Rangeland degradation affects over two billion people, yet the effectiveness of governance strategies for ecosystem productivity is unclear. This study analyzed vegetation productivity in Kenya’s Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem from 2000-2022 using the Relative Productivity Index (RPI). Results showed that management effectiveness, not governance type, influenced outcomes. Community conservancies had the highest productivity (RPI = 0.68) with stable trends, while Amboseli National Park declined. Effective conservation requires coordinated management across diverse tenure systems, not just individual protected areas.
