When Richard was a young zoologist, he envisioned converting the Ol Pejeta cattle ranch to a conservation area for Kenyan wildlife. Now the Ol Pejeta Conservancy (OPC) spans 90,000 acres of land dedicated to protecting hundreds of diverse animal species, many of which are rare and endangered. After observing how the Sweetwaters Game Reserve worked to protect the endangered white rhinos, Richard and his team, focussed on regenerating Rhinoceros populations (Black and Southern White) in Kenya. In 1993 there were 20 black rhinos in OPC but now, thanks to tough anti-poaching measures, there are over 150; this is a real success story in OPC.
Communities surrounding the OPC didn’t benefit directly from wildlife conservation and the animals were still threatened by poaching. So, OPC initiated a community development program in 2004. When asked, the people around the conservancy said that providing an education to some of their children was a top priority for the local communities. Since 2006 OPC has worked together with PA-MOJA to provide scholarships for students in the communities that neighbour OPC. Between 2006 and 2022 hundreds of students have been given full scholarships to attend secondary school by PA-MOJA. This long-term, ongoing commitment to student education has helped to build a more cooperative relationship between the conservancy and the community. Due to the support of OPC’s community development program, as well as the tireless work of the approximately 500 employees at the conservancy, the poaching of rhinos, elephants and other vulnerable species has gone down significantly.
In January 2022, Richard Vigne was appointed as the first-ever Executive Director of The African Leadership University’s School of Wildlife Conservation. The aim of the School of Wildlife Conservation (SOWC) is to educate and support the entrepreneurial conservation leaders of the future in order to further conserve Africa’s precious wildlife. The impact that Richard has made to wildlife conservation at OPC, and beyond, is exemplary. PA-MOJA wishes him all the best in his new endeavor.
