Protected areas and biodiversity are increasingly threatened by unsustainable land and resource use practices. Poverty and social injustice have often driven local, indigenous communities to abandon traditional conservation practices, contributing to deforestation, soil erosion and wildlife habitat loss in and surrounding protected areas. For their part, protected areas have historically ignored local community livelihood needs and in many cases displaced people from their traditional resource base. Today, there is a growing recognition that protected areas and local people need to partner for mutual well-being.

The Kesho Trust believes in conservation and the critical role of parks and protected areas in biodiversity conservation. The Kesho Trust seeks to build stronger and mutually beneficial relationships between protected areas and local communities.

Our vision:

A world where healthy, strong communities live in harmony with their environment and are instrumental in ensuring that the protected areas and conservation lands they live alongside are thriving and achieving the objectives for which they were established.

Our mission:

To facilitate and support community led activities that foster positive relationships between local communities and the conservation of their protected areas. We work with community organizations and individuals to facilitate and enhance their capacity to achieve long term sustainability of community based conservation and development initiatives.

The Kesho Trust is a registered Society [2003] and Canadian Charitable Organization [2005] in the province of British Columbia. We are also registered as an international NGO in Tanzania [2006].