Initiative Spotlight
Plant, Play & Preserve
How Lukenya is Growing the next generation of Conservationalists.
August 8, 2026
6 Minute Read
Our Initiative
Lukenya Team
“The children living around the conservancy knew about the animals, but they didn’t truly know them. That gap between knowing and caring is exactly what Plant, Play & Preserve was designed to bridge.”
It started with a simple observation. The children living around Lukenya Wildlife Conservancy could name a giraffe or a zebra, but few had ever sat quietly long enough to watch a dik~dik dart through the scrub, or planted a seedling that would one day become part of the landscape those animals call home.
Launched in early 2025, Plant, Play & Preserve is Lukenya’s flagship community engagement program. It brings together three powerful ideas: hands on restoration, immersive nature play, and deep environmental learning into experiences that transform how young people relate to the wild spaces around them.
Plant: Putting Roots in the Ground
Every Plant, Play & Preserve event begins with action. Participants, mostly students from local primary and secondary schools, but also community youth groups, roll up their sleeves and get their hands in the soil.
We focus on planting native acacia seedlings, indigenous grasses, and wildlife friendly hedgerows in degraded areas of the conservancy. These aren’t symbolic gestures. Each seedling assigned to a participant, and monitored over the following months.
“When a child plants a tree and comes back six months later to see it thriving, something shifts. They stop seeing conservation as an abstract idea and start seeing it as something they personally made happen.”
— Community Outreach Coordinator, Lukenya Wildlife Conservancy
Play: Nature as the Playground
After the planting comes the play but not the kind that requires equipment or screens. We guide participants through guided nature walks, wildlife tracking games, bird identification challenges, and sensory scavenger hunts designed to slow them down and sharpen their observation.
One of our most popular activities is the “Silent Sit.” Participants find a spot in the bush, sit quietly for 15 minutes, and simply watch, listen, and feel. It’s remarkable how many children later say it was the first time they’d ever truly heard the bush
the chatter of weaverbirds, the rustle of a mongoose in the grass, the distant alarm call of a vervet monkey.
Wildlife Tracking
Bird ID Challenges
Sensory Hunts
Preserve: Understanding the “Why”
The final pillar is preservation through education. We run short, interactive workshops that connect the morning’s activities to the bigger picture:
- Why native trees matter more than fast-growing exotic species
- How wildlife corridors work and why our concervancy’s location is ecologically significant
- The role of communities in conservation success stories across Kenya
- Career pathways in wildlife management, ecology, and sustainable tourism
We bring in rangers, researchers, and local elders to share real stories. The message is consistent: conservation isn’t something that happens to communities. It happens because of them.
By the Numbers: Our Impact So Far
3,400+
Seedlings Planted
1,200+
Youth Engaged
14
Schools Partnered
78%
Seedling Survival
A Day in the Life
Arrival & Welcome Participants arrive at Lukenya’s community center. Light refreshments and a safety briefing.
Plant Phase Groups are assigned to restoration plots. Rangers demonstrate proper planting technique. Each participant plants 3–5 seedlings.
Play Phase A guided nature walk to a nearby viewpoint. Along the way, tracking games and a “species bingo” challenge.
Lunch Under the Acacias Informal storytelling from community elders.
Security Interactive workshop on a conservation topic. Q&A with rangers and field staff.
Closing Circle Participants leave with substantial knowledge and experience on seedling adoption. Group photos are taken. Many don’t want to leave.
Why This Matters for Kenya
Kenya’s conservation success has always depended on community. The best protected reserves are those where neighbouring communities see tangible benefits, not just economic, but social, educational, and emotional.
Plant, Play & Preserve builds that buy in from the ground up, literally. Every seedling planted is a small act of stewardship. Every quiet moment in the bush is a small act of connection. And every young person who leaves Lukenya feeling like a guardian rather than a visitor is a small but vital investment in the future of this landscape.
How You Can Get Involved
For Schools & Groups
We welcome partnerships with schools, churches, and youth groups. Events held Saturdays and school holidays. Groups of 20–60.
Contact Us →For Volunteers
Help with event coordination, seedling nursery work, and photography. No experience needed, just enthusiasm.
Sign Up →For Supporters
KES 500 covers one seedling, its care for a year, and one child’s full participation in an event.
Reach out for more info→