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IMPACT PROMISE

Our Partners are carefully selected due to their high conservation impact

Partner Snapshot

Partner:

Conservation Alliance of Kenya (CAK)

Location:

Kenya, Africa

Category:
  • Capacity Building and Training
  • Ecosystem Restoration
  • Government Policy
Urgent Appeals:

Promoting Coexistence: Support Communities to Protect People and Wildlife

Date Founded:

2016

Website:

www.conservationalliance.or.ke

Partner Qualifications:

  • IUCN Member
    A distinguished Member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. IUCN Members are each vetted and voted on based on an independent, rigorous assessment and external references. Learn More
  • Legally Constituted
    This organization is formally constituted and is a legally recognized non-profit in its country of origin.
  • Effective Impact
    We recognize this Partner for their tremendous efforts to make a difference for wildlife and local communities, as well as welcome technical support from Conservation Allies to improve and scale up their impact.

About The Conservation Alliance of Kenya

The Conservation Alliance of Kenya (CAK) is an umbrella organization for registered groups in Kenya involved in biodiversity conservation. They have a membership of 75 organizations working across the country to conserve species, protect habitats, and advocate for conservation policies. Their vision is to be a unified, influential voice in Kenya, promoting a future where people, nature, and the economy thrive sustainably. CAK's mission is to advocate for sustainable, connected ecosystems where flora and fauna flourish by empowering communities and members to implement impactful conservation programs.

CAK believes that empowering its members and stakeholders to address conservation issues in a cohesive, coordinated manner will lead to more effective conservation efforts. Their success is guided by four strategic objectives:

  1. Advocating for Favorable Policies and Legislation: This includes participating in biodiversity conventions and working with the government to align policies, laws, and strategies at both national and county levels.
  2. Promoting Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration: CAK emphasizes a landscape/ecosystem approach to data collection and knowledge management through partnerships.
  3. Building Member Capacity: By leveraging the expertise of members and stakeholders, CAK aims to strengthen institutional capacity and achieve impactful conservation actions.
  4. Facilitating Management and Information Sharing: CAK works to enhance information sharing to scale up successful conservation efforts.

Their Challenges

CAK faces several key challenges that hinder the effectiveness of conservation efforts in Kenya:

  1. Limited collaboration: Working in isolation and failing to share information or lessons learned with other stakeholders. To address this, CAK conducts stakeholder mapping and holds quarterly meetings on thematic issues.
  2. Resource constraints: There is a lack of adequate resources to convene meetings with the government to review policies, laws, and strategies crucial to conservation efforts.
  3. Human-wildlife coexistence: Managing conflicts between local communities and wildlife remains a significant challenge in maintaining biodiversity in Kenya.
  4. Dependence on external funding: Governmental financial support for conservation is lacking, forcing CAK to rely heavily on external sources for their initiatives.

Their Approach

In response to the challenges they face, CAK has developed a multi-faceted approach to strengthen conservation efforts and improve stakeholder collaboration:

  1. Building member capacity: They are working on enhance members' ability to share data that can influence favorable policies, laws, and strategies. Their capacity building also focuses on governance, board leadership, and resource mobilization to reduce program duplication and maximize impact.
  2. Knowledge sharing: To address the scattered nature of information, CAK is creating a centralized knowledge hub through its website, serving as a one-stop platform for data sharing among Kenyan conservationists.
  3. Policy development: CAK is working on two key policies—one focusing on conservation and another reviewing the Wildlife Act. They are also developing landscape conservation master plans for two key ecosystems, Tsavo and Kakamega.
  4. Restoration efforts: CAK is restoring degraded conservation areas and upscaling successful conservation actions, including sustainable methods for eradicating invasive and alien species.

By taking these steps, CAK aims to address Kenya's conservation challenges and enhance its role as a leader in biodiversity conservation across Kenya.

Why They Need Your Help

Donations to CAK will be used to implement policies, laws, and strategies that promote cross-sector partnerships and collaboration. They will help enhance coexistence between people and wildlife through education, capacity building, and fostering trust between rangers and communities, offering sustainable solutions to reduce conflicts. The funds will also support habitat restoration to ensure species survival and save habitats from fragmentation and degradation. Additionally, donations will build the capacity of members and stakeholders to adopt local solutions that mitigate the global impacts of climate change. Donations will also help fund ongoing wildlife census efforts and the construction of predator-proof solutions for livestock.