History of Amboseli Conservation Program
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 to address conflicts over Amboseli National Reserve’s future, emphasizing on community-based conservation.
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 when David Western studied the ecology of the Maasai Amboseli National Reserve to address a deep conflict over its status and future. Conservationists, insistent that overgrazing was destroying Amboseli’s famous fever tree woodland and its wildlife, were pressing the government to create a national park and exclude the Maasai. The Kajiado County Council rejected the claim and insisted on control of the reserve and its tourist revenues.
Recognizing the role of pastoralists in the ecosystem, Western studied the interplay of livestock and wildlife, and showed the importance of seasonal migrations and the drought refuges of the Amboseli basin in sustaining their abundance and coexistence. Based on these findings, he proposed that the Maasai should establish a small core park nested within a larger ecosystem that sustained the migrations and the coexistence of people and wildlife. The proposal drew in anthropologists, political scientists, and economists from the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies, the warden, Daniel Sindiyo, members of the Maasai community and the Kajiado County Council.
The resulting land use plan, produced in 1969, proposed that the pastoral community that had sustained wildlife in Amboseli for generations should be a primary beneficiary of tourism revenues. By 1973 the research studies, land use analysis, planning work, and conservation activities had coalesced into the Amboseli Conservation Program. The program and conservation plan were endorsed and supported by the New York Zoological Society (now Wildlife Conservation Society).
Working with economist Philip Thresher of the United Nations Development Program, Western drew up a detailed tourism plan for the Amboseli ecosystem in 1973. The plan was overtaken by a presidential edict declaring Amboseli a national park in 1974. A bitter stand-off between local and national government ensued. ACP played a key role in arbitrating a solution that saw the council retain a portion of the park to guarantee its lodge revenues, and the community receive a portion of the gate revenues.
Despite the setbacks in Amboseli, the principles of ecosystem-scale conservation and community-based conservation that ACP established were soon adopted by government and donors and funded by WCS. In the late 1970s, based on the Amboseli model, Western was commissioned by the government to set up the Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit and help draft a new wildlife policy. In support of the new policy, he assisted the government to prepare the Tourism and Wildlife Program, funded by the World Bank. The program saw the Kenya National Parks and Game Department fused into a single agency, aimed at ecosystem-scale conservation and community participation.
Even as ACP’s role extended nationally, its work expanded locally in Amboseli. The program promoted new studies and recruited Kenyan and international graduate students. David Andere studied zebra, Chris Gakahu zebra, and Wes Henry tourism behaviour and impact. Tom Dunne and Bill Dietrich studied the impact of grazing and trampling on the landscape. Virginia Finch studied the drought physiology of cattle. In 1973, ACP launched an elephant research program under Cynthia Moss. The project grew into a highly success autonomous study, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.
The linked human and wildlife studies and ecotourism projects developed in Amboseli soon expanded to other parks, including Maasai Mara, Nairobi, and Nakuru, and attracted a growing cadre of Kenyan and other African graduate students. In the mid-1980s, with the support of WCS, the outreach activities of ACP were formally incorporated into the African Conservation Centre, based in Nairobi. African Conservation Centre is dedicated to conservation and research principles established by ACP in Amboseli and to building national and regional skills in conservation. ACP now works principally throughAfrican Conservation Centre nationally and internationally as well as a large number of other partners.
ACP continues its four decades of work in Amboseli. Its main purpose is to sustain the integrity of the Amboseli ecosystem. ACP is also dedicated to applying its findings to the betterment of conservation nationally and internationally, based on the following goals:
- Conduct research on African ecosystems;
- Develop tools for identifying the threats to biodiversity;
- Develop conservation policies and practices that benefit local communities;
- Build local and national consensus and capacity for conservation;
- Promote sound environmental governance and practices; and
- Forge national and international collaboration for conserving biodiversity.
