On behalf of AWF, I am helping to pioneer innovative financing and development models across Africa that marry conservation and community development objectives for the benefit of people. The results are conservation tourism ventures that sustain themselves, anchor related conservation initiatives, and uplift community well-being.
Virunga National Park is one of the richest, most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, yet it is being threatened by human encroachment, logging, and other uses. Without intervention, these forests will disappear and with them the highly endangered mountain gorilla -- a rare great ape that lives in family groups and displays uncannily emotive behaviors. Building on years of steadfast work by AWF and its partners, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge is helping to ensure that the mountain gorilla survives and its habitat remains intact.
To see more private sector organizations partner with conservation organizations like AWF and to work to benefit the people who truly make conservation happen. If Africa's wildlife and wild lands are to endure forever, we need to work together to create innovative models that invest in conservation and ensure that such initiatives first and foremost benefit the people who have stewarded the lands for hundreds of years -- that's what AWF's Conservation Enterprise Program is all about.
Born and raised in Kenya, I joined AWF four years ago, bringing 10 years' experience in the international financial and business sector, with a dynamic track record of entrepreneurial private-sector-based conservation financing and development in complex operating environments. I have a BA degree from Kings College, University of London, UK.
