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Conservation cannot succeed in isolation—it must be valuable to local communities. At Lion Landscapes, we are committed to ensuring that large carnivores bring tangible benefits to the people who share their landscape.
Our Community Camera Trapping (CCT) and Community Camera Trapping+ (CCT+) programmes continue to demonstrate how conservation-driven incentives provide tangible benefits for local communities. CCT rewards villages for the presence of wildlife recorded on camera traps, while CCT+ builds on this by linking benefits not only to wildlife presence but also to conservation-positive actions and reducing conservation-negative activities. By ensuring that benefits are tied to both wildlife presence and responsible conservation behaviours, these programmes help make coexisting with large carnivores more valuable to communities.
This month, we share how communities in Tanzania and Kenya are investing their conservation earnings into long-term development while embracing new strategies to strengthen their conservation commitments.
CCT+ Benefits: Impact Updates
In the Ruaha landscape, 13 villages are engaged in the CCT/CCT+ programme. In Malinzanga village, the first village to transition to CCT+, a significant step towards improving education access is underway. The village is using its CCT+ benefits to build a new primary school, helping to reduce classroom overcrowding. This addition will bring the total number of schools in the village to four, directly benefiting local children. As part of this project, 34 bags of cement were purchased for construction—demonstrating how conservation incentives can support community development.
Left to Right: Community members receiving bags of cement for school construction, and a photo of a spotted hyaena captured by a community camera trap in Malinzanga, contributing to the village's earned benefits.
In Kenya, birth certificates are essential for school enrollment and accessing government subsidies, which help schools provide quality education. However, obtaining birth certificates is often a major challenge for parents, who must undertake long and difficult journeys to the nearest town. Without proper documentation, children face barriers to education, and schools struggle to secure the funding needed to support their students.
In the Laikipia landscape, one community used part of their CCT+ benefits to address this issue. We coordinated with government officials to visit the village, allowing parents to submit the necessary paperwork locally. As a result, 85 children received their birth certificates, removing a critical barrier to their education and now these children have the opportunity for full school enrollment.
Community members from Morijoh going through the birth certificate acquisition process with the help of the registrar of persons.
Besides education, access to healthcare is a key priority for many communities, and CCT+ is helping to support this need in the villages we work with in the Selous-Nyerere and Ruaha landscapes. Since January 2024, over 6,500 individuals have been enrolled in the Community Health Fund (CHF) as part of their benefits from CCT+, ensuring access to essential medical services. The CHF programme provides its community members with free medical treatment, covering services such as doctor consultations, laboratory tests, and essential medications.
Villagers in the Selous-Nyerere landscape receive CHF health cards, providing them with access to basic healthcare services at local facilities for a year.
By linking wildlife presence and conservation-positive actions to tangible community benefits, such as education and healthcare, the CCT+ programme demonstrates how conservation incentives can contribute to local well-being.
Further Reading: Understanding Human-Wildlife Conflict
Conflicts over wildlife vary widely—not just in terms of direct impacts but also in how people perceive and respond to them. Levels of Conflict Over Wildlife: Understanding and Addressing the Right Problem explores the different layers of conflict, from disputes over livestock losses to deeper tensions tied to history, identity, and values. The paper points out that addressing human–wildlife conflicts without good insight into the levels and causes of conflicts not only fails to resolve them, but can potentially exacerbate the situation. These insights help inform approaches to conservation that go beyond mitigation to address underlying social dynamics.
At Lion Landscapes, we recognise the importance of addressing conservation challenges through partnerships with the communities living alongside wildlife. An integrated and holistic approach is crucial for tackling conservation challenges as complex and dynamic as wildlife conflicts. As we continue to refine our strategies, scientific insights like these help inform our work, allowing us to adapt and innovate for more effective conservation outcomes.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support helps us create conservation solutions that benefit both people and wildlife. If you'd like to stay involved, share this update, follow us on social media, and help spread the word about the importance of coexistence!
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