Strategic Leadership &
Partners Coalition

The 1,000,000 acres consists of conservancies in the community group ranches (including Olgulului Ololarashi, Imbirikani, Eselenkei, and Kimana) surrounding Amboseli National Park. Under the legally binding Amboseli Ecosystem Management Plan (AEMP), these lands are zoned into wildlife conservancies, seasonal grazing corridors, and settlement areas. Land subdivision plans incorporate a 99-year legal caveat that prohibits land sales, fencing, and permanent commercial development in pastoral and wildlife zones. This ensures the landscape remains connected for livestock and wildlife coexistence without requiring land acquisition or outright purchases.

The ARC is located at the Lemong’o site, a 60+ acre parcel secured directly from the Kajiado County Government adjacent to the main entrance of Amboseli National Park. The physical land and infrastructure are owned by Kajiado County and will be held in trust by the Amboseli Ecosystem Conservation Authority (AECA) for the benefit of the Maasai community. Crucially, the museum building at the Lemong’o site is already constructed. Philanthropic funds for the museum phase will be used for interior renovations, exhibitry, curation, and technology fit-out rather than building from scratch.

The AECA is a semi-autonomous management authority established by Kajiado County to oversee the expanded 1.1M-acre ecosystem. Designed to insulate conservation management from political shifts, AECA is governed by an independent Board of Trustees. The Board includes voting representatives from Maasai group ranches, Kajiado County, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), African Conservation Centre (ACC), and international scientific advisors. Day-to-day operations at the ARC will be managed by a professional Executive Director and secretariat.

KWS retains its statutory role as Kenya’s national wildlife authority, responsible for national species protection, law enforcement oversight, and CITES compliance. KWS holds a permanent seat on the AECA Board, creating a cooperative security partnership rather than a militarized top-down enforcement model.

The ARC leverages existing tourism traffic of 300,000 annual park visitors. With entry fees set at $20/visitor, capturing 20% of park traffic (60,000 visitors) by year three generates $1.2M in gross visitor fees. Additional revenue streams from WMG Consult’s business plan include Research Centre housing (ranging from camping to self-contained units), and research facilitation fees, Environmental Education student fees, Maasai Cultural experiences and medicinal plant walks,and curio/artisan sales (including organic honey from women’s beekeeping).

WMG Management Consultants, established in 2008, is a premier Nairobi-based strategy firm with a distinguished track record advising international foundations, bilateral aid agencies, and government bodies—including the Ford Foundation, German KfW, Swedish SIDA, JICA, and Kenya’s Tourism Trust Fund. To develop the Amboseli Resource Centre’s operating and financial model, WMG conducted extensive field research and stakeholder consultations across the 17 luxury lodges surrounding Amboseli National Park—including Amboseli Serena, Ol Tukai, and Tawi Lodge—as well as local Maasai leadership, tourism operators, and local tourist experience providers (Maasai homestays, medicinal plant walks, etc.). Their analysis identified a major commercial void: while the park attracts nearly 300,000 visitors annually, it completely lacks a dedicated exhibit space and cultural or educational hub, leaving tourists idle during their 4-to-5-hour mid-day window between game drives. Positioned at Lemong’o along the primary route that safari operators must drive to and from game drives within the park, the ARC serves as the “game in town” to fill this mid-day (and general ancillary activity) demand. WMG adheres to a generally conservative assumption philosophy, and in this case, projects a year three scenario where capturing just 20% of park visitors (60,000 guests annually) achieves complete operational self-sufficiency for ARC.

All international donations are received and administered by African Conservation Centre US (ACC- US), a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity. ACC-US enforces strict U.S. tax compliance, grant agreements, and expenditure responsibility. Funds are granted to the African Conservation Centre (ACC) in Kenya for on-the-ground project execution. Financial records are audited annually by independent international accounting firms, with regular financial reports submitted to the AECA Board and major donors.

The ARC directly addresses community equity by embedding women’s and youth enterprises into its core business model. The Maasai Cultural Centre supports 45 active local women participating in table banking groups. They earn direct daily income from cultural activities and traditional cooking experiences, storytelling, beadwork fine art, grass seedbank sales, and commercial beekeeping (up to 60kg honey/hive sold at the gift shop). Furthermore, the ARC creates over 120 direct jobs in hospitality, research assistance, ranger patrols, and facility management, prioritized for local Maasai youth.

The Information & Research Centre institutionalizes the extensive research by various partners in the ecosystem, including ecological data collected by Dr. David Western and the Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) since 1967—one of the longest continuous ecosystem studies in the world, Information and knowledge products from the Amboseli Elephant research the longest study of elephants by Dr. Cynthia Moss; and community-based research by ACC and other actors. The facility provides a digital archive, GIS mapping laboratory, and collaborative workstations. Visiting researchers will pay daily accommodation and facilitation fees, while translating long-term environmental research into actionable local action.

If in the U.S., please contact Dr. Jake Owens at jake.owens@lacity.org or +1 323.644.9139. For international inquiries, please contact Lucy Waruingi at lucy.waruingi@acc.or.ke or +254 733 800728.