ABOUT SAFARI HABITAT

Safari Habitat is an African conservation initiative created by KIF Africa and administered by KIF's affiliated national chapters in Africa.

MISSION

The mission of Safari Habitat is to provide conservation assistance that helps preserve and protect the wildlife and natural environment in the African countries.

CHALLENGES

Conservation efforts in Africa today face huge challenges. Africa’s human population is forecast to quadruple by the end of the century, and already intensifying pressures around the use of land, water, and natural resources are having an impact on the region’s extraordinary wildlife. In order to respond effectively to current challenges, conservationists – including funders and patrons based in northern countries – need to urgently promote and invest in approaches that are delivering conservation impact. An expanding array of local conservancies and other community-based models are delivering results and showing the potential to integrate conservation with local livelihoods and national economic interests. No country embodies these tenets better than Namibia, where innovative models for conservation developed over the past 30 years have restored wildlife on a remarkable scale.

In Kenya, a diverse range of conservancies created by ranchers and local communities are spreading rapidly, now covering over six million hectares – about 11% of the country’s surface and more than the total land area contained in Kenya’s national parks. These conservancies help communities protect and manage their lands and generate opportunities from the country’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry. For example, in the Maasai Mara, conservancies now cover an area roughly equivalent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve (about 140,000 hectares), and deliver about $3.7 million in annual lease payment to thousands of local landowners.

PARTNERS

Through Safari Habitat, we aim to provide inclusive and unified approaches to achieve our mission and visions in partnerships with like-minded organizations based within and outside of Africa.