Kenya Secures $160m Conservation Deal Covering 17.3 Million Hectares
Kenya's government has signed a $160 million conservation finance agreement to protect 173,000 square kilometres of some of the country's most ecologically significant landscapes. The Thamani Asili initiative - meaning "value of nature" in Kiswahili - was announced on Wednesday and will focus on biodiversity hotspots spanning the Great Rift Valley to the Maasai Mara, areas home to elephants, rhinos, lions and thousands of other species.
The funding combines $80 million from private donors - including heirs of the Walton and Cargill families - with a matching $80 million commitment from the Kenyan government over ten years. Structured under the "Project Finance for Permanence" model, which ties funding to government policy reform, the programme will initially target four key regions, including Tsavo - home to 40% of Kenya's elephants and 20% of its critically endangered black rhinos - and the Maasai Mara, which connects into Tanzania's Serengeti ecosystem. The deal is also expected to move Kenya closer to the global 30x30 target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030; The Nature Conservancy currently estimates Kenya's coverage at between 20% and 23%.
Source: Reuters
