There are eight countries across the world among which is Kenya that got the honor of having their wildlife protected areas make it to the first Green List. These were honored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Kenya’s Lewa conservancy and Ol Pejeta made it , and they the only conservancies in Africa that made it to the list according to the announcement made at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 in Sydney, Australia.
The IUCN Green List of Protected Areas is the only global standard of good practice for protected areas which is intended to appreciate and promote success in managing some of the most valuable natural areas in the world. There were 50 candidates put forward by the eight countries as part of the first phase of the Green and the first 23 successful sites have been selected already after being evaluated using a set of criteria that includes the quality of protection of natural values.
The choice is made depending on the degree of fairness and transparency in sharing of the costs and benefits of conservation, effective management and long-lasting conservation outcomes. This is measured according to the challenges and opportunities faced by these conservancies in each different country. Other countries whose protected areas are the first to be listed on the IUCN Green List of Protected Areas include Australia, South Korea, China, Italy, France, Spain, and Colombia are other countries.
The difference compared to others is that Ol Pejeta Conservancy allows pastoral ranching within the protected area providing monitoring, protection and livestock health services too so that they can protect both wildlife and cattle, it also provides a safe haven and rich pastures for local herders in Kenya.
Reports indicate that Lewa Conservancy has developed programs that have transformed lives of thousands in the communities and now supports 20 schools, 10 water projects, four clinics, a women’s micro-credit program and many other community projects, improving the quality of life of many and this something that every conservation area management should give back to all communities around.
The IUCN Green List standard will bring international recognition for the listed sites and increased political support as well as improving the quality of tourism within the sites and this will attract more tourists to those sites and hence an increase in the revenue collected from the tourism sector.