Outcomes & Milestones of ACP Collaborative Efforts
- Integrated ecosystem research of the Amboseli ecosystem – 1967
- Maasai Park Plan – 1969
- Ecosystem Tourism Development Plan – 1973
- Kenya Wildlife Policy – 1977 (incorporating ecosystem-wide conservation principles and community-based conservation practices)
- Established and directed Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit – 1978
- African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group – 1982-1990
- Parks for Sustainable Development, World Parks Congress – 1984
- A proposal for a Kenya Wildlife Service – 1988
- Ivory Trade Review Group – 1988
- International workshop and book on Conservation for 21st Century – 1989
- Co-founder of The International Society for Ecotourism – 1990
- Formation of Amboseli community scouts – 1991
- Formation of Ecotourism Society of Kenya (now Ecotourism Kenya) – 1992
- International workshop on Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation – 1993
- Key support for Amboseli Biosphere Reserve – 1993
- Formation of the African Conservation Centre – 1994
- Dr. Western named director of Kenya Wildlife Service – 1995
- Minimum Viable Conservation Area concept adopted nationally – 1996
- Parks Beyond Parks concept adopted nationally – 1997
- Promoted formation of South Rift Association of Landowners linking Amboseli and Maasai Mara ecosystems – 2004
- Key contributor Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plant 2004-2008
- South Rift Resource Centre based on Amboseli research and conservation approach – 2007
- Formation of community-based resources assessors.
- Collaborative initiative on the Impact of Land Fragmentation and Climate Change on Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kenya-Tanzania Borderlands – 2008
- Bioinformatics Applications to the Conservation of Biodiversity – 2008
- Instigated the formation on the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust – 2008.
- Convened emergency workshop to take stock of Amboseli’s worst drought on record and take emergency action to mitigate impact – 2009
- Drew attention in national press to causes and consequences of nation-wide drought – 2009
- Initiated national conference on Biodiversity, Land Use and Climate Change – 2010
- ACP completes 45 years of continuous ecosystem monitoring, research and conservation in Amboseli
- Contributor to national task force appointed by Ministry of the Environment to redraft environmental legislation in line with the new constitution of Kenya – 2011
- Co-founded Kenya Rangeland Coalition to represent landowner interests in conservation of the land – 2012
- Team leader in preparation of biodiversity atlas of Kenya – 2012
- Initiator of Tanzania-Kenya trans-border elephant conservation program – 2012
- Supported South Rift Association of Landowners and ACC in launching the Maasai Heritage Program – 2012
- In collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, ACC and WWF, convened and ran a workshop on Collaborative Natural Resource Management in eastern and southern Africa – 2012
- Assisted Amboseli Ecosystem Trust in commissioning a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Amboseli Ecosystem Plan with a view to is national gazettement by the National Environmental Assessment Agency – 2013
- Victor Mose ACP’s Head of computation and bio-statistical services, awarded a Ph.D. for his modeling of migrations in Amboseli – 2013
History of Amboseli Conservation Program
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 to address conflicts over Amboseli National Reserve’s future, emphasizing on community-based conservation.
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 when David Western studied the ecology of the Maasai Amboseli National Reserve to address a deep conflict over its status and future. Conservationists, insistent that overgrazing was destroying Amboseli’s famous fever tree woodland and its wildlife, were pressing the government to create a national park and exclude the Maasai. The Kajiado County Council rejected the claim and insisted on control of the reserve and its tourist revenues.
Recognizing the role of pastoralists in the ecosystem, Western studied the interplay of livestock and wildlife, and showed the importance of seasonal migrations and the drought refuges of the Amboseli basin in sustaining their abundance and coexistence. Based on these findings, he proposed that the Maasai should establish a small core park nested within a larger ecosystem that sustained the migrations and the coexistence of people and wildlife. The proposal drew in anthropologists, political scientists, and economists from the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies, the warden, Daniel Sindiyo, members of the Maasai community and the Kajiado County Council.
