Bridging the conservation and development trade-off?: A working landscape critique of a conservancy in the Maasai Mara

The recent call to halt biodiversity loss by protecting half the planet
has been hotly contested because of the extent to which people might be
excluded from these landscapes. It is clear that incorporating landscapes
that implicitly work for indigenous people is vital to achieving any
sustainable targets.We examine an attempt to balance the trade-offs
between conservation and development in Enonkishu Conservancy in the
Maasai Mara, using a working landscape approach. Mobile livestock
production strategies are theoretically consistent with wildlife-based
activities and can present a win-win solution for both conservation and
development. We explore the success and failings of Enonkishu’s evolving
attempts to achieve this: addressing the criticism of the conservation
sector that it fails to learn from its mistakes. We found that Enonkishu
has had considerable positive conservation outcomes, preventing the
continued encroachment of farmland, maintaining and improving rangeland
health relative to the surrounding area, while maintaining diverse and
large populations of wildlife and livestock. The learning from certain
ventures, that failed, particularly on livestock, has created institutions
and governance that, while still evolving, are more robust and relevant
for conservancy members, by being fluid and inclusive. Diverse revenue
streams (beyond tourism, including a residential estate, livestock venture
and philanthropy) enabled Enonkishu to withstand the pressures of
Covid-19. Livestock is crucial for defining the vision of the conservancy,
and the institutions and governance that underpin it.