In a candid interview on Sanny Ntayombya’s The Long Form podcast, Sebunya, who grew up under Idi Amin\u2019s regime in Uganda, shared his journey from a politically turbulent childhood to leading one of Africa\u2019s most influential conservation organisations. <\/p>\n
He outlined a vision for the continent\u2019s future, one where conservation is not merely about protecting wildlife, but a driver of economic prosperity for African people. <\/p>\n
Born in 1965, Sebunya\u2019s early life was shaped by Uganda\u2019s political upheaval. His father, Sewankambo, a member of parliament and Pan-Africanist, was hunted by Amin\u2019s regime, forcing the family to disperse. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t grow up with all my siblings,\u201d Sebunya recalled, describing how this experience promoted resilience and a broader African identity. <\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw myself as a typical Ugandan, nor tribal.\u201d <\/p>\n
His path to conservation was serendipitous, sparked by a chance encounter with Margaret Thatcher\u2019s environmental debates in Strasbourg while studying French. This led to a master\u2019s in environmental policy in the UK, despite his initial training in political science and sociology at Makerere University.<\/p>\n
Sebunya\u2019s critique of Africa\u2019s conservation history is unflinching. He argues that the continent\u2019s 8,000 protected areas, many established as colonial hunting grounds, alienated Africans from their land. <\/p>\n
\u201cOvernight, Africans became trespassers, poachers, not people looking for food,\u201d he said, noting that post-independence governments perpetuated these frameworks. This colonial legacy, he contends, fuels perceptions of conservation as neo-colonialism, a sentiment echoed in a 2017 Guardian article where he described the sector\u2019s non-African dominance as resembling colonialism.<\/p>\n
Less than 5% of conservation NGOs in Africa are led by Africans, a statistic Sebunya finds \u201cuncomforting\u201d but is working to change.<\/p>\n
At the heart of AWF\u2019s approach is integrating conservation with community prosperity. In Rwanda\u2019s Volcanoes National Park, AWF donated 27.8 hectares to expand gorilla habitat while establishing the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, owned by the SACOLA cooperative. <\/p>\n
Generating up to $500,000 annually, the lodge has funded community projects like housing for elderly widows and scholarships, directly linking gorilla survival to local wealth. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo gorilla has been poached because they don\u2019t need to harm them\u2014that\u2019s where the money comes from,\u201d Sebunya explained. <\/p>\n
AWF\u2019s innovative bamboo cultivation initiative further exemplifies this, encouraging communities to grow high-value crops that attract gorillas, effectively expanding the park while boosting incomes by up to 700%.<\/p>\n
Sebunya rejects the costly colonial model of militarised park management, which he estimates costs $3,000 per square kilometre and is unsustainable for African governments. <\/p>\n
\u201cA park like Serengeti is almost the size of Rwanda. How do you fence it?\u201d he asked, highlighting the model\u2019s failure, with 30,000 elephants lost annually and rhinos extinct in many countries. <\/p>\n
Instead, AWF promotes a symbiotic relationship between wildlife and communities, arguing that animals like mountain gorillas would say, \u201cCreate a better relationship with my neighbors,\u201d not \u201cBring a gun to protect me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking to the future, Sebunya sees Africa\u2019s youth, 70% of the continent\u2019s population, as key to transforming conservation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn five or 10 years, these young people will demand to run parks for economic aspirations,\u201d he predicted, envisioning decentralised management where communities like those near Rwanda\u2019s Volcanoes oversee their assets. <\/p>\n
He cites rising human-wildlife conflict, as seen in Kenya and Botswana, as a challenge requiring private-sector solutions like insurable conflict mitigation. In Botswana, home to over 200,000 elephants, culling controversies spark protests in London and New York, not locally, where elephants threaten livelihoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil Africans value an elephant as much as a chicken, which pays school fees, we can\u2019t protect them without benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sustainable financing is another priority. Sebunya criticises Africa\u2019s reliance on foreign aid, noting that USAID funds 65% of Nigeria\u2019s health sector, a dependency he calls unsustainable. <\/p>\n
AWF\u2019s partnership with the African Union, including the 2022 Africa Protected Areas Congress in Kigali, marked the first time African governments discussed conservation\u2019s importance since independence. Proposals like the Pan-African Conservation Trust aim to secure African-sourced funding, reducing dependence on global donors amid rising defence spending. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica cannot outsource its core platform for economic development\u2014conservation,\u201d Sebunya asserted.<\/p>\n
Sebunya\u2019s optimism hinges on aligning conservation with development. He warns that without an African model, large mammals face extinction within a century due to land pressure and climate change. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing the same things Europe did, and it has no wildlife,\u201d he cautioned, citing Lake Chad\u2019s shrinking size as a driver of regional instability. <\/p>\n
Yet, he believes Africa\u2019s globally connected, educated youth will value natural assets like Victoria Falls or giraffes, which currently generate less revenue than artificial attractions in Dubai.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is their war\u2014climate change,\u201d he said, comparing it to his father\u2019s fight for independence. <\/p>\n
As AWF prepares for a private-sector-led future, Sebunya sees conservation as a global responsibility with African stewardship. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we cut down the Congo Basin, Europe will flood,\u201d he warned, urging international support without ownership. <\/p>\n
Watch the full interview below:<\/p>\n