ID: 950

Southern Kenya-Northern Tanzania (SOKNOT-UNGANISHA) Transboundary Program

WWF-Kenya and WWF-Tanzania Country Offices are in the early stages of co-creating an ambitious transboundary conservation programme along the Southern Kenya-Northern Tanzania (SOKNOT-UNGANISHA) landscape. The programme which will be undertaken in an integrated landscape approach; seeks to contribute to the two Government's efforts to implement their respective wildlife corridor and dispersal area strategies while ensuring that the livelihoods and well-being of people living within those wildlife areas are enhanced. The SOKNOT-UNGANISHA transboundary conservation area broadly covers the following three ecosystems: Mara-Serengeti; Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro and Tsavo-Mkomazi and the areas that connect them. The vision is currently defined as “By 2030, the SOKNOT transboundary landscape forms a connected network of protected areas, including core wildlife dispersal areas and functional corridors; with the resultant ecosystem services underpinning community livelihoods and sustainable development in Kenya and Tanzania”. This landscape with its richness in both biodiversity and abundance is of global importance with the Ngorongoro crater, important biospheres and bird habitats including World Heritage Sites (WHS), Biosphere reserves, Ramsar sites and home to the Seventh Wonder of the world - the largest annual land mammal migration of over 1.3 million wildebeests and zebras between Tanzania and Kenya. In a nutshell, the landscape is home to millions of wild animals including threatened and endangered species. It is also rich in transboundary river systems on which wildlife depends including the Mau - Mara river basin, the south Ewaso Ng’iro basin as well as the Pangani river basin amongst others. With a focus on securing the connectivity of critical wildlife migration corridors, the program has adopted a multi-sectoral approach addressing needs for conservation and sustainable resource management in the wildlife, forestry, agriculture, water and livestock sectors. Diversifying the livelihoods of local communities, increasing long-term environmental & community resilience.

Planned actions

Protection of land/water

Management of land/water

Species management

Education or awareness-raising