The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has announced plans to erect an electric fence between Tsavo East National Park and Makueni County in the south-east of the country.
The authority said the project aims to reduce human-elephant conflict. The 20 km long solar-powered fence, estimated to cost Sh 125million and will take two years. The work is being coordinated by both the Makueni County Government and the Tsavo Trust, a wildlife conservation organisation, which are co-financing the project. The county government has provided Sh 75million.
KWS proposal
The elephant extrusion fence project along the boundary between Makueni County and Tsavo East National Park is a proposal by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya’s wildlife protection agency. This is the option adopted on July 22nd, 2021 by the NEMA.
The solar photovoltaic powered electric fence will be 20 km long. Its construction is planned to take two years. The work is being coordinated by both the Makueni County Government and the Tsavo Trust, a wildlife conservation organisation, which are co-financing the project. The county government has provided Sh75 million Kenyan, while the Tsavo Trust is pledging Sh 50 million.
“The fence does not represent a direct boundary demarcation, but only serves to mitigate human-wildlife conflict in the area settled by the community,” explains the KWS.
Human-elephant conflict is a complex and pervasive problem that occurs throughout the range of elephants, where elephants and humans share the same habitat and often compete for the same resources. A study published in early February 2021 in Biological Conservation by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (Dice) at the University of Kent (UK) shows that with charcoal production, expansion of grazing land and fields increasingly encroaching on the reserve, wildlife incidents increased by almost 50% between 2000 and 2015 in Kenya.
