Nairobi National Park’s size has been increased by more than double to 78,000 acres from the initial 29,000 acres, Tourism CS Najib Balala has said.
Balala attributed this increase to two conservancies which declared a part of their land as a wildlife conservation area.
The CS in a statement said that the International Livestock and Research Institute (ILRI) and Swara Plains Conservancy declared 32, 000 and 15, 000 acres of land respectively for wildlife conservation in Machakos County.
“I wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the two conservancies on behalf of the government and the people of Kenya for this wonderful gift that will ensure our unique biodiversity thrives for posterity,” said Balala.
Sheep and Goat ranch with 2,000 acres will now be under the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
With the addition of acres, Balala said that the Nairobi National Park will still grapple with lack of enough land which is prerequisite in earning the park the much-needed ecological requirements of its wildlife populations.
Balala was optimistic that Nairobi National Park would be declared a World Heritage Site once it acquires another 1,500 acres which extends to Ngong Forest.
“On the northern side we are looking into acquiring 1, 500 acres of land to extend the park to Ngong Forest. We hope that all this will enable the park to be listed and declared a world heritage site,” he said.
Balala also inaugurated a task force of wildlife corridor connectivity between Nairobi National Park and the Athi-Kapiti plains.
“Their work is crucial and I expect that this task force will in the next three months clearly indicate where we will create a corridor to enable wildlife to migrate freely from Nairobi National Park to Swara Kapiti plains,” added Balala.
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