Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to close to 130 rhino, the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, and contains hundreds of species of flora and fauna. The communities surrounding Ol Pejeta are home to over 50,000 people who are assisted by the conservancy for employment, trade and security. Since the formation of Sweetwaters in 1988, we have spent 26 years conserving the land, providing sanctuary to the wildlife, and supporting livelihoods in the 18 different communities in and around our 90,000 acres.
Ol Pejeta exists to conserve the environment and the wildlife and to equally benefit the people and communities that are an indivisible part of our efforts. We will continue to base our approaches on sound scientific research and understanding. We will continue to be a centre of learning for conservation and community development and welcome academics, researchers and volunteers from around the world to work in support of our vision.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to close to 130 rhino, the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, and contains hundreds of species of flora and fauna. The communities surrounding Ol Pejeta are home to over 50,000 people who are assisted by the conservancy for employment, trade and security. Since the formation of the conservancy in 1988, considerable experience has accrued in conserving the land, providing sanctuary to the wildlife, and supporting livelihoods in the 18 different communities in and around our 35,000 hectares. Ol Pejeta exists to conserve the environment and the wildlife and to equally benefit the people and communities that are an indivisible part of our efforts. The site bases its approaches on sound scientific research and understanding. It strives to be a learning centre for conservation and community development and welcome researchers and volunteers from around the world to support this vision.
Major Site Values
The black rhino is most significant natural value, followed by the ecosystem integrity of the site and the species it contains, and the ecosystem services it offers – principally water and pasture. A key cultural value is the pastoralist right of grazing and stock management for the locally and regionally valuable Bora cattle, which is integrated into ecosystem management by the site staff and rangers.
All EAGL members unanimously voted positively for the Ol Pejeta PA, after review of documents and responses from the PA management. The assessment process has been properly conducted and all aspects of the User Manual have been followed, except that no site visit was conducted during this relisting phase. This is justified as follows: A site visit was carried out during the pilot phase in 2014 and again in 2018. Both visits were conducted by IUCN staff. This is a deviation from the User Manual, which asks for the visit to be carried out by the EAGL. However, given that not only one but two visits were carried out, recognising that the EAGL members know the PA well, and acknowledging that IUCN and Assurance Provider communication with Green List participants did not specify that site visits carried out during the pilot phase would have to be repeated by EAGL members if they were carried out by someone else, the Reviewer accepts this deviation as conforming to the process rules. Following the outcome of the review and the process carried out by the EAGL in evaluating the PA, the Reviewer hereby confirms that all relevant requirements of the IUCN Green List User Manual v1.1 (Aug 2018) have been fulfilled, as outlined above. The Reviewer, therefore, recommends that Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya (S-0206) be nominated for the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas
