Our Story
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is a state corporation mandated to conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife, and to enforce relevant Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (WCMA, 2013) laws for the Kenyan people and the world.
There are a plethora of challenges facing wildlife and biodiversity conservation in Kenya, such as climate change, habitat degradation and loss, forest depletion, tourism market volatility, changing land use, human-wildlife conflict brought on by population growth, and wildlife crime.
Some of the work that KWS does to tackle these challenges includes:
- Protecting and managing national parks, reserves, sanctuaries, and marine parks, where wildlife can thrive in their natural habitats.
- Conducting research and monitoring on wildlife ecology, behaviour, population and threats, to inform conservation policies and actions.
- Providing education and awareness programs to the public, schools, communities and stakeholders, to promote wildlife conservation and coexistence.
- Rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned or confiscated wildlife and releasing them back to the wild when possible.
- Responding to human-wildlife conflicts such as crop raiding, livestock predation or poaching and providing compensation or mitigation measures.
- Collaborating with local and international partners such as NGOs, donors, governments and the private sector to support wildlife conservation initiatives.
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Our Vision & Mission
Our Vision is: Thriving wildlife and healthy habitats for all, forever.
Our Mission is: Sustainably conserve Kenya’s wildlife heritage and its habitats for the well-being of nature and people
And here’s something about our Core Values: We do what we do with Professionalism, Accountability, Resilience, Integrity, Inclusivity, and Innovation.
Our Mandate
Is:
- To provide security for wildlife and visitors in national Parks, wildlife conservation areas and sanctuaries;
- To conduct and co-ordinate all research activities in the field of wildlife conservation and management and ensure application of research findings in conservation, planning, implementation and decision making;
- To promote and undertake extension service programmes intended to enhance wildlife conservation, education and training;
- To set up a County Wildlife Conservation Committee in respect of each County; and develop mechanisms for benefit sharing with communities living in wildlife areas;
- To input into national wildlife-related law and policy, adopting and implementing international conventions and protocols.