Kenya on Tuesday announced plans to launch compensation insurance scheme to help victims of the human-wildlife conflict, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Najib Balala, cabinet secretary for Tourism and Wildlife said the government will compensate all approved cases of victims of human-wildlife conflict.
"We have set up a task force on human wildlife conflict compensation scheme so as to put in place the necessary resources and structures to govern the scheme," Balala said during the launch of the human-wildlife conflict compensation reports (2014-2017) in Nairobi.
He noted that the scheme will be established in line with the wildlife conservation and management Act of 2013.
The cabinet secretary said through an elaborate public participation framework, the government plans to fast-track development and gazettement of regulations and guidelines to govern the compensation process.
"We require a multi-pronged approach in managing human wildlife conflicts to help solve the problem that has continued to escalate," he added.
He said that the government encourages strategies that help maintain the support of the communities, whose collaboration are needed for wildlife outside of formal protected areas.
He observed that a tangible challenge to conservation in Kenya is how to enhance and sustain coexistence between people and wildlife since certain conflict occurs outside protected areas.
Balala said the government has released 1.2 million Kenyan shillings (about 11,750 U.S. dollars) to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) for human wildlife compensation in the period from 2014 to 2018.
"As part of compensation, the government makes an effort to indemnify affected persons, not because it is possible to replace lost lives or property but as part of consolation to the families," Balala said.
The report covers human injury, crop damage, livestock predation and property destruction as compiled.
A ministerial wildlife conservation and compensation committee has examined 13, 125 compensation claims for the period from 2014 to 2017.
"We are doing this because wildlife conservation and management is likely to suffer because of diminishing conservation goodwill by members of local communities, leading to intolerance to wildlife," Balala said.