Meaning of Conservancies

What are Conservancies?

When the Masai Mara National Reserve was created in 1948, the areas to the North and East, still part of the total ecosystem, were left as “group ranches, “ vast areas grazed by Maasai cattle herders without plan or control, and to whom no benefit accrued from the thousands of visiting tourists.

The conservancy principle is totally different. The area of each conservancy is divided into several hundred plots with identifiable owners, from whom the land is leased for wildlife tourism by the members of the conservancy. The Maasai owners are paid a guaranteed monthly rental, regardless of bed-nights and so, most of them have a monthly income and a bank account for the first time. Bomas ( Maasai villages ) are relocated outside the conservancy; grazing is allowed, but only within an agreed grazing management plan, which is generally reviewed every month.

The effects are immense. The Maasai receive tourist income, and the wildlife habitats and the animals densities are vastly improved, with the greatest lion and elephant numbers, for example not in the National Reserve, but in the conservancies to the north.

Conservancy Principles?

The aim within the conservancies is to avoid most of the problems which have occurred in the National Reserve. These are some of the principles:

Professional Management

Tourists densities are kept low with 1 tent to about 700 acres ( 280 ha )

Camps are kept small, with no more than 12 tents

Strict observance of maximum number of vehicles around animal sightings

Camps are temporarily structures, made from canvas

Maasai grazing is generally allowed, but only under an agreed management plan

Owners of the land receive an agreed rental/lease income based on bed numbers, regardless of occupancy, so income is guaranteed.

Doing safaris in conservancies is a better way of helping the local communities as the income generated goes back to the local communities.