For more than 50 years, EAWLS has been at the forefront in the efforts for protecting endangered, rare or threatened species and habitats in East Africa.
In the 1980’s, EAWLS was instrumental in initiatives undertaken for the conservation of elephants and the establishment of rhino sanctuaries in Kenya. It was again instrumental in advocating for the establishment of a quasi-government institution to run the National Parks and Reserves in Kenya during the same period. This effort resulted into the establishment of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Since then the East African Wild Life Society has been in the forefront of conservation of wildlife species and their habitats, fighting off forces that threaten to bring imbalances to our ecosystems.

There are two current programmes in this thematic area.