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Rolex National Geographic Explorer Of The Year 2021

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Whitley Gold Award 2021

Whitley Award 2014

Paula Kahumbu. Connecting People to Conserve Animals.

Buffett Award Winner

Princeton in Africa Founders’ Medal

 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award

Order of the Grand Warrior Award

Paula Kahumbu received a special commendation from the United Nations for her critical role in creating awareness and mobilizing action around the crisis facing elephants in Kenya.

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Special Commendation, United Nations Person of the Year Award

2011 Emerging Explorer

Dr Paula Kahumbu joined on 1 January 2022.


WWF appoints two female leaders from Kenya and Rwanda to its International Board

Announced Paula Kahumbu to its board of trustees.

National Geographic Society Strengthens Board of Trustees With Appointment of Five New Members

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A Kenyan Ecologist’s Crusade to Save Her Country’s Wildlife

Paula is a multiple award-winning Ecologist lobbying for nature conservation and fighting to reconnect Kenyans with nature.

Paula Kahumbu

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Changing the course of history for Kenya's wildlife

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Africans must be equal partners in a war on Elephant poachers

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Seat Of Power Episode 2: Dr. Paula Kahumbu's Fight To Save The Elephants

ʻWildlife Warriors’ returns to the screens

Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu appears on ‘All for Earth’ podcast

Sneak peek of Season 2 of Wildlife Warriors episodes produced by Paula Kahumbu, directed and edited by Johan Vorster, hosted by Paula, shot by Steve Wagua and Evode Muhire, sound by Loita Laban,

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Wildlife Warriors Season 2 Sneak Peek

Donate to Paula - Fight Wildlife Extinction

SDG 15 Life on Land

SDG 13 Climate Action

## In short
Paula is a multiple award-winning Ecologist lobbying for nature conservation and fighting to reconnect Kenyans with nature.

**Impact across Africa**
I grew up just outside of Nairobi, in a natural, green, forested area, interacting with nature all the time. After spending a few years working with different types of conservation I was recruited to WildlifeDirect who wanted somebody to help develop it into an organization that could have an impact across Africa. I've been working there ever since. 

**Losing our heritage and identity**
So many of our species are becoming more endangered and sliding closer to extinction with every day that passes. We used to have 15,000 lions in Kenya just 10 years ago, now there are only about 1000 left. It is horrific. We could lose our species which would mean losing incredible parts of our heritage and our identity. 

**Fighting for Kenya's wildlife**
My organization and I are trying to recreate and nurture an interest in nature, because it's innate in all of us. This means connecting Kenyans to nature, getting people to go to the parks and enjoy the wildlife that millions of tourists come to our country to see. But that we as Africans take for granted.


## My organization
WildlifeDirect was founded in 2004 by the prominent Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist, Dr. Richard Leakey. Our vision is the change hearts, minds and laws to ensure Africa’s critical species endure forever. Our mission is to connect people to their wildlife and nature and inspire them to treasure and act to conserve it.

We are best known for our flagship campaign, “Hands Off Our Elephants,” under the patronage of the First Lady of Kenya, Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta. We used court room data to reveal how wildlife criminals were escaping justice, and as a result, Kenya strengthened her anti-poaching forces, increased penalties for wildlife crime, and developed a team of specialized wildlife prosecutors. More poachers were thwarted, and the conviction rate of offenders rose to 95%. The poaching massacre in Kenya was completely averted while neighbouring Tanzania lost over 76 % of its elephants during the same period.

But our wildlife is not safe. Our animals and wilderness areas face threats from land use change, infrastructure developments, crime, pollution and other threats. 

We are tackling these problems through mass public awareness, through education of future generations and at the coal face in our court rooms. 

**Wildlife Warriors TV Series**
We launched our third Television series, Wildlife Warriors in April 2019 so that every Kenyan can fall in love with our precious wildlife treasures. The series shines a light on endangered species through the stories of  extraordinary Arican conservation role models. Broadcast on Citizen TV, Kenya's largest national television channel reaching an audience of four million per week. The series has done extremely well and in November 2019 Wildlife Warriors was released on Ebony Life, a Nigerian Channel that reaches 26 African countries and the Carribean reaching over 79 million people. 

