I had asked people's opinion towards the best and sustainable ways in mitigating Human -Wildlife Conflict in Kenyan Wildlife zones , I have summarized and added my opinions . I am sure if we execute some of these options we can mitigate if not control Human -Wildlife Conflict/ Wildlife-Human Conflict.
In my view , we have been dealing with symptoms instead of tacking the route course , this over time has escalated the animosity between people and wildlife.
One simple obligation that all players should know and acknowledge is to be Be proactive when you see Wildlife. Since most animals are naturally afraid of humans, conflicts often arise when animals become habituated to humans or associate them with food. This to me is basic or common sense, if we ignore this from the beginning then we are doomed to suffer.
Most of these areas characterised as Wildlife zones have no land -use plan and if its exists has no good will in execution. The moment we shall understand and embrace wildlife conservation as a land use we shall win this war , there has been been efforts to arrest this but disjointly and absence of policy and political goodwill that resulted in frustrating the efforts . Examples are known to many ,how Maasai Mara, Samburu /Laikipia - Amboseli among others have made wise strides that ended up being frustrated .This is denominator and require players to be sincere , serious, committed and implement the process collectively. I am sure the agencie has clear mandate and know their strength as well as weakness ( SWOTS) and vice versa who frustrates this process . This is where the agencies should acquire more space for wildlife instead of putting all our effort/ strength to compensation as the last option .
Once the above is applied we can start the process of payment for Environmental Services (PES) concept. This concept recognises the environmental gains within the ecosystem and how it can be utilized ( finacialy). The most popular of these is financial reward for the sequestering of carbon, but it is also seen as a potential solution for human-wildlife conflict respectively..
Last but not ! There should be compensation or insurance to the affected out of animal-induced damage . I know this has been there for sometimes now but the mere question is what is the future of this program; sustainability and governance? There are different ways this can be done for example, community-based insurance systems exist for damage done to livestock & injury with a transparent governance.
This topic is a thorn in my fresh , I will continue collecting views from mass, expert until we get close to the reality .
