Nature and People as One

Adrian grew up in protected areas in Kenya and co-founded Nature and People as One (NAPO) to develop and facilitate a more inclusive approach to area-based conservation efforts that respects and meaningfully engages with local communities. Adrian works extensively with the indigenous Rendille and Samburu to implement conservation and restoration projects, with a focus on enhancing ecosystem restoration, human-wildlife coexistence and strengthening nature-based livelihoods.

Adrian attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, and was a recipient of One Young World’s 2020 Covid Young Leaders Fund in 2021. At the Summit, he met fellow Ambassador Bryce Mawhinney, who provided him with project support and helped him establish a partnership with the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund for the Herder Conservation Initiative. This programme employs four herders who carry out conservation monitoring and have reported over 500 sightings of endangered wildlife species, contributing to their continued protection. In addition, Adrian was named as one of the five Restoration Stewards for the Global Landscapes Forum in 2022 and nominated as an IUCN changemaker by One Young World, for which he was selected to share his work at the IUCN leadership Forum in Jeju, South Korea.

NAPO has five ongoing projects. The Mt. Marsabit Tree Nursery produced and distributed 1,500 tree seedlings in 2021 and a further 8,000 in 2022. Its pilot project, Ramat, has assisted the regeneration of 40 acres of land in isolated communities in the Ndoto Mountains. NAPO has also trained 120 community members in beekeeping through its Bee Works Africa programme, and distributed over 200 beehives to community members in Marsabit. Additionally, to enhance local governance, NaPO has facilitated discussions between 270 indigenous community members to co-create rangeland management solutions in northern Kenya.

“During one of the workshops at the Summit I met fellow Ambassador Bryce, who has collaborated with me on conservation projects and connected me to the foundation that has supported my work on the Herder Network. That was a huge outcome of the Summit for me and NAPO.”