{"id":22601,"date":"2022-07-22T12:30:15","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T12:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist"},"modified":"2022-07-22T12:41:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T12:41:38","slug":"up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist","title":{"rendered":"Up close with Kaddu Sebunya, the \u2018accidental\u2019 conservationist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Few people make headlines on conservation topics, however, Kaddu Sebunya, the CEO of African Wildlife Foundation, is known as the big African voice when it comes to the protection of wildlife and wild ranges.<\/p>\n

With no educational background in ecology, he boasts of 25 years of experience in conservation of nature and other related activities \u2013at least the passion with which he can speak about it is a testament.<\/p>\n

He holds two Master\u2019s degrees in sustainable resource management and policy and in law, policy and diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old tall and firm man with visible strands of grey hair is a husband and father of two. He is Ugandan but identifies himself as a global citizen.<\/p>\n

Besides conservation, one thing that is so dear to him is Pan-Africanism.<\/p>\n

As a young boy, Sebunya wanted to be involved in developmental work in terms of fighting poverty, food security, rural development, and gender equality, something he says he picked from his family.<\/p>\n

However, his conservation story begins in his mid-twenties when he was doing his first development project in the middle of Kidepo National Park in Uganda to help a fishing village get fresh water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw wildlife around them and nobody cared and I said to myself, if Africans continue taking these things for granted, which provide water and provide for people, then we are in trouble,\u201d he narrated.<\/p>\n

Sebunya says he \u201cstumbled on conservation by accident\u201d through education, work, and curiosity. It brought him to an understanding that nothing succeeds unless nature supports it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started reading and digging further and found myself a strong believer in conservation. I interacted with ecologists for about 20 years and I know a bit about their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having been lucky to work on several conservation projects in Africa and abroad, he uses that experience to \u201crepresent wildlife that doesn\u2019t speak in many conversations with people who speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

He worked with conservation institutions like Oxfam UK, the World Conservation Union, IUCN, USA Peace Corps, Conservation International, Solimar International, and is now the Chief Executive of AWF.<\/p>\n

The anthropologist and political scientist notes that along his line of work, the most interesting scenario he had is his first experience with mountain gorillas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey help you understand how small you are. When you observe them, they are giants and strong but they don\u2019t hurt anyone\u2026they are our closest cousins. It\u2019s humbling to see a specie that is almost very close to us, you can\u2019t help it but think about yourself and your role in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As primates, the lifestyle we\u2019ve chosen can\u2019t sustain us, given that we are more intelligent than any other specie but the capacity to damage\u2026when you see wildlife, actually, we might not be intelligent as we think we are, he says.<\/p>\n

Asked what makes him smile, Sebunya laughed and quickly responded: \u201cMy children and family. The success of my family in everything we do, however small it is. The achievement of my family at a household level makes me smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on a larger scale, it\u2019s everything African for me, he added, it\u2019s the success of Africa in a globalized world.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy context is Africa\u2019s position in the world, not as if it exists on its own as I hear some Pan-Africanists sometimes discuss Africa. I discuss Africa within a global community, what our role is, power, and relationships. With every success Africa makes, I am excited and happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retirement<\/b><\/p>\n

His perfect picture of retirement is being able to afford a continuous life of learning and travel. \u201cThe more you interact with different species including people, you appreciate who you are,\u201d Sebunya says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that if I retire I won\u2019t be tired and will be able to just gain more time to do that, without work but sit back to absorb and observe the interaction parks will have with humans and other species in different parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Sebunya is proud of among his achievements is the resources and opportunities he got to contribute in his line of work, for the rest \u201csomeone will talk during my burial and will say what that looks like,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

However, to his younger self, he would tell him of the importance of working hard and ensuring the interaction with people is respectful as well as recognizing the presence of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I learned that earlier, I would be a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Few people make headlines on conservation topics, however, Kaddu Sebunya, the CEO of African Wildlife Foundation, is known as the big African voice when it comes to the protection of wildlife and wild ranges. With no educational background in ecology, he boasts of 25 years of experience in conservation of nature and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30,28],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-22601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nUp close with Kaddu Sebunya, the \u2018accidental\u2019 conservationist - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Few people make headlines on conservation topics, however, Kaddu Sebunya, the CEO of African Wildlife Foundation, is kno ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Up close with Kaddu Sebunya, the \u2018accidental\u2019 conservationist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Few people make headlines on conservation topics, however, Kaddu Sebunya, the CEO of African Wildlife Foundation, is kno ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-22T12:30:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-22T12:41:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_6-62da9ae7d7154.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1037\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Up close with Kaddu Sebunya, the \u2018accidental\u2019 conservationist\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-22T12:30:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-22T12:41:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\"},\"wordCount\":761,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_6-62da9ae7d7154.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/up-close-with-kaddu-sebunya-the-accidental-conservationist\",\"name\":\"Up close with Kaddu Sebunya, the \u2018accidental\u2019 conservationist - 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