The Siana Conservancy

If you are considering going on holiday to Kenya and to visit the Masai Mara, there are some wonderful things going on in that part of the world. It is a truly beautiful landscape, and with a Masai Mara holiday you can make the most of your time there by going on game drives and seeing the Great Migration of wildebeest across the plains, visit local villages and learn about the culture and history, and see some of the finest animals on the planet.

There are different conservancy efforts going on throughout the region, with an attempt to ensure there is sustainability in the region, that the environment is looked after for generations to come and that the tourist industry in the region does not have a negative impact alone on the local environment. One area of interest in Kenya is the Mara Siana Conservancy, which is part of many an interesting Masai Mara holiday experience.

The Mara Siana Conservancy was brought together through a popular and growing movement in Kenya that aims to find solutions to the challenges that face conservation efforts in a country with disputed land use at every turn. The conservancy movement is seen as the potential antidote to those communities that see little benefit to tourism where there is wildlife. In some cases, there has been no incentives put forward to protect wildlife where they are looked upon as a threat to property, a threat to life, and a nuisance to everyday life. Hopefully, with movements such as The Siana Conservancy, these attitudes can change for the better, with a view on protecting wildlife and finding the correct balance between tourism and genuine environmental sustainability.

Kenya is home to some of the most popular national parks in the whole of Africa, but in recent years it has begun to struggle when it comes to protecting its wildlife in an effective manner. The lands of the Samburu and Maasai are key areas of wildlife corridors that are close to the Masai Mara National Reserve and the Mara Siana Conservancy. What this means is that there is naturally plenty of crossover between the lands in terms of wildlife, and around 70% of wildlife in Kenya is believed to live outside of the protected areas.

Local people living in these areas often see very little benefits of the tourism, which has created vast sums of money but historically not been put back into the local communities in surrounding areas. This has obviously led to a lot of resentment from local communities and has led to indifference at best and danger to wildlife at worst.

With the conservancy model though, things have changed. Now, with the Masai Mara and The Siana Conservancy, there is a real chance to incentivise local communities to protect wildlife and share in the great economic benefits of tourism. The Siana specifically, is home to all of the main species of animals that are coveted by tourists as part of the package, except the black rhinoceros.

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