To engage the bussineses, KENVO sought strategic commitments from  downstream users of water resources to support upstream catchment management and protection by the community.The community institutions and businesses were brought to negotiate and agree on their respective roles and responsibilities. Each of the parties had to commit to his or her contribution.  

In addition, a business platform through which the upstream community engaged downstream communities was established. In this platform, the communities negotiated agreement with businesses to commit to protect and maintain ecosystem values of an agreed acreage of 3,000 hectares annually. 

We have identified clean water access as a key goal. Clean water access for humans, livestock, and wildlife will prevent wildlife-related injuries and deaths. In September 2012 IFAW conducted research and helped the county secure funding to rehabilitate the Northern Water Pipeline, which supplies water to communities living in the north of Amboseli. When the project is completed by the end of 2019, it is expected to reliably provide water to 300 homesteads, 3,000 people, and more than 6,000 herds of livestock. By rehabilitating the pipeline, the project ensures availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for the Maasai community, and thus, reducing human-elephant conflict due to water access.

IFAW is increasing wildlife security in the Amboseli landscape by equipping community wildlife rangers with expertise and skills through training in human wildlife conflict mitigation and providing operation resources such as rations, salaries, GPS-equipment, uniforms and a patrol vehicle for use by the rangers.

IFAW also initiated an education scholarship to offer financial support to 60 students to pursue studies in high school, tertiary colleges and universities, and 50 community wildlife scouts. By providing education scholarships and wildlife ranger capacity building, IFAW ensures inclusive and equitable education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities and alternative livelihoods for the local community. 

IFAW is also working with local women to develop markets for income-generating activities such as beadwork and livestock management. By creating a boarding secondary school for girls and facilitating income generation among women, the project promotes gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls in Amboseli, thus, leaving no-one behind.

Amboseli National Park is home to some of Kenya’s largest elephant populations which depend on the surrounding community land for migration. In 2008, the land stakeholders recognized that the habitat loss threats, degradation, and fragmentation would lead to the loss of livelihoods and tourism revenue and opted to ensure the ecosystem’s sustainability. IFAW therefore partnered with relevant stakeholders to secure critical corridors and dispersal areas for elephants in community areas of the Amboseli landscape. To achieve this, IFAW implemented a multi-year commitment to secure 26,000 acres as wildlife migratory and dispersal land in the Amboseli landscape (the Kitenden Corridor, one of the last remaining elephant migratory corridors connecting Kenya and Tanzania).

To engage the downstream communities,  KENVO prepared pitch documents in form of facts sheets and documentaries  to use  to talk to potential downstream buyers. KENVO met buyers at their own offices and also invited them to come to the KBA and the forest catchments. This was to show them where the water came from and what needed to be done to maintain its flow and quality. This helped the buyers to get a better understanding of the importance of the PES scheme. KENVO identified potential buyers among them industries and water companies and tea estates. 

 
A business case for the site was developed  in a participatory process. Negotiation teams for the community were trained in negotiation skills to build their capacity to engage the bussineses. 

KENVO mobilized the community institutions (CFAs and WRUAs) into an organized group and built their capacity to engage in PES. Further, awareness on policies was raised among the community upstream. To strengthen the CFAs and the WRUAs, they were trained in all aspects related to PES – policies, practices, rights, responsibilities, fund management, monitoring and compliance. 

Community consultation engagements were held with CFAs and WRUAs and produced actions plans. The main objectives of the action plans was support land use practices that improve water quantity and quality and capacity build the local community to secure catchment restoration through water payment services scheme. 

The conservation management plan guides the implementation for how the income raised is put to best use. The plan, approved by the Foundation, provides costed annual work plans to guide the Foundation members and the ICS implementing team, and details the required annual reports on the outcomes of the existing activities.

The Endowment Fund is established to enable members of the Foundation to contribute financially to conservation management on the island. It also allows for capital to be invested in order to generate an income in perpetuity. The surplus at the end of the financial year is usually transferred into the endowment fund which is managed by an international investment firm. The return on investment is either put back in the endowment or used to support priority environmental projects on the island. 

The Foundation is registered as an NGO and is established with Articles of Association for the Foundation, which complies with national laws. Once established, a multi-party agreement is developed which outlines the responsibilities and contributions of each member of the Foundation. The Foundation is normally made up by a representative of the Islands Development Company (IDC) which has the lease for the island, two representatives of the Island Conservation Society (the NGO conducting the conservation activities on the island) and one seat is also reserved for the investor conducting various development projects on the island. The Foundation therefore creates an obligatory platform where all the stakeholders present on the island must meet to discuss issues of importance and agree on a way forward.

Establishment of the National park had some specific impact on the communities living in the valley, such as limitation of access to the fuelwood and aggravation of human-wildlife conflict.

The classic approach used by the PA system to address both scenarios would be based on control and penalization of illegal activities. However, the project approach was to try to address the root cause of the issues and thus reduce the basis for conflict between the MNP and local communities.

In the fuelwood case, the project has initiated activities that try to reduce overall demand though increased efficiency of use and fuelwood alternatives. In close consultation with local households, the project assessed potential alternatives, practically tested and demonstrated the chosen options with households, and on that basis disseminated results and encouraged replication.

Likewise, in the case of human/wildlife conflict issue, the project approach was to test methods to mitigate the problem by assessing the situation and testing approaches that are selected after an evaluation of practicality and feasibility.

In both cases, a key aspect was the direct involvement of the MNP Administration so that they can become seen as part of the solution to local households problems, rather than a cause.