TSAVO WEST — The government has launched a Sh20.8 billion (USD 160 million) long-term financing programme to protect Kenya’s wildlife, restore ecosystems and support community livelihoods across 31 counties.
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano officially unveiled the Thamani Asili Programme — meaning “value of nature” in Kiswahili — on Wednesday at Tsavo West National Park in Taita Taveta County. The 10-year initiative is a partnership between the Government of Kenya, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Enduring Earth.
Under the agreement, the government has committed USD 80 million, matched by an equal amount in philanthropic funding. The programme uses the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, which aims to move conservation beyond short-term donor cycles towards predictable, results-based investment.
Thamani Asili targets three main goals: establishing approximately 2.7 million hectares of new conserved areas, improving the management of 11 million hectares of existing conservation spaces, and enabling communities to better manage a further 6 million hectares. Altogether, the initiative seeks to bring 17.3 million hectares under effective conservation and management, advancing Kenya’s commitment to protect at least 30 per cent of its lands, inland waters and near-shore ecosystems.
The programme is expected to directly benefit about 1.6 million people, with a further 3.9 million gaining from improved land governance, natural resource management and nature-based economic opportunities. It is projected to create around 7,800 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs in sectors such as ecological tourism, sustainable grazing, carbon programmes and other green enterprises.
Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Erustus Kanga said successful conservation must protect both wildlife and the livelihoods, cultures and heritage of communities living alongside it. The initiative is also expected to help avoid 7.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2035, supporting Kenya’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.