Who we are
The events series is a collaboration between WWF Panda Labs Kenya and Amani Institute.
Future of Wildlife
December 2020
Around the world, local and indigenous communities in developing and emerging economies are at the front line of natural resource conservation. These communities are the gatekeepers of our most precious landscapes and seascapes with customary rights to the territories and natural resources. Many directly derive their livelihoods from their natural environment and have been protecting the natural resources they depend on for centuries. This ranges from hunting and gathering to farming, forestry to ecotourism, from artisanal mining to fishing, recycling plastics to protect wildlife corridors. Local and indigenous people living in biodiversity hotspots are also vulnerable to overconsumption of natural resources to economic scarcity and social disparity. Therefore they are critical allies as environmental stewards. However, at the same time they are at risk of being left behind if conservation efforts fail to involve them directly and trigger solutions with verifiable benefits for at risk communities.
To explore the topic at a granular level, we had a panel discussion featuring:
- Prof. Charles Musyoki, Director of Parks and Reserves at Kenya Wildlife Service.
- Nelson Ole Reiyia, CEO and Co-Founder of the Nashulai Mara Conservancy.
Future of FORESTS
November 2020
Can we find solutions in averting the worrying trend towards rapid forest encroachment, unsustainable utilization of forest resources, deteriorating river water quality, disruption of flow regimes in rivers and skewed distribution of benefits?
Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet. They help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air and providing people with jobs; some 13.2 million people across the world have a job in the forest sector and another 41 million have a job that is related to the sector.
Amazingly, one billion people live in and around forests and depend on them for fuel, food and medicines. And all of us use wood in our daily lives and paper: in fact, global demand for timber products is expected to more than triple over the next three decades.
Unfortunately, human impacts have already led to the loss of around 40% of the world’s forests. And we’re losing forests at a rate of 10 million hectares per year. Halting deforestation, protecting and sustainably managing forests, and restoring forests have never been more urgent.To explore the topic at a granular level, we had a panel discussion featuring:
- Michael Koech, Manager, Environment and Climate Change at Safaricom.
- Gerald Ngatia, CEO of the National Alliance of Community Forest Associations (NACOFA).
- Nancy Ogonje, Executive Director at The East African Wildlife Society.
Future of Education for Sustainable development
October 2020
The term sustainable development has become commonplace in today's society but what exactly does the term mean? Given that the environment is a shared resource everyone must play a part in efforts to ensure that biodiversity thrives. In an era where technological advancements are rapid and the effects of climate change very evident; there is an urgent need to have collective responsibility for caring for nature. This session will explore how to make mainstream conservation in the public domain and ensuring that discourse on environmental matters is participatory and inclusive.
This 90 minute session explored how we can make education on sustainable development more inclusive and participatory and ensure everyone practices sustainability.
We had a riveting panel discussion featuring:
- Dr. Margaret Otieno - National Coordinator and CEO, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya
- Ephantus Mugo, Conservation Education Coordinator - Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
- Jane Waiyaki-Maina, Head of Sustainability, Absa Kenya
- Peter Tabichi - Teacher, Keriko Primary School and Winner of 2019 Global Teacher Prize
Future of Urban Cities/ Development
September 2020
With an increasing urban population, how do we plan and design green & sustainable transport and built infrastructure systems in our cities?
This 90 minute session explored how we can design life in the city to that is compatible with natural ecosystems even as we push for development. And where best to start than to look at the two most important pillars of any city: transport and built infrastructure!
We had a riveting panel discussion featuring:
Zahra Kassam - Founder, KUWA Urban Space
John Kalungi - CEO, Kenya Green Building Society
Peninah Ndegwa - Transport Planning Associate at Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
Future of Food:innovative Solutions to Kenya's Food Loss Challenges
August 2020
Our food system is one of the major threats to nature in the present times. In order to be able to feed the world now and in the future we need food systems to become more sustainable. We can no longer exploit resources beyond planetary boundaries, and we need to find better solutions for feeding, nutritiously and healthily, the world’s growing billions. Underscoring the importance of concerted effort to transform the food system to sustainably produce nutritious food while protecting biodiversity, while tackling food loss and waste.
This 90-minute interactive session delved into the issue of food loss in the Kenyan context and innovative solutions to mitigate the problem and advance towards a food secure future. We had a riveting panel discussion featuring:
- Winnie Yegon - Food Systems Analyst at the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Dr William Ojwang - Africa Rift Lakes Programme Manager at WWF Kenya
- Sheena Shah - Director & Permaculture Designer at Harvesting for Good East Africa
- Winnie Yegon - Food Systems Analyst at the
The Future of Plastics: Waste to Value
July 2020
Plastic waste is choking many of Kenya’s marine waterways and consequently threatening a significant part of our marine flora and fauna. However, alternate uses for plastic can transform plastic from being a threat to marine biodiversity to an economic opportunity for the youth while at the same time easing pollution into water bodies.
This 90-minute interactive session shed light on the circular plastic economy at the Kenyan coast and innovative ideas being implemented to deal with the plastic menace. The event also had a cool panel discussion on the circular plastic economy featuring:
- Kieran Smith - Founder and CEO, Mr Green Africa.
- Kalin Todorov - Manager, Global Input at Plastix Global.
- Miriam Bomett - Deputy Head of Policy Research & Advocacy at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM).
- Susan Scull-Carvalho - Project Development Advisor, Kwale Plastics Plus Collectors (KPPC)
participant organizations and INNOVATORS
Take a look and enjoy!
Session Panelists
Sustainability Innovators