The resulting land use plan, produced in 1969, proposed that the pastoral community that had sustained wildlife in Amboseli for generations should be a primary beneficiary of tourism revenues. By 1973 the research studies, land use analysis, planning work, and conservation activities had coalesced into the Amboseli Conservation Program. The program and conservation plan were endorsed and supported by the New York Zoological Society (now Wildlife Conservation Society).
Working with economist Philip Thresher of the United Nations Development Program, Western drew up a detailed tourism plan for the Amboseli ecosystem in 1973. The plan was overtaken by a presidential edict declaring Amboseli a national park in 1974. A bitter stand-off between local and national government ensued. ACP played a key role in arbitrating a solution that saw the council retain a portion of the park to guarantee its lodge revenues, and the community receive a portion of the gate revenues.
Despite the setbacks in Amboseli, the principles of ecosystem-scale conservation and community-based conservation that ACP established were soon adopted by government and donors and funded by WCS. In the late 1970s, based on the Amboseli model, Western was commissioned by the government to set up the Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit and help draft a new wildlife policy. In support of the new policy, he assisted the government to prepare the Tourism and Wildlife Program, funded by the World Bank. The program saw the Kenya National Parks and Game Department fused into a single agency, aimed at ecosystem-scale conservation and community participation.
Even as ACP’s role extended nationally, its work expanded locally in Amboseli. The program promoted new studies and recruited Kenyan and international graduate students. David Andere studied zebra, Chris Gakahu zebra, and Wes Henry tourism behaviour and impact. Tom Dunne and Bill Dietrich studied the impact of grazing and trampling on the landscape. Virginia Finch studied the drought physiology of cattle. In 1973, ACP launched an elephant research program under Cynthia Moss. The project grew into a highly success autonomous study, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.
The linked human and wildlife studies and ecotourism projects developed in Amboseli soon expanded to other parks, including Maasai Mara, Nairobi, and Nakuru, and attracted a growing cadre of Kenyan and other African graduate students. In the mid-1980s, with the support of WCS, the outreach activities of ACP were formally incorporated into the African Conservation Centre, based in Nairobi. African Conservation Centre is dedicated to conservation and research principles established by ACP in Amboseli and to building national and regional skills in conservation. ACP now works principally throughAfrican Conservation Centre nationally and internationally as well as a large number of other partners.
ACP continues its four decades of work in Amboseli. Its main purpose is to sustain the integrity of the Amboseli ecosystem. ACP is also dedicated to applying its findings to the betterment of conservation nationally and internationally, based on the following goals:
- Conduct research on African ecosystems;
- Develop tools for identifying the threats to biodiversity;
- Develop conservation policies and practices that benefit local communities;
- Build local and national consensus and capacity for conservation;
- Promote sound environmental governance and practices; and
- Forge national and international collaboration for conserving biodiversity.
Outcomes & Milestones of ACP Collaborative Efforts
- Integrated ecosystem research of the Amboseli ecosystem – 1967
- Maasai Park Plan – 1969
- Ecosystem Tourism Development Plan – 1973
- Kenya Wildlife Policy – 1977 (incorporating ecosystem-wide conservation principles and community-based conservation practices)
- Established and directed Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit – 1978
- African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group – 1982-1990
- Parks for Sustainable Development, World Parks Congress – 1984
- A proposal for a Kenya Wildlife Service – 1988
- Ivory Trade Review Group – 1988
- International workshop and book on Conservation for 21st Century – 1989
- Co-founder of The International Society for Ecotourism – 1990
- Formation of Amboseli community scouts – 1991
- Formation of Ecotourism Society of Kenya (now Ecotourism Kenya) – 1992
- International workshop on Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation – 1993
- Key support for Amboseli Biosphere Reserve – 1993
- Formation of the African Conservation Centre – 1994
- Dr. Western named director of Kenya Wildlife Service – 1995
- Minimum Viable Conservation Area concept adopted nationally – 1996
- Parks Beyond Parks concept adopted nationally – 1997
- Promoted formation of South Rift Association of Landowners linking Amboseli and Maasai Mara ecosystems – 2004
- Key contributor Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plant 2004-2008
- South Rift Resource Centre based on Amboseli research and conservation approach – 2007
- Formation of community-based resources assessors.
