April 21, 2021 – Speaking during an Earth Week webinar hosted by Maliasili entitled Community-led conservation in Africa, Daniel Sopia, Chief Executive Officer at the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association, made the following remarks about the changes he’s observing in wildlife conservation management in that region:
From Kenya’s Maasai Mara side, I think what makes this quite different from how conservation has been run in the past is the approach we are seeing today. We are seeing this as a bottom-top (up) approach, unlike before, it was more a top-down approach.
It is also because of the local community who are on the front line of accelerating these changes. These are the people who have co-existed with wildlife for centuries as part of their life. They know how to manoeuvre through most of these issues. And therefore, with their traditions and culture have allowed them to interact and co-exist with wildlife.
And I think today’s change that we are noticing positively is the results of them driving the show. They’re actually in the driving seats of how conservation needs to be steered, and how conservation needs to benefit the people.
And maybe lastly, it’s actually about the benefits that are now trickling down to their communities without the elite capture. And therefore, that is my piece on what actually makes conservation different between today and previously.