**Education and outreach**
We have launched Wildlife Warrior Kids Clubs in schools across the country to bring wildlife content in films, books and field activities to empower children. Our goal is to create a generation of Wildlife Warriors in every community to address any wildlife or environmental challenge. 2500 children aged 8–14 are enrolled in this program and each year 100 of them will win a place in our annual wildlife camping expedition. The success of the program is evident in the clean schools which now have tree plantations, and the standardized test results which show that our Wildlife Warriors members grades are improving with some excelling at the national and international levels.

**Legal Department**
Since 2013, WildlifeDirects project Eyes in the Courtroom has been tracking every wildlife trial in Kenya's 121 courts. These data have contributed significantly to strengthening of wildlife law, improving prosecutions, and courtroom procedures and the sentencing in wildlife crime cases brought before Kenyan courts. We support wildlife crime trainings, dialogues and reviews of policies, and we also provide legal support to citizens and law enforcement officers. In addition, we support ordinary citizens through advocacy trainings, toolkits and legal support to empower ordinary citizens to protect Kenya's wilderness and wildlife. Key issues include helping in human wildlife conflict cases, the development of dangerous infrastructure like pylons for birds of prey, the application of pesticides that are killing vultures, the destruction of forests and the attacks on the integrity of parks and public spaces. 

**Organizational documents**
[Annual report 2018](https://wildlifedirect.org/annual-reports/)
[Board of directors](https://wildlifedirect.org/board/)

## Awards and recognitions
- National Geographic Emerging Explorer Award, 2011
- National Geographic Buffet Award Winner for Conservation Leadership in Africa, 2011
- United Nations Person of the Year celebrations for critical role in creating awareness and mobilizing action around the crisis facing elephants in Kenya, 2013
- Order of the Grand Warrior Award, Kenyan ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, 2014
- Whitley Award Winner, donated by the LJC Fund in memory of Anthea and Lindsey Turner, 2014
- Jury member, 2019 Rolex Award

## Publications

**In the news**
- [Five Things to Know About Botswana’s Decision to Lift Ban on Hunting Elephants](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-botswanas-decision-lift-ban-hunting-elephants-180972281/), Smithsonian, 2019
- [China’s move to legalise use of rhino horn and tiger bones criticised](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/GiantsClub/chinas-move-to-legalise-use-of-rhino-horn-and-tiger-bones-criticised-a8708476.html), The Independent, 2019
- [Seat of Power Episode 2: Dr. Paula Kahumbu’s Fight To Save The Elephants](https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilydrewry/2017/08/12/seat-of-power-episode-2-dr-paula-kahumbus-fight-to-save-the-elephants/#afdfff3200b4), Forbes, 2018
- [8 Critically Endangered Black Rhinos Die in Kenya](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/world/africa/black-rhinos-die-kenya.html), The New York Times, 2018
- [We don't buy panda products - so the Chinese should get their hands off our elephants](https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/07/opinions/paula-kahumbu-china-ivory-elephants-extinction/index.html), CNN, 2015
- [Kenya's First Lady takes the helm in the war on poachers](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/africa-wild/2014/jun/27/kenyas-first-lady-takes-the-helm-in-the-war-on-poachers), The Guardian, 2014


In short
Paula is a multiple award-winning Ecologist lobbying for nature conservation and fighting to reconnect Kenyans with nature.

Impact across Africa
I grew up just outside of Nairobi, in a natural, green, forested area, interacting with nature all the time. After spending a few years working with different types of conservation I was recruited to WildlifeDirect who wanted somebody to help develop it into an organization that could have an impact across Africa. I've been working there ever since.

Losing our heritage and identity
So many of our species are becoming more endangered and sliding closer to extinction with every day that passes. We used to have 15,000 lions in Kenya just 10 years ago, now there are only about 1000 left. It is horrific. We could lose our species which would mean losing incredible parts of our heritage and our identity.

Fighting for Kenya's wildlife
My organization and I are trying to recreate and nurture an interest in nature, because it's innate in all of us. This means connecting Kenyans to nature, getting people to go to the parks and enjoy the wildlife that millions of tourists come to our country to see. But that we as Africans take for granted.

