The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Wednesday that Kenya is making progress in protecting its iconic species such as rhinoceros and elephants from poachers.

Jackson Kiplagat, head of conservation programs at WWF Kenya, told a forum in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that the country has implemented a number of policy and legal reforms that provide for stiffer penalties for wildlife crimes.

"There is also improved coordination in the investigation and prosecution of illicit trade in wildlife products by government agencies," Kiplagat said during the Sustainable Finance Initiative Catalyst Awards convened by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), the umbrella body of the banking industry.

Kiplagat said that the East African nation is experiencing an increase in the population of rhinoceros and elephants due to the use of an appropriate land policy.

"Kenya is also moving fast in the creation of conservancies to expand the land available for its critically endangered wildlife species," he said.

He noted that Kenya has also partnered with donors to establish forensic laboratories that facilitate the investigation of wildlife crimes. He revealed that the East African nation has also stepped up surveillance of the illicit trade of wildlife products at its border points.