African People & Wildlife 20 Years of Roar

One conversation at a time – that’s how we built trust in those early years. Working alongside Maasai communities reinforced an essential truth: protecting wildlife begins with supporting people. As we tackled pressing challenges like human-lion conflict, we found new ways to pair local practices and traditions with conservation outcomes.

The Maasai community of Loibor Siret transformed our vision by donating land for the Noloholo Environmental Center, a gesture of trust anchoring our shared commitment. Together, we created the first Living Walls, watched young conservationists emerge through education programs, and supported villages as they sought to engage in new forms of conservation. Along the way, we celebrated as initial skepticism about our approach transformed into genuine enthusiasm. Our programs were taking root, turning into partnerships that would flourish for decades to follow.

Word spread quickly: families with Living Walls were sleeping peacefully, free from the fear of losing livestock to predators. This success ignited a wave of expansion as more communities embraced solutions that worked. The once-quiet Noloholo Environmental Center became vibrant and bustling with activity, a place where students discovered their power as environmentalists and local leaders stepped into roles tackling challenges like water conservation and rangeland management.

Over 500 Living Walls transformed conflict into coexistence, while education programs inspired thousands of children and adults to protect their natural heritage. Women found new paths to prosperity through beadwork and the start of a beekeeping program. Villages like Loibor Siret also established conservation areas to safeguard resources for the future. What began as individual victories rippled outward, reaching more lives and lands than ever before.

As human-wildlife conflict programs grew, new opportunities emerged for conservation that would soon be captured in our ACTIVE™ approach to community engagement. Guided by traditional knowledge and innovation with GIS technology tools, our team worked hand-in-hand with local leaders to coordinate management across communal lands. The creation of a dedicated monitoring and evaluation unit further strengthened our accountability and transparency, tracking progress and refining strategies to maximize impact.

Discussions in village halls and under acacia trees gave rise to sustainable rangeland management that balances age-old pastoral practices with a changing environment. The Women’s Beekeeping Initiative also brought sweet rewards, with women earning income while protecting habitat. From grassland and woodland health to entrepreneurship, this era showed the power of solutions rooted in heritage and bolstered by innovation.

Amid global disruptions, communities innovated to keep restoring and reconnecting fragmented grasslands, protecting wildlife corridors, and maintaining environmental education through virtual connections. Programs like human-elephant coexistence initiatives quickly launched and expanded, while the Women’s Beekeeping Initiative brought stability and a new women’s mentorship program based at Noloholo reinforced our approach to equity in African conservation.

Data collection became a pillar of progress – an intangible resource returned to communities to guide grazing plans, protect habitats, and resolve conflicts. As we approached our 20th anniversary year, this period reinforced that, with the right tools and support, rural and Indigenous communities are uniquely equipped to shape sustainable futures for both people and wildlife.