The Lewa and Borana Wildlife Conservancies, collectively forming the Lewa-Borana Landscape (LBL), have conducted systematic wildlife censuses annually using a combination of aerial and ground-based survey methodologies.
Longitudinal wildlife monitoring within this landscape dates back to 1977 for the Lewa side and 1991 for Borana, providing a robust dataset for analysing population dynamics over time. A significant milestone was achieved in 2015 when the physical barrier between the two conservancies was removed, enabling a seamless ecological continuum followed by a joint wildlife census in 2016.
In 2023, the count scope was expanded by including the Ngarendare forest, an ecologically significant habitat bordering LBL on the south. Building on this momentum, the 2024 census included the Mount Kenya wildlife corridor, which is a critical wildlife pathway to the Mount Kenya ecosystem.
So, why go to all this effort? Our annual wildlife census has three key goals:
- Quantify species abundance across diverse habitats. Think of it as taking a census of the wild, giving us a vital snapshot of who’s where.
- Analyse how these wildlife populations change over time. Are numbers increasing or decreasing? Are their ranges shifting?
- Fuelling Conservation Action: This is where the rubber meets the road. By identifying population booms or busts and predicting potential threats to their habitats, this data directly informs our conservation strategies. It allows us to adapt our management, target our resources effectively, and ensure our efforts are based on solid evidence.
Through the integration of long-term monitoring data and multi-institutional collaboration, the annual census provides essential insights to support evidence-based conservation interventions within LBL and its contiguous areas, which form one of the most critical wildlife landscapes in Kenya.
