Tsavo Conservancy

Working hand in hand with KWCA, TTWCA and KWS, the proposed Tsavo Community Conservancy in Kenya, surrounds the existing Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks and being made up of a host of different land owners and smaller Conservancies.

This will be a ground breaking project and will pave the way for a larger program for all the national Parks in Kenya.

Strategic Motivation

The Tsavo Conservancy is proposed as a community-led conservation and sustainable development landscape surrounding Tsavo National Park, one of Africa’s most iconic protected areas and one of Kenya’s most important wildlife landscapes.

Tsavo’s ecological significance extends far beyond the boundaries of the national park. Its wildlife populations, including elephants, lions, giraffes, buffalo and other species, depend upon a much larger landscape of community land, ranches, farms, tourism areas and wildlife corridors. Increasing pressure from population growth, agriculture, human-wildlife conflict, infrastructure development and competing land uses makes it increasingly important to create a coordinated landscape approach that connects conservation inside the national park with sustainable economic opportunities outside it.

The Rewilding Africa National Park Conservancy (NPC) Model provides a framework for addressing this challenge by creating a “Thrive Buffer” around the national park—a coordinated conservancy landscape in which communities become active participants and beneficiaries of conservation, while compatible tourism, enterprise, restoration and investment opportunities generate sustainable livelihoods.

The objective is not to replace or interfere with the statutory management of Tsavo National Park. Rather, the Tsavo Conservancy would create a complementary platform around the park, working with the relevant Kenyan authorities, county governments, communities, conservancies, landowners, NGOs, tourism operators, investors and development partners.

The long-term ambition is to establish Tsavo as a globally recognised community-led conservation destination, demonstrating how protected areas can become catalysts for wider landscape regeneration, community prosperity, wildlife connectivity and nature-positive investment.

Phase 1 Strategy

Tsavo Conservancy Destination Development & Launch Programme

Phase 1 is designed as the strategic mobilisation and destination-launch phase of the Tsavo Conservancy. Its purpose is to establish the partnerships, proposition, brand, investment narrative and implementation framework required to move towards the full conservancy development programme in phase 2

1. Stakeholder Engagement & Advocacy

Rewilding Africa CIC would initiate a structured stakeholder engagement programme with the relevant national and county authorities, community representatives, existing conservancies, landowners, conservation organisations, tourism stakeholders and potential development partners.

The objective would be to establish a shared understanding of the NPC concept, identify priority partners and build the institutional support required for the Tsavo Conservancy.

A key early milestone would be the development and signing of an appropriate Memorandum of Understanding with the relevant national park authority/authorities and implementation partners.

2. Tsavo Conservancy Destination Proposition

Phase 1 would define the strategic proposition for the conservancy, including:

• The proposed geographic and ecological landscape

• Priority wildlife corridors and buffer areas

• Community and landowner participation

• Nature-positive land-use opportunities

• Tourism and destination-development opportunities

• Conservation and restoration priorities

• Potential investment opportunities

• Social and economic benefits for participating communities

This would provide the foundation for the detailed planning and development work envisaged under Phase 2.

3. Destination Branding & Marketing

A distinctive Tsavo Conservancy destination brand would be developed to position the landscape as an internationally recognised conservation and nature-based tourism destination.

The brand would complement the identity of Tsavo National Park while creating a broader proposition centred on community, wildlife, wilderness and sustainable development.

Phase 1 would establish the initial marketing strategy, digital presence, storytelling proposition, investor narrative and communications platform needed to attract partners, visitors, donors and impact investors.

4. Community-Led Conservation Platform

A central principle would be to ensure that communities are not simply viewed as beneficiaries of conservation, but as owners, partners and economic participants in the wider conservation economy.

Phase 1 would therefore identify opportunities for community enterprise development linked to:

• Tourism

• Cultural experiences

• Conservation employment

• Habitat restoration

• Sustainable agriculture

• Nature-based enterprises

• Carbon and biodiversity opportunities

• Local supply chains

• Youth and women-led enterprises

This would help establish the economic rationale for conservation beyond the boundaries of the national park.

5. Investment & Fundraising Strategy

The destination brand strategy would position Tsavo Conservancy as an investable conservation landscape, capable of attracting a combination of philanthropic funding, development finance, impact investment, tourism capital and other blended-finance mechanisms.

Phase 1 would develop a preliminary funding and investment pipeline covering:

• Conservation and restoration

• Community enterprise

• Tourism infrastructure

• Wildlife corridors

• Nature-based solutions

• Carbon and biodiversity finance

• Technical assistance

• Destination marketing

• Long-term conservancy management

The objective would be to create a credible pathway from initial catalytic funding into larger-scale Phase 2 implementation.