- Collaborative initiative on the Impact of Land Fragmentation and Climate Change on Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kenya-Tanzania Borderlands – 2008
- Bioinformatics Applications to the Conservation of Biodiversity – 2008
- Instigated the formation on the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust – 2008.
- Convened emergency workshop to take stock of Amboseli’s worst drought on record and take emergency action to mitigate impact – 2009
- Drew attention in national press to causes and consequences of nation-wide drought – 2009
- Initiated national conference on Biodiversity, Land Use and Climate Change – 2010
- ACP completes 45 years of continuous ecosystem monitoring, research and conservation in Amboseli
- Contributor to national task force appointed by Ministry of the Environment to redraft environmental legislation in line with the new constitution of Kenya – 2011
- Co-founded Kenya Rangeland Coalition to represent landowner interests in conservation of the land – 2012
- Team leader in preparation of biodiversity atlas of Kenya – 2012
- Initiator of Tanzania-Kenya trans-border elephant conservation program – 2012
- Supported South Rift Association of Landowners and ACC in launching the Maasai Heritage Program – 2012
- In collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, ACC and WWF, convened and ran a workshop on Collaborative Natural Resource Management in eastern and southern Africa – 2012
- Assisted Amboseli Ecosystem Trust in commissioning a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Amboseli Ecosystem Plan with a view to is national gazettement by the National Environmental Assessment Agency – 2013
- Victor Mose ACP’s Head of computation and bio-statistical services, awarded a Ph.D. for his modeling of migrations in Amboseli – 2013
History of ACP
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 to address conflicts over Amboseli National Reserve’s future, emphasizing on community-based conservation.
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 when David Western studied the ecology of the Maasai Amboseli National Reserve to address a deep conflict over its status and future. Conservationists, insistent that overgrazing was destroying Amboseli’s famous fever tree woodland and its wildlife, were pressing the government to create a national park and exclude the Maasai. The Kajiado County Council rejected the claim and insisted on control of the reserve and its tourist revenues.
Recognizing the role of pastoralists in the ecosystem, Western studied the interplay of livestock and wildlife, and showed the importance of seasonal migrations and the drought refuges of the Amboseli basin in sustaining their abundance and coexistence. Based on these findings, he proposed that the Maasai should establish a small core park nested within a larger ecosystem that sustained the migrations and the coexistence of people and wildlife. The proposal drew in anthropologists, political scientists, and economists from the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies, the warden, Daniel Sindiyo, members of the Maasai community and the Kajiado County Council.
The resulting land use plan, produced in 1969, proposed that the pastoral community that had sustained wildlife in Amboseli for generations should be a primary beneficiary of tourism revenues. By 1973 the research studies, land use analysis, planning work, and conservation activities had coalesced into the Amboseli Conservation Program. The program and conservation plan were endorsed and supported by the New York Zoological Society (now Wildlife Conservation Society).
Working with economist Philip Thresher of the United Nations Development Program, Western drew up a detailed tourism plan for the Amboseli ecosystem in 1973. The plan was overtaken by a presidential edict declaring Amboseli a national park in 1974. A bitter stand-off between local and national government ensued. ACP played a key role in arbitrating a solution that saw the council retain a portion of the park to guarantee its lodge revenues, and the community receive a portion of the gate revenues.
