1Geo-Information for Sustainable Rangeland Management A Case Study of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands in Kenya.

This paper analyses the historic changes in the populations of Kenyan large herbivore species and presents data on the encroachment of agriculture into the Kenyan ASAL zone during the period 1970’s- 1990’s. It further investigates the change in the ratio of people to livestock. The data show a significant decline between the late 1970’s and the late 1980’s of the populations of 13 out of 18 large herbivore species. Further analysis revealed that the majority of almost all species resides outside the protected area system, where they are subjected to the impact of a changing land use. During the study period agriculture encroached the rangelands with the relatively more favorable climatic conditions. The ratio of people over livestock exceeds in most divisions the threshold value above which livestock fails to provide the food resources required by the human population. It is argued that sustainable conservation of Kenyan wildlife resources should be based on the recognition that the majority of wildlife resides outside protected areas. Because of this we plea for development of a legislation which promotes the sustainabl