The northern boundary of Tsavo remains a human–wildlife conflict zone, where conservation education and initiatives such as school feeding programs, help promote coexistence between rural and marginalized communities and wildlife. Recurring drought and unreliable rainfall continue to increase communities’ dependence on natural resources, often escalating conflict with wildlife.

During this period, the Trust partnered with Elephant Queen Trust, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, and the Kenya Wildlife Service to conduct conservation education in schools and communities. Screenings of Hadithi ya Mchwa na Ndovu (The Story of the Ant and the Elephant) and The Trial of Athena, alongside theatre, Pori Radio and reading programs, were carried out at 33 schools with support and funding from the SWT. These engaging performances and workshops encouraged dialogue, knowledge sharing, and stronger appreciation of wildlife. The Trust donated 4,760 conservation books and 340 flip charts to 33 schools bordering the Northern Park boundary.

Impact: Learners, teachers, and community members increasingly appreciated wildlife conservation, with students sharing conservation messages at home. Community discussions helped address misconceptions and promote coexistence. Encouragingly, field reports indicate a significant reduction in bushmeat poaching cases.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust continues to support marginalised communities and schools bordering Tsavo National Park. Our daily school lunch program, which was established in 2021, donates supplies of rice, maize, beans and oil to 8 local schools feeding 1,461 children every month. During this reporting period food was distributed throughout January to March 2026.

With the continued support from the Chantecaille Conservation Foundation, we are able to provide significant further support to another 72 schools and over 16,600 children from 3 local counties: Ithumba, Galana and Nasaru, who receive a daily supply of 'uji'; a local porridge made of maize, beans, nuts with added vitamins. In total during January to March 2026, the Trust delivered over 77,000kg of porridge to schools.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Community Outreach Team conducted 10 trips during this reporting period in January 2026 only to Tsavo West National Park taking 300 children and 20 teachers into the park for an educational school field trip.

The Trust continues to support 13 children from local communities bordering the Parks through secondary education. These sponsored students are currently in form 1 and 4 (Kenyan system of education). These are children from needy families bordering the Tsavo Conservation Area, within age range of 15-18yrs. The SWT pays their tuition feed every year including a yearly boost for transport to and from their respective schools. The Trust also finances University level education for 2 bright and deserving young adults from local communities in Tsavo. These scholarships are all for university places in Kenya; 1 student is in their second year and 1 is currently in their fifth year.

Elephant-beehive fences are an innovative, sustainable and natural deterrent for elephant incursion, which have proved especially successfully on the borders of National Parks and protected areas. In total, we manage 200 beehives and during July the Community Outreach Team focused on beekeeping efforts. They inspected and cleaned the hives, which was much appreciated by the inhabitant bees and it is hoped and expected that new occupations will yield farmers a good income of honey in the coming months.