Despite the setbacks in Amboseli, the principles of ecosystem-scale conservation and community-based conservation that ACP established were soon adopted by government and donors and funded by WCS. In the late 1970s, based on the Amboseli model, Western was commissioned by the government to set up the Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit and help draft a new wildlife policy. In support of the new policy, he assisted the government to prepare the Tourism and Wildlife Program, funded by the World Bank. The program saw the Kenya National Parks and Game Department fused into a single agency, aimed at ecosystem-scale conservation and community participation.
Even as ACP’s role extended nationally, its work expanded locally in Amboseli. The program promoted new studies and recruited Kenyan and international graduate students. David Andere studied zebra, Chris Gakahu zebra, and Wes Henry tourism behaviour and impact. Tom Dunne and Bill Dietrich studied the impact of grazing and trampling on the landscape. Virginia Finch studied the drought physiology of cattle. In 1973, ACP launched an elephant research program under Cynthia Moss. The project grew into a highly success autonomous study, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.
The linked human and wildlife studies and ecotourism projects developed in Amboseli soon expanded to other parks, including Maasai Mara, Nairobi, and Nakuru, and attracted a growing cadre of Kenyan and other African graduate students. In the mid-1980s, with the support of WCS, the outreach activities of ACP were formally incorporated into the African Conservation Centre, based in Nairobi. African Conservation Centre is dedicated to conservation and research principles established by ACP in Amboseli and to building national and regional skills in conservation. ACP now works principally throughAfrican Conservation Centre nationally and internationally as well as a large number of other partners.
ACP continues its four decades of work in Amboseli. Its main purpose is to sustain the integrity of the Amboseli ecosystem. ACP is also dedicated to applying its findings to the betterment of conservation nationally and internationally, based on the following goals:
- Conduct research on African ecosystems;
- Develop tools for identifying the threats to biodiversity;
- Develop conservation policies and practices that benefit local communities;
- Build local and national consensus and capacity for conservation;
- Promote sound environmental governance and practices; and
- Forge national and international collaboration for conserving biodiversity.
Outcomes & Milestones of ACP Collaborative Efforts
- Integrated ecosystem research of the Amboseli ecosystem – 1967
- Maasai Park Plan – 1969
- Ecosystem Tourism Development Plan – 1973
- Kenya Wildlife Policy – 1977 (incorporating ecosystem-wide conservation principles and community-based conservation practices)
- Established and directed Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit – 1978
- African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group – 1982-1990
- Parks for Sustainable Development, World Parks Congress – 1984
- A proposal for a Kenya Wildlife Service – 1988
- Ivory Trade Review Group – 1988
- International workshop and book on Conservation for 21st Century – 1989
- Co-founder of The International Society for Ecotourism – 1990
- Formation of Amboseli community scouts – 1991
- Formation of Ecotourism Society of Kenya (now Ecotourism Kenya) – 1992
- International workshop on Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation – 1993
- Key support for Amboseli Biosphere Reserve – 1993
- Formation of the African Conservation Centre – 1994
- Dr. Western named director of Kenya Wildlife Service – 1995
- Minimum Viable Conservation Area concept adopted nationally – 1996
- Parks Beyond Parks concept adopted nationally – 1997
- Promoted formation of South Rift Association of Landowners linking Amboseli and Maasai Mara ecosystems – 2004
- Key contributor Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plant 2004-2008
- South Rift Resource Centre based on Amboseli research and conservation approach – 2007
- Formation of community-based resources assessors.
- Collaborative initiative on the Impact of Land Fragmentation and Climate Change on Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kenya-Tanzania Borderlands – 2008
- Bioinformatics Applications to the Conservation of Biodiversity – 2008
- Instigated the formation on the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust – 2008.
