Contested conservation frontiers involving pastoralists in northern Kenya

The 2024 article “Contested conservation frontiers: resource wars, power play, and violence in Samburu and Isiolo Counties” by Clifford Okwany & Evelyne Owino, published in the Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies 8(1): 30–60 (https://doi.org/10.61199/jass.144600) examines informal arrangements between the Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT), pastoralist communities and state actors in Isiolo and Samburu Counties related to NRT-led interventions in nature conservation. It draws on 56 in-depth interviews, 41 focus group discussions, repeated field observation and transect walks conducted in 2018–24 with key informants, including NRT representatives, government officials, civil society actors and pastoralists. It reveals that public-private partnerships involving NRT and government actors are characterised by secrecy. Conservation efforts, often justified under the guise of environmental protection, have increasingly relied on privatisation and legitimisation of coercive force. This militarised approach exacerbates resource conflicts and perpetuates cycles of violence. The study underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in conservation initiatives to balance resource conservation and pastoralist community livelihoods.

Posted on 19 January 2025 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Policy & Power