| Mara North Conservancy | 555555513 | Kenya | East and Southern Africa | Candidate |
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Deepali Gohil, MSc is an economist, specializing in monitoring and evaluation practices, information management, and socio-ecological systems in East Africa. Deepali began her career at the African Conservation Centre (ACC) working on participatory geographical information systems for land-use monitoring and management and livelihood development. At the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) and Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA), Deepali was responsible for coordinating field and office teams to collect, manage, analyze, interpret, communicate and use ecological and socio-economic information for decision making. She has also worked across the EAC building capacity on REDD+. Deepali has established an impact mapping and measurement firm, Converge, that supports conservation non-profits and humanitarian organizations to monitor and measure trends, and provide high-quality real-time analysis to inform data-driven decision making.
Mr. Andrew Karanja is an environmental management and sustainability specialist with over eight years professional experience in environmental & social safeguards policies, climate change – mitigation & adaptation, and sustainable tourism guidelines. Andrew holds a MSc. in Environmental Management from South Eastern Kenya University and a Bachelors in Environmental Studies (Community Development) from Kenyatta University. He is an alumnus of Advanced International Training Programme on Climate Change – Mitigation and Adaptation from Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). He is registered and licensed as a National Environment Management Authority Lead Expert and approved Travelife Lead auditor for tourism accommodation & tour operators. Andrew currently works as an environmental sustainability consultant in East Africa. Previously, he served as the Eco-rating Certification Program Officer with Ecotourism Kenya and was key in the development of Green Destination Guidelines for Kenya. He is an Eagle member for the IUCN Kenyan Chapter.
Peter Hetz is the Executive Director of the Laikipia Forum, a 20,000 strong membership organization in the greater Laikipia landscape, dedicated to natural resources conservation. His educational background includes ecology, natural resources management/land tenure, and adult education. His career in Kenya began in 1977 and subsequently he spent 20 years working in greater East Africa for Universities, AWF, CARE-International, and the EU. Peter has worked in some 15 different African countries, Eastern Europe and Asia in support of people-centred conservation and natural resources management. Before returning to Kenya in 2015, Peter was vice president at a major international development consulting service based in the USA.
A conservation biologist with 25+ years’ working experience in conservation biology, Martin has training in management and administration from local and international institutions.
Currently Martin leads the strategic development and implementation of WWF-Kenya’s Rhino Conservation work in East Africa; the strategic development and implementation of the Kenya part of the Southern Kenya-Northern Tanzania Transboundary Programme that aims to secure transboundary wildlife migratory corridors and dispersal areas in this landscape.
As the Chief Conservation Officer for Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Martin successfully developed the conservation science arm of the Conservancy and severed on the Laikipia Wildlife Forum Board. Martin held different senior positions at Kenya Wildlife Service and currently serves on various expert committees.
Martin has represented Kenya in many international meetings, taught wildlife management courses, shares his experience with upcoming young Kenyan conservationist, promoting them through capacity building and citizen science. Martin holds a PhD from University of Eldoret with 20+ publications.
Mike is a resourceful executive with 12+ years’ experience promoting the conservation and management of Nature with a bias towards the oceans. He has a high-level expertise in evaluating changes in ecosystems affected by human and natural disturbances namely; fisheries, coral reefs, and the socio-ecological nexus in resource management by deploying strategic initiatives. He is adept at designing and managing research, conservation, and development projects at scale, including species conservation, regional fisheries program implementation, national and regional marine and climate change projects. He has a strong understanding of natural resources / ecosystem management, governance, and conservation. He is proficient at developing proposals, raising funds, and cultivating robust donor relations. He is a proven leader with robust interpersonal skills, solutions thinking, and great communication skills, able to effectively engage across multiple levels from corporate boardrooms, high-level speaking circuits, and scientific symposiums to community and grassroots meetings.
Edin has a degree in international relations and diplomacy from university of South Africa (UNISA) and a diploma in Range management from Egerton university. He worked for Kenya wildlife service which is a national conservation agency for 26 years as a wildlife conservation practitioner and rose through the ranks to Senior Assistant Director in charge of parks and reserves in Kenya. He worked in premium parks like Tsavo and Amboseli etc as Senior warden in charge of these parks among others. He has better understanding of security issues having been trained as a paramilitary officer in Law enforcement academy in Manyani for wildlife conservation and enforcement purposes. He also has a good knowledge of community relations for conflict mitigation between the conservation entities and the communities surrounding these parks and reserves. Edin also sat on the Board of Kenya Forest service for six years overseeing it’s smooth transition from government department to a parastatal.
Celline Achieng’ is currently working with the East African Wild life Society (EAWLS) as the Head of Programmes. She is a trained Environmentalist currently studying for a PhD in Environmental Policy.She holds an MSc in Environmental Studies and a BSc in Botany and Zoology. She began work at the National Museums of Kenya as a volunteer in the herbarium department before joining the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) as a Research Assistant. She also worked with the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) as a Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Project Officer for East Africa. Besides, she has worked as a lecturer in the Department of Environment and Natural Resource Management at Africa Nazarene University. She is a Lead Expert registered with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). She also has trained in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