- Convened emergency workshop to take stock of Amboseli’s worst drought on record and take emergency action to mitigate impact – 2009
- Drew attention in national press to causes and consequences of nation-wide drought – 2009
- Initiated national conference on Biodiversity, Land Use and Climate Change – 2010
- ACP completes 45 years of continuous ecosystem monitoring, research and conservation in Amboseli
- Contributor to national task force appointed by Ministry of the Environment to redraft environmental legislation in line with the new constitution of Kenya – 2011
- Co-founded Kenya Rangeland Coalition to represent landowner interests in conservation of the land – 2012
- Team leader in preparation of biodiversity atlas of Kenya – 2012
- Initiator of Tanzania-Kenya trans-border elephant conservation program – 2012
- Supported South Rift Association of Landowners and ACC in launching the Maasai Heritage Program – 2012
- In collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, ACC and WWF, convened and ran a workshop on Collaborative Natural Resource Management in eastern and southern Africa – 2012
- Assisted Amboseli Ecosystem Trust in commissioning a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Amboseli Ecosystem Plan with a view to is national gazettement by the National Environmental Assessment Agency – 2013
- Victor Mose ACP’s Head of computation and bio-statistical services, awarded a Ph.D. for his modeling of migrations in Amboseli – 2013
Our History
The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) began in 1967 when David Western studied the ecology of the Maasai Amboseli National Reserve to address a deep conflict over its status and future. Conservationists, insistent that overgrazing was destroying Amboseli’s famous fever tree woodland and its wildlife, were pressing the government to create a national park and exclude the Maasai. The Kajiado County Council rejected the claim and insisted on control of the reserve and its tourist revenues.
Recognizing the role of pastoralists in the ecosystem, Western studied the interplay of livestock and wildlife, and showed the importance of seasonal migrations and the drought refuges of the Amboseli basin in sustaining their abundance and coexistence. Based on these findings, he proposed that the Maasai should establish a small core park nested within a larger ecosystem that sustained the migrations and the coexistence of people and wildlife. The proposal drew in anthropologists, political scientists, and economists from the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies, the warden, Daniel Sindiyo, members of the Maasai community and the Kajiado County Council.
The resulting land use plan, produced in 1969, proposed that the pastoral community that had sustained wildlife in Amboseli for generations should be a primary beneficiary of tourism revenues. By 1973 the research studies, land use analysis, planning work, and conservation activities had coalesced into the Amboseli Conservation Program. The program and conservation plan were endorsed and supported by the New York Zoological Society (now Wildlife Conservation Society).
Amboseli causeway 1961 (bottom) and 1976
Working with economist Philip Thresher of the United Nations Development Program, Western drew up a detailed tourism plan for the Amboseli ecosystem in 1973. The plan was overtaken by a presidential edict declaring Amboseli a national park in 1974. A bitter stand-off between local and national government ensued. ACP played a key role in arbitrating a solution that saw the council retain a portion of the park to guarantee its lodge revenues, and the community receive a portion of the gate revenues.
Despite the setbacks in Amboseli, the principles of ecosystem-scale conservation and community-based conservation that ACP established were soon adopted by government and donors and funded by WCS. In the late 1970s, based on the Amboseli model, Western was commissioned by the government to set up the Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit and help draft a new wildlife policy. In support of the new policy, he assisted the government to prepare the Tourism and Wildlife Program, funded by the World Bank. The program saw the Kenya National Parks and Game Department fused into a single agency, aimed at ecosystem-scale conservation and community participation.
Even as ACP’s role extended nationally, its work expanded locally in Amboseli. The program promoted new studies and recruited Kenyan and international graduate students. David Andere studied zebra, Chris Gakahu zebra, and Wes Henry tourism behaviour and impact. Tom Dunne and Bill Dietrich studied the impact of grazing and trampling on the landscape. Virginia Finch studied the drought physiology of cattle. In 1973, ACP launched an elephant research program under Cynthia Moss. The project grew into a highly success autonomous study, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.
The linked human and wildlife studies and ecotourism projects developed in Amboseli soon expanded to other parks, including Maasai Mara, Nairobi, and Nakuru, and attracted a growing cadre of Kenyan and other African graduate students. In the mid-1980s, with the support of WCS, the outreach activities of ACP were formally incorporated into the African Conservation Centre, based in Nairobi. African Conservation Centre is dedicated to conservation and research principles established by ACP in Amboseli and to building national and regional skills in conservation. ACP now works principally throughAfrican Conservation Centre nationally and internationally as well as a large number of other partners.
