ALU School of Wildlife Conservation — Building Leaders in Conservation

The School of Wildlife Conservation was founded in 2016 on the belief that to truly improve wildlife conservation in Africa:

It must be owned and driven by Africans;

We believe that unless African communities feel ownership of wildlife and the natural environment, they will have little incentive to conserve it.

We must focus on benefiting people,

not just nature: conservation cannot simply be a luxury ‘for nature’s sake’. We need to redefine nature as a great pillar of economic growth for Africa.

Leadership & management skills, more essential than ever

Conservation issues today are less about conservation biology & ecology and more about politics, power, and economics – requiring dynamic, ethical and effective leaders.

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Our Objectives

Enhance emerging leaders

By equipping current leaders in the conservation sector with business, leadership, and management skills to have immediate impact in their organisations and communities.

Develop next generation of conservation leaders

We’re raising a generation of ethical entrepreneurial leaders across sectors with a passion for conservation.

Influence decision and policy makers

Engaging leaders across sectors to break down silos, foster meaningful connections, and develop unique partnerships towards sustainable conservation that benefits nature, people, and the economy.

Our Programmes

MBA

Enhancing the management and leadership skills of rising conservation leaders

The MBA for Conservation Leaders combines world-class business education with cutting-edge training in leadership and conservation management. It prepares mid-career conservation leaders for the next stage of their careers.

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Middle Manager Training

Turning conservation managers into high impact leaders

Run by our sister organisation, ALX