Conservation from the inside-out: Winning space and a place for wildlife in working landscapes

Protected areas fall far short of securing the space needed to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem function at a global scale and in the face of climate change. The prospects of conserving biodiversity in working landscapes help buffer the insularization effects of protected areas and hold great potential for biodiversity conservation on a landscape scale but depend on finding adequate space and a meaningful place in the lives of rural land users. Using a case study in southern Kenya, we show that the conservation of large open landscapes, biodiversity and the coexistence between wildlife and livestock can be achieved indirectly by reinforcing pastoral practices that depend on open space, mobility, social networks and institutional arrangements governing common-pool resources. Pastoral practices and wildlife both depend on large multiscale interactions within interlinked social and ecological systems, which are threatened by land fragmentation, alienation and degradation. We show that large open spaces can be maintained by using a conservation approach starting from within community aspirations that emphasize the links between livelihoods, productivity, efficiency and resilience in pastoral economies and the secondary benefits of wildlife enterprises. Scaling up from an ecosystem to multi-scale approach benefits pastoral communities by building resilience and new economic opportunities. In the process, the expanded scale conserves regional biodiversity and large free-ranging herbivore and carnivore populations underpinning ecosystem function and the nationally important tourism industry centered on the Kenya-Tanzania boundary. The 'inside-out' approach to the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity is place-based, draws on local knowledge and informal governance arrangements and avoids the stigma of wildlife conservation driven by outside agencies. The human-centered approach reinforces land health and spatial connectivity and encourages multi-level and distributed governance arrangements embedded in large regional and national jurisdictions. Translated Abstract Kikemikali Maeneo ya uhifadhi, ukuzingatia mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, hayajafikia kiwango kinachohitajika kudumisha uendelevu wa bianuwai na utenda kazi wa ikolojia ulimwenguni. Kuhifadhi bianuwai kwenye ardhi inayotumika na watu yaweza kusaidia kuzuia maeneo ya uhifadhi kuwa visiwa, hivyo basi kuimarisha uwezo wa kuhifadhi bianuwai kwa maeneo makubwa ya mazingira. Lakini hili lategemea kupata nafasi ya kutosha, na umuhimu wake kutambulika katika maisha ya watumia ardhi vijijini. Kutumia uchunguzi wetu kwenye eneo la kusini mwa Kenya, twaonyesha ya kwamba uhifadhi wa maeneo makubwa ya mazingira yaliyowazi, uhifadhi ya bianuwai, na usawa wa utangamano baina ya wanyamapori na mifugo kwawezekana kupitia kuimaarisha tabia za ufugaji zinazotegemea maeneo yaliyowazi, uhamaji, mifumo ya kijamii, na mipangilio ya taasisi zinazoongoza rasilimali za watuwengi kwa pamoja. Mila na itikadi miongoni wa jamii za ufugaji, na wanyamapori, wote hutegemea mwingiliano ya kijamii na kiikolojia, ambayo inayotishiwa na ugavi wa ardhi, kutengwa na uharibifu. Tunaonyesha kwamba maeneo mengi ya ardhi yaliyo wazi yaweza kudumishwa kutumia njia ya uhifadhi mazingra ambayo inanzia ndani ya matamanio ya jamii, ambayo inasisitiza uhusiano kati ya riziki, tija, ufanisi, na ujasiri katika uchumi wa ufugaji, na pili, faida zinginezo zitokanazo na biashara zinazotegemea wanyamapori. Kupanua kiwango kutoka kwa mfumo mmoja wa ikolojia, hadi kwa mifumo nyingi, inafaidi jamii za wafugaji kwa kujenga ujasiri na fursa mpya za kiuchumi. Katika mchakato huo, kiwango kilichopanuliwa huhifadhi bianuwai ya kikanda pamoja na idadi kubwa ya wanyamapori, walanyasi na walanyama, ambao inashikiria utendakazi wa ikolojia pamoja na kumarisha chumi muhimu ya utalii kwenye eneo ya mipaka ya Kenya na nchi jirani ya Tanzania. Njia hii ya, kuanzia ndani kuelekea nje kakita uhifadhi wa wanyamapori na bianuwai, hutofautiana kutoka mahali moja hadi nyingine, kulingana na ujuzi ulioko mtaani na mipango ya utawala isiyo rasmi na huzuia unyanyapaa unaotokana na uhifadhi wa wanyamapori ambao unaendeshwa na mashirika ya nje. Njia hii inayozingatia binadamu, huimarisha afya ya ardhi, uunganisho wa anga na pia inahimiza mipangilio ya utawala ya ngazi tofauti iliyowekwa kwenye mamlaka kuu ya kikanda na ya kitaifa. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.