History & Achievements
East African Wild Life Society has a rich history in environmental conservation dating back to 1956.
We are one of the oldest membership-based, non-governmental wildlife conservation organization in East Africa with a rich history dating back to 1956 when we made our first step as an organization. In 1961, the Kenya and Tanzania Wildlife Societies joined forces with wildlife enthusiasts from Uganda to form The East African Wild Life Society.
We are registered as a not-for-profit Non-Governmental Organization under the NGO Coordination Act of Kenya (Act No.19 of 1990) and over the years we have realized monumental achievements and made contributions towards important environmental legislations and policies that today support conservation
in the region.
1960s
At the onset of our work, our approach specifically focused on wildlife species protection. This was a period when poaching was rife and hunting was widespread, unregulated and popular in the region. What’s more, many indigenous communities had been marginalized by land policies and gained almost no benefit from wildlife.
During this period our key activities included supporting animal rescue, anti-poaching, research, building the capacities of individual wildlife conservationists and institutions and supporting conservation projects targeting endangered and threatened wildlife species.
At the onset of our work, our approach specifically focused on wildlife species protection. This was a period when poaching was rife and hunting was widespread, unregulated, and popular in the region. What’s more, many indigenous communities had been marginalized by land policies and gained almost no benefit from wildlife.
During this period our key activities included supporting animal rescue, anti-poaching, research, building capacities of individual wildlife conservationists and institutions, and supporting conservation projects targeting endangered and threatened wildlife species.
We launched a programme that offered financial support to game departments in Kenya (1964), Tanzania (1965) and Uganda (1966) and donated anti-poaching equipment including vehicles and aircraft to National Parks in Kenya and Uganda; Erected fences around national parks; Rescued endangered species like the Grevy’s zebra, Hunter’s hartebeest (hirola) among others and translocated wild animals to safe sanctuaries like the endangered Roan antelope that was translocated from Lumbwa Valley in western Kenya to Shimba Hills National Reserve (Kwale County).
We launched a program that offered financial support to game departments in Kenya (1964), Tanzania (1965) and Uganda (1966) and donated anti-poaching equipment including vehicles and aircraft to National Parks in Kenya and Uganda; Erected fences around national parks; Rescued endangered species like the Grevy’s zebra, Hunter’s hartebeest (hirola) among others and translocated wild animals to safe sanctuaries like the endangered Roan antelope that was translocated from Lumbwa Valley in Western Kenya to Shimba Hills National Reserve (Kwale County).
In 1965, we initiated an education program to support wildlife conservation research work on bird and marine ecosystems, wildlife ecology and indigenous forests and wildlife species including Cheetah, Hyena, Elephant, Rhino and the threatened Tana River Mangabey, Red Colobus monkeys, Sable and Roan antelope. Our research informed decisions that granted several wildlife habitats park status like the Amboseli National Park.
1970s
During this period, our emphasis focused on supporting ecosystems outside of protected areas in a bid to secure land from communities around national parks that were important wildlife dispersal areas and migratory corridors. We were also instrumental in creating protected areas for wildlife like the Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya), Serengeti National Park (Tanzania) and the National Tsavo Parks in Kenya. Chyulu Hills, for example, was a prime Black rhino area owned by local communities and the rhinos were targeted y poachers. Through our advocacy, the government of Kenya acknowledged the dire need to declare Chyulu Hills a protected area. Hunting was also banned in Kenya in 1977.
Our research during this period was also the first to show that wildlife and pastoralists have to co-exist and that 75 percent of Kenya’s wildlife is found outside of protected areas. This led to the establishment of non-state protected areas today known as community conservancies in the region.
It was also during this period that we relaunched our publication ‘Africana’ into the now known SWARA Magazine whose objective is to highlight conservation matters in the wider region of East Africa. Swara is the Kiswahili name for Impala – a widespread large antelope of the African plains. Our logo bears this antelope.
1980s
During this period there was the need for a central coordinating organisation to oversee the problems of wildlife conservation throughout Kenya. In 1989, EAWLS advocated for a quasi-governmental institution to manage the National Parks and Game Reserves in Kenya. This led to the establishment of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which replaced the Wildlife Conservation and Management Department (WCDM).
In 1982, EAWLS sponsored the late conservationist Michael Werikhe to raise awareness about the plight of the Black Rhino. Werikhe walked from Mombasa to Nairobi and across five countries in Europe and USA, and raised funds that supported rhino ecology studies and through EAWLS led to the establishment of the first rhino sanctuary in Lake Nakuru National Park in 1984.
1990s
During this period, we broadened our scope to include support for forests, wetlands, and marine life conservation, and grew our advocacy work by bringing together civil society organisations to jointly champion the same cause. We began mobilizing communities to become more involved in conservation and stem government excesses.
We, therefore, established sector-based national forums including the Kenya Forests Working Group (KFWG), the Kenya Wetlands Forum (KWF) and the Kenya Wildlife Conservation Forum (KWCF) as sub-committees of EAWLS for joint advocacy work. This model was further instrumental in the formation of the Tanzania Forests Working Group (TFWG) and Uganda Forests Working Group (UFWG).
Through these forums we supported a review of the Environment Management and Co-ordination Act, 1999, making sure proper Environmental Impact Assessment protocol was established by this law in Kenya.
2000s
In 2009, we advocated against the construction of a highway through the environmentally-sensitive Aberdare National Park which could have led to habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. As a result, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) refused to grant a licence for this construction.
2010s
In 2011 through evidence-based advocacy, we advised NEMA to reject the large-scale proposed Jatropha plantations that could have led to the clearing of 110,000ha of the Dakatcha Woodland in Kilifi County and the Tana River Delta. This proposal was not economically nor ecologically viable and it would have undermined local land use planning efforts.
2020s
Additionally, we reviewed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed construction of Shimoni Port at the Coast and submitted our views to the relevant authorities, including NEMA. We are currently following up on this.
