Wildlife Protection & Protected Area Management

Kenya Wildlife Service is the mandated authority over all state protected areas and wildlife in Kenya. Its
role is critical to the success of conservation in the TCA. Tsavo Trust works in close collaboration with

KWS — and with the Wildlife Research and Training Institute — to strengthen biodiversity management,
enhance wildlife security, and ensure increased coordination across the landscape. A strong KWS
partnership results in a secure TCA.

The Big Tusker Project

Super Tusker elephants — bulls carrying ivory weighing 50 kilograms or more on each side — are among
the most iconic and endangered animals on earth. The Tsavo Conservation Area now holds the world's
last sustainable population of these extraordinary elephants, which were once thought to have been lost
from this landscape entirely. Through sustained aerial surveillance, intelligence-led ground operations, and
close partnership with KWS, Tsavo Trust has helped grow the Super Tusker population from 21 individuals
in 2013 to 48 today — with zero poaching recorded since 2019.

• Aerial Unit — Super Cub and fixed-wing aircraft operating from Tsavo Trust's KCAA-registered
  airstrip, providing landscape-scale surveillance, anti-poaching support, rhino monitoring, and
  emergency response across the 42,000 km² TCA
• Biodiversity Protection Teams — Joint KWS/Tsavo Trust ground teams (Tembo 1, 3, 5 and Kamungi
  Scouts) deployed across the TCA to deter and respond to poaching, illegal grazing, charcoaling, and
  hardwood extraction
• Biodiversity Monitoring Teams — Research and monitoring units (Tembo 2 and 4) operating in
  support of KWS and WRTI in Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks
• De-snaring operations — Seven dedicated teams have removed 11,530 wire snares since 2013,
  conservatively preventing the same number of wildlife deaths
• Black rhino protection — Supporting KWS in the Tsavo West Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ), which
  holds Kenya's largest indigenous black rhino population at over 160 individuals in the Ngulia Rhino
  Sanctuary and surrounding IPZ

Key wildlife protection results:

• 98% reduction in elephant poaching since 2013
• Zero black rhino poaching since 2017
• 84% prosecution success rate for wildlife crime offences — 2020 to 2025
• 94% decline in poachers' camps detected annually — from 51 in 2013 to 3 in 2025
• 2.39 million km of combined aerial, vehicle, and foot patrol coverage over 13 years

Read more about our wildlife protection work at tsavotrust.org

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Community-Led Conservation & Development

Communities living in and around the TCA need effective avenues to benefit from the natural resources
they protect. An empowered community results in a secure TCA. Tsavo Trust's approach is to strengthen
community capacity to drive their own local conservation and development initiatives — ensuring long-
term self-reliance and resilience.

Kamungi Conservancy

Tsavo Trust's headquarters are based in the Kamungi Conservancy, which borders the northern boundary
of Tsavo West National Park. Since 2015, Tsavo Trust has worked with the Wakamba community from
Ngiluni and Kamunyu villages — bringing 385 landowner households together to form the Kamungi
Conservancy. The conservancy acts as a critical buffer between the national park and surrounding areas,
and as a model for community-led conservation in the TCA.

What Tsavo Trust delivers in Kamungi:

• Employment — over 65% of Tsavo Trust's staff are drawn directly from the local community, with KES 19.8 million paid in wages in 2024
• Human-wildlife conflict mitigation — a 33-km elephant exclusion fence completed in 2021 has reduced human-elephant conflict by 82%, protecting over 10,000 people and 12 schools along the TWNP boundary
• Water infrastructure — a community borehole, 125 rainwater harvesting tanks, 140 dam liners, and 14 sand dams providing wildlife and community water across the landscape
• Education — support to 7 schools and a scholarship programme for 12 students, plus digital literacy access for over 1,140 students
• Healthcare — support to Ngiluni and Nthunguni dispensaries serving 12,452 patients in 2024, including maternal and reproductive health services
• Livelihoods — 379 households trained in climate-smart agriculture, 224 home solar solutions installed, and 200 energy-saving cooking stoves provided
• Community governance — supporting the Kamungi Conservancy Board in governance, management planning, and independent fundraising

"With Kamungi Conservancy in place, the wildlife population has increased and community lives
have improved. Wildlife is now tolerated on community land and there is coexistence."
— Kyalo Ndeto, Kamungi Conservancy member

Read more about the Community Conservancy Programme at tsavotrust.org

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Long-Term Conservation Financing & Partnerships

Increased funding and investment to scale up conservation efforts across the TCA is foundational to Tsavo Trust's strategy. Diversified and resilient financing — combining donor partnerships, sustainable tourism, payment-for-ecosystem-services, and community income streams — is what makes long-term conservation possible.

Conservation Partnerships

Tsavo Trust works with a growing network of conservation partners — bringing organisations together to collaborate rather than compete, sharing field intelligence, and coordinating conservation action at landscape scale. Key partners include the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, the Zoological Society of London, Save The Elephants, the Wildlife Conservation Network, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and numerous international foundations and family donors.

Kamungi Bandas — Sustainable Tourism

Tsavo Trust has developed the Kamungi Bandas — a self-catering eco-accommodation facility within the Kamungi Conservancy. Kamungi Bandas generates direct income for the conservancy and its members, provides employment for community staff, and offers guests an authentic, field-based conservation experience within Tsavo's wilderness. Revenue from Kamungi Bandas contributes directly to the long-term financial sustainability of the conservancy model.

Long-term financing for the TCA

Beyond project-by-project fundraising, Tsavo Trust is working towards a more resilient and robust long- term financing framework for the Tsavo Conservation Area — including payment-for-ecosystem-services schemes, carbon credit partnerships, and the development of a TCA-specific conservation trust fund in collaboration with KWS and other government agencies.

Read more about Tsavo Trust's partnerships and financing work at tsavotrust.org

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