Nairobi National Park loses 76 acres to Bomas expansion

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has begun clearing indigenous forest inside Nairobi National Park to make way for a Sh41.9 billion convention centre, a development that will consume 76 acres of protected land and force the relocation of the park's 62-year-old animal orphanage.

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) issued a licence on December 3, 2025, permitting KWS to convert 31 hectares currently covered by indigenous trees.

The land will be used for the Bomas International Convention Centre (BICC), already under construction at Bomas of Kenya along Lang'ata Road.

A pedestrian bridge connecting the BICC to the park, crossing Lang'ata Road, is also planned.

The Nema licence only came to public attention in February 2026, according to Friends of Nairobi National Park (FoNNaP).

The group says neither the licence nor the environmental impact assessment (EIA) were disclosed before tree-cutting began.

Conservationists accuse KWS of conducting a sham public participation process, noting that stakeholders had already raised objections to a planned 1,300-slot car park at a public participation session held on October 2, 2025.

The Auditor-General has separately declared the project irregular, but work has continued regardless.

"The project continues despite being declared irregular by the Auditor-General. We demand an immediate halt to the works," FoNNaP said in a statement on March 24, 2026.

The group puts the total forest at risk at 100 acres, though the Nema licence covers 76 acres.

KWS rejected those claims, calling them "misleading, unfounded and inflammatory."

The agency says the orphanage relocation is lawful and designed to meet international animal welfare standards, and adds the new facility will create over 500 jobs and allow the existing site to be restored and re-wilded.

Parliament has been told the BICC will cost more than Sh42 billion in total.

The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife is financing the project, with the Ministry of Defence overseeing delivery.

The government is targeting completion before May 12, 2026, when Nairobi is due to host the Africa-France Summit.

The BICC also faces separate procurement queries before the National Assembly.

Under the plan, the animal orphanage will be relocated approximately 1.5 kilometres from its current location to a site directly opposite the BICC.

KWS says the move will serve the higher visitor numbers the convention centre is expected to bring, while improving the quality of animal care and visitor experience.

Akshay Vishwanath, Executive Director of Public Interest Litigation and Advocacy for the Environment (PILAE), questioned the scale of the planned car park, saying the infrastructure does not match what a wildlife sanctuary requires.

Nearby Sarit Centre handles up to 25,000 visitors a day with between 1,500 and 4,000 parking slots, a scale the orphanage does not approach.

President William Ruto defended the project on March 28, 2026, saying Nairobi needs modern conference infrastructure to compete.

KWS says the process followed the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013, citing its Nema EIA licence, reference NEMA/ENVIS/CPR/LIC-0940.

FoNNaP is demanding a halt to tree-cutting and full public release of the EIA and blueprints before work goes further.