ACP continues its four decades of work in Amboseli. Its main purpose is to sustain the integrity of the Amboseli ecosystem. ACP is also dedicated to applying its findings to the betterment of conservation nationally and internationally, based on the following goals:
- Conduct research on African ecosystems;
- Develop tools for identifying the threats to biodiversity;
- Develop conservation policies and practices that benefit local communities;
- Build local and national consensus and capacity for conservation;
- Promote sound environmental governance and practices; and
- Forge national and international collaboration for conserving biodiversity.
The Amboseli Conservation Program has helped establish that the role of traditional pastoralism in helping to maintain ecosystem health is vital.
Outcomes & Milestones of ACP Collaborative Efforts
- Integrated ecosystem research of the Amboseli ecosystem – 1967
- Maasai Park Plan – 1969
- Ecosystem Tourism Development Plan – 1973
- Kenya Wildlife Policy – 1977 (incorporating ecosystem-wide conservation principles and community-based conservation practices)
- Established and directed Kenya Wildlife Planning Unit – 1978
- African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group – 1982-1990
- Parks for Sustainable Development, World Parks Congress – 1984
- A proposal for a Kenya Wildlife Service – 1988
- Ivory Trade Review Group – 1988
- International workshop and book on Conservation for 21st Century – 1989
- Co-founder of The International Society for Ecotourism – 1990
- Formation of Amboseli community scouts – 1991
- Formation of Ecotourism Society of Kenya (now Ecotourism Kenya) – 1992
- International workshop on Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation – 1993
- Key support for Amboseli Biosphere Reserve – 1993
- Formation of the African Conservation Centre – 1994
- Dr. Western named director of Kenya Wildlife Service – 1995
- Minimum Viable Conservation Area concept adopted nationally – 1996
- Parks Beyond Parks concept adopted nationally – 1997
- Promoted formation of South Rift Association of Landowners linking Amboseli and Maasai Mara ecosystems – 2004
- Key contributor Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plant 2004-2008
- South Rift Resource Centre based on Amboseli research and conservation approach – 2007
- Formation of community-based resources assessors.
- Collaborative initiative on the Impact of Land Fragmentation and Climate Change on Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kenya-Tanzania Borderlands – 2008
- Bioinformatics Applications to the Conservation of Biodiversity – 2008
- Instigated the formation on the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust – 2008.
- Convened emergency workshop to take stock of Amboseli’s worst drought on record and take emergency action to mitigate impact – 2009
- Drew attention in national press to causes and consequences of nation-wide drought – 2009
- Initiated national conference on Biodiversity, Land Use and Climate Change – 2010
- ACP completes 45 years of continuous ecosystem monitoring, research and conservation in Amboseli
- Contributor to national task force appointed by Ministry of the Environment to redraft environmental legislation in line with the new constitution of Kenya – 2011
- Co-founded Kenya Rangeland Coalition to represent landowner interests in conservation of the land – 2012
- Team leader in preparation of biodiversity atlas of Kenya – 2012
- Initiator of Tanzania-Kenya trans-border elephant conservation program – 2012
- Supported South Rift Association of Landowners and ACC in launching the Maasai Heritage Program – 2012
- In collaboration with Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, ACC and WWF, convened and ran a workshop on Collaborative Natural Resource Management in eastern and southern Africa – 2012
- Assisted Amboseli Ecosystem Trust in commissioning a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Amboseli Ecosystem Plan with a view to is national gazettement by the National Environmental Assessment Agency – 2013
- Victor Mose ACP’s Head of computation and bio-statistical services, awarded a Ph.D. for his modeling of migrations in Amboseli – 2013
