Economy
319 million wells for wildlife relief in parks
Sunday 18 June 2023
A Kenya Wildlife Service ranger delivers hay to elephants on November 30, 2022 in Amboseli National Park, which has been hard hit by drought. photo | France Press agency
The Treasury has set aside Sh319 million to drill wells in the parks after a prolonged drought has led to huge losses of wildlife.
Treasurer Nguguna Ndongo said the money would be used in protected areas to provide water for wild animals and is part of the climate financing planned in the 2023/2024 budget.
Wildlife, a major tourist attraction, was hit until early this year by the worst drought the country has faced in decades, with thousands of animals dying.
is reading: 62 elephants starve to death in six months
The tourism sector is the second source of foreign exchange after remittances, which brought in Sh268.09 billion in 2022, an increase of 83 percent from Sh146.51 billion in 2021.
The increase is attributed to the global recovery from the impact of Covid-19 and campaigns promoting international events taking place in the country.
The budget allocated Sh12.5 billion to the tourism, sports, culture and entertainment sector, of which Sh6.4 billion went to the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund.
The Tourism Fund will receive Sh4.1 billion for development and Sh2 billion for the Tourism Promotion Fund.
The government has prioritized expanding the space for creativity, including freedom of expression and protection of intellectual property rights. We will also promote the popularization of arts and culture infrastructure, and support cultural production and the creative economy.
“We also recognize the brand value of Kenyans participating and excelling in the international sports arena as of paramount importance to us.”
The Treasury also set aside Sh800 million for wildlife insurance and Sh226 million for wildlife research facilities. It has also allocated 400 million MYR to maintain access roads and airstrips in parks and another 1 billion shillings to offset human-wildlife conflicts.
The global travel and tourism sectors have been among the hardest hit by Covid-19 since 2020 and are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
The number of international tourists reached 1,483,752 last year from 870,465 in 2021, representing a growth of 70.5%.
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