Celebrating Strategic Partnerships for Community-Led Conservation
A section of the guests and attendees at the fundraiser event.
Building on its firm belief that strong and strategic partnerships are essential for achieving sustainable, positive change in community conservancies, the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) hosted a fundraising event in Nairobi on the evening of Tuesday, 13 October 2026, bringing together government officials, diplomatic representatives, development partners, conservation leaders, philanthropists, private sector leaders and community representatives from across its member conservancies.
The event provided an opportunity to reflect on 22 years of working alongside communities to strengthen community conservancies across northern and coastal Kenya and northeastern Uganda, celebrate collective achievements and reaffirm the importance of partnerships that support locally led conservation and development.
Among those present were Hon. Silvia Museiya, CBS, Principal Secretary, State Department for Wildlife, and Hon. Jonathan Mueke, CBS, Principal Secretary, State Department for Livestock Development. Representatives of development partners, including the Royal Danish Embassy in Nairobi, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), also attended.
From left to right: Hon. Silvia Museiya, Hon. Jonathan Mueke and NRT Board Chair Dr. Julius Kipng’etich share a candid moment at the event.
Recognising communities as conservation leaders
In her remarks, Principal Secretary Museiya highlighted communities' contribution to Kenya's biodiversity conservation efforts.
“Across much of northern Kenya, biodiversity has for many years been conserved by these communities, complementing the government’s efforts of protecting nature across landscapes beyond formally gazetted national parks and reserves,” she noted.
She also recognised NRT as a consistent partner to government in advancing its conservation mandate, underscoring the importance of collaboration between communities, conservation organisations and public institutions.
Her remarks reinforced a central principle of community-led conservation: communities are not simply beneficiaries of conservation initiatives, but leaders and stewards of the natural resources on which people and wildlife depend.
Hon. Silvia Museiya, CBS, Principal Secretary, State Department for Wildlife makes her address during the fundraiser
Building on local leadership for long-term sustainability
As community conservancies continue to advance conservation, peacebuilding, sustainable livelihoods and natural resource management, ensuring that these gains endure remains an important priority.
NRT CEO Vishal Shah emphasised the need to build on the leadership and governance structures that communities have already established while creating opportunities for more sustained investment in their conservancies.
“Our communities already have well-established leadership and governance structures. Looking ahead, we have the potential to develop a model that connects community conservancies more directly with investors and partners, enabling them to provide long-term support for community-led conservation and development,” he said.
This vision builds on the foundations communities have established through their own leadership, collective decision-making and stewardship of natural resources. Strengthening these foundations while broadening opportunities for sustainable financing will be important to ensuring that conservancies can continue delivering benefits for people, wildlife and landscapes.
NRT CEO, Vishal Shah makes his address at the event
Partnerships for lasting change
The importance of sustained partnerships was also reflected in remarks by Henrik Larsen, Head of Cooperation at the Royal Danish Embassy in Nairobi. Recognising the resilience of communities in northern Kenya, he highlighted NRT's role in supporting local leadership and enabling communities to drive change.
“NRT is providing a platform through which local leadership can facilitate lasting change. As we have seen and heard here tonight, it's about giving communities the tools, resources and confidence to lead. It's also about leaving future generations with something even more valuable than what we have inherited.”
His remarks spoke to the value of partnerships that strengthen local capacity and enable communities to shape their own futures.
Henrik Larsen, Head of Cooperation at the Royal Danish Embassy in Nairobi
Over the past 22 years, NRT has worked alongside communities, government institutions, development partners, philanthropic organisations and private sector stakeholders to support community conservancies and the people who govern them. This work spans biodiversity conservation, peacebuilding, livelihoods, natural resource management, climate resilience and access to renewable energy.
As NRT looks to the future, the focus remains on strengthening community leadership, sustaining conservation gains and supporting the conditions in which people, wildlife and landscapes can coexist and thrive together.
View the image gallery: Relive the moments from this special evening HERE.
Story and images by Daniel Njihia, for the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT).