We are delighted to announce that Ian Craig is joining the WildLandscapes team as our Senior Africa Director. Ian is a renowned conservationist from Kenya with a career spanning over 40 years. He is best known for transforming his family’s 62,000-acre cattle ranch into the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy during a period of rampant poaching in the 1980s. This transformation established Lewa as a leading model for wildlife conservation and community development, focusing on protecting endangered species and fostering sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
In 2004, Ian founded the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), an organization that now supports over 43 community conservancies across 63,000 square kilometers in northern and eastern Kenya. NRT’s work extends across various ecosystems, including rangelands, forests, deserts, and marine areas, and it aims to integrate local communities into conservation through economic development, security, and sustainable land management.
Ian has also been recognized internationally for his contributions. In 2022, he received the prestigious Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa and the Scientific Exploration Society (SES) Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering efforts in community-driven conservation. He was instrumental in launching the Elephant Protection Initiative, which successfully campaigned to close ivory markets globally.
Ian will shape WildLandscapes’ strategy by drawing on his extensive experience in establishing successful community-led conservation models. He will focus on expanding these approaches into new regions, emphasizing large-scale landscape connectivity and biodiversity protection. His deep understanding of ecosystem management, coupled with strong relationships with Indigenous groups, governments, and conservation organizations, will significantly strengthen WildLandscapes’ ability to address complex conservation challenges across Africa and beyond.