Jul 31, 2026 · 28 min · 13 segments
In this episode, Antony Nampaso shares his journey into wildlife conservation, the importance of data in protecting ecosystems, and the vital role of community engagement. Discover how a passion for…
Um, I'm sure you were like, "What, what, what, what got me here?" You know, w- was, is there another career that I can pursue? I mean, but here you are doing a lot of-
And many people think conservation is all about saving animals, save the elephants, save the rhinos, save the pangolins, save the birds.
But in, in your experience, Lemayan, how much of conservation is actually about understanding people?
Where our conservancy lies is actually on the northern parts of the Mara.
So we border the, we actually border the arable farming lands, and we are separated by the river.
So the kind of conflicts we experience here is, uh, is on a high, especially during the harvesting times when a lot of crop raiding takes place.
Other than that, we also have communities living within the conservancy who are actually affected by carnivores raiding their, okay, getting into their bomas and killing their livestock.
So I'd say 80% is understanding what people actually, and communities.
If you get to understand them and, uh, to guide them in the way that they realize that this is not a war against them and, uh, it's just a conversation, uh, I think that requires, uh, you know, empathy and patience and respect.
I'm also Maasai, and we've also had livestock incidences and I've seen the losses they can bring, but, uh, we try and educate them to look at the brighter side and, uh, we do all we can in terms of science.
Uh, we are working closely with Mara Elephant Project that are really trained and well-equipped with crop raiding.
'Cause, uh, whenever we have, uh, incidents of elephants crossing onto the other side of the river to the communities where they do farming, uh, we actually set up a hotline.
So whenever we get a call, we liaise with our partners, and, uh, we're always there on time, so we at least help mitigate conflict and, uh, have regular community engagements with them so they, they understand, uh, this happens and, uh, at the end of it all, they see the bigger picture of, uh, conservation with, on these sites.
'Cause, uh, most of the people from the other side of the river are actually the ones working here at the, at the conservancy as well.
Um, I'm sure you were like, "What, what, what, what got me here?" You know, w- was, is there another career that I can pursue? I mean, but here you are doing a lot of-
And many people think conservation is all about saving animals, save the elephants, save the rhinos, save the pangolins, save the birds.
But in, in your experience, Lemayan, how much of conservation is actually about understanding people?
Where our conservancy lies is actually on the northern parts of the Mara.
So we border the, we actually border the arable farming lands, and we are separated by the river.
So the kind of conflicts we experience here is, uh, is on a high, especially during the harvesting times when a lot of crop raiding takes place.
Other than that, we also have communities living within the conservancy who are actually affected by carnivores raiding their, okay, getting into their bomas and killing their livestock.
So I'd say 80% is understanding what people actually, and communities.
If you get to understand them and, uh, to guide them in the way that they realize that this is not a war against them and, uh, it's just a conversation, uh, I think that requires, uh, you know, empathy and patience and respect.
I'm also Maasai, and we've also had livestock incidences and I've seen the losses they can bring, but, uh, we try and educate them to look at the brighter side and, uh, we do all we can in terms of science.
Uh, we are working closely with Mara Elephant Project that are really trained and well-equipped with crop raiding.
'Cause, uh, whenever we have, uh, incidents of elephants crossing onto the other side of the river to the communities where they do farming, uh, we actually set up a hotline.
So whenever we get a call, we liaise with our partners, and, uh, we're always there on time, so we at least help mitigate conflict and, uh, have regular community engagements with them so they, they understand, uh, this happens and, uh, at the end of it all, they see the bigger picture of, uh, conservation with, on these sites.
'Cause, uh, most of the people from the other side of the river are actually the ones working here at the, at the conservancy as well.
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