Conservation Easements

In the month of March 2021 ACF successfully established a Wildlife Conservation Order or Easement for the Lake Chala Conservancy, setting a precedence for the protection of wildlife corridors and dispersal areas in Kenya.

These orders and easements are legal restrictions attached to the land in perpetuity and are enforceable thus providing environmental protection for the land and the ecosystem for a long period of time.

This Wildlife Conservation Order, the very first one in the country, has been issued for the protection of Lake Chala Conservancy is located at the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro and to the South West of the famous Tsavo National Park. The conservancy covers half of the lake Chala and all the abetting caldera forest on the Kenya side of the territorial border with Tanzania

The order was issued by the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 sections 65,66 and 67.It is jointly held by The Africa Conservancy Foundation, Educate Africa Organization and Lake Chala Conservancy Limited. It is envisaged that the local county government of Taita Tavetta will be enjoined in the Conservation order in the future.

The purpose of this order is to protect and conserve the 1,000 Acre Lake Chala conservancy including the lake, the undisturbed caldera forest, the surrounding savannah grassland and all the biodiversity within the ecosystem.

Environmental Easements and Wildlife Conservation Orders are provided for under the Environmental Management and Coordination Act 1999 (Rev 2012) and Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 Laws of Kenya. Under these provisions, a court may grant a Conservation Order or Easement. For purposes of ,among others, furthering principles of sustainable wildlife conservation and management, preserving flora and fauna, creating and maintaining wildlife migration corridors and dispersal areas, preserving the quality and flow of water in a lake or reservoir or river or aquafer, preserving outstanding geological, geomorphological, ecological or archeological value.