Biodiversity Conservation Challenges and Opportunities in Kenyan Protected Areas: An African Perspective

Kenyan protected areas face significant biodiversity conservation challenges due to human activities such as poaching, habitat destruction, and climate change. A mixed-methods approach combining field surveys, interviews with stakeholders, and remote sensing data was employed to assess the current status of biodiversity and human activities. Remote sensing analysis revealed a 15% reduction in green cover within parks over the last decade, suggesting increased habitat loss. Interviews highlighted conflicting interests between conservation efforts and local communities' livelihood needs. The study underscores the urgent need for integrated management strategies that balance biodiversity protection with community development to ensure sustainable coexistence. Implementing community-based conservation programmes and strengthening law enforcement are recommended to address habitat loss and poaching effectively. Kenya, protected areas, biodiversity, human activities, remote sensing, stakeholder engagement The empirical specification follows $Y=\beta_0+\beta^\top X+\varepsilon$, and inference is reported with uncertainty-aware statistical criteria.