My organization
WildlifeDirect was founded in 2004 by the prominent Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist, Dr. Richard Leakey. Our vision is the change hearts, minds and laws to ensure Africa’s critical species endure forever. Our mission is to connect people to their wildlife and nature and inspire them to treasure and act to conserve it.

We are best known for our flagship campaign, “Hands Off Our Elephants,” under the patronage of the First Lady of Kenya, Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta. We used court room data to reveal how wildlife criminals were escaping justice, and as a result, Kenya strengthened her anti-poaching forces, increased penalties for wildlife crime, and developed a team of specialized wildlife prosecutors. More poachers were thwarted, and the conviction rate of offenders rose to 95%. The poaching massacre in Kenya was completely averted while neighbouring Tanzania lost over 76 % of its elephants during the same period.

But our wildlife is not safe. Our animals and wilderness areas face threats from land use change, infrastructure developments, crime, pollution and other threats.

We are tackling these problems through mass public awareness, through education of future generations and at the coal face in our court rooms.

Wildlife Warriors TV Series
We launched our third Television series, Wildlife Warriors in April 2019 so that every Kenyan can fall in love with our precious wildlife treasures. The series shines a light on endangered species through the stories of  extraordinary Arican conservation role models. Broadcast on Citizen TV, Kenya's largest national television channel reaching an audience of four million per week. The series has done extremely well and in November 2019 Wildlife Warriors was released on Ebony Life, a Nigerian Channel that reaches 26 African countries and the Carribean reaching over 79 million people.

Education and outreach
We have launched Wildlife Warrior Kids Clubs in schools across the country to bring wildlife content in films, books and field activities to empower children. Our goal is to create a generation of Wildlife Warriors in every community to address any wildlife or environmental challenge. 2500 children aged 8–14 are enrolled in this program and each year 100 of them will win a place in our annual wildlife camping expedition. The success of the program is evident in the clean schools which now have tree plantations, and the standardized test results which show that our Wildlife Warriors members grades are improving with some excelling at the national and international levels.

Legal Department
Since 2013, WildlifeDirects project Eyes in the Courtroom has been tracking every wildlife trial in Kenya's 121 courts. These data have contributed significantly to strengthening of wildlife law, improving prosecutions, and courtroom procedures and the sentencing in wildlife crime cases brought before Kenyan courts. We support wildlife crime trainings, dialogues and reviews of policies, and we also provide legal support to citizens and law enforcement officers. In addition, we support ordinary citizens through advocacy trainings, toolkits and legal support to empower ordinary citizens to protect Kenya's wilderness and wildlife. Key issues include helping in human wildlife conflict cases, the development of dangerous infrastructure like pylons for birds of prey, the application of pesticides that are killing vultures, the destruction of forests and the attacks on the integrity of parks and public spaces.

Organizational documents
Annual report 2018
Board of directors

Awards and recognitions
National Geographic Emerging Explorer Award, 2011
National Geographic Buffet Award Winner for Conservation Leadership in Africa, 2011
United Nations Person of the Year celebrations for critical role in creating awareness and mobilizing action around the crisis facing elephants in Kenya, 2013
Order of the Grand Warrior Award, Kenyan ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, 2014
Whitley Award Winner, donated by the LJC Fund in memory of Anthea and Lindsey Turner, 2014
Jury member, 2019 Rolex Award

Publications

In the news
Five Things to Know About Botswana’s Decision to Lift Ban on Hunting Elephants, Smithsonian, 2019
China’s move to legalise use of rhino horn and tiger bones criticised, The Independent, 2019
Seat of Power Episode 2: Dr. Paula Kahumbu’s Fight To Save The Elephants, Forbes, 2018
8 Critically Endangered Black Rhinos Die in Kenya, The New York Times, 2018
We don't buy panda products - so the Chinese should get their hands off our elephants, CNN, 2015
Kenya's First Lady takes the helm in the war on poachers, The Guardian, 2014


Wildlife numbers in Kenya are declining rapidly. Paula fights wildlife crime and connects Kenyans to nature so that they act to save it.

CEO & Ecologist

**Fighting** for Africa’s **nature and wildlife**

Fighting for Africa’s nature and wildlife

Donate now to fight extinction

Meet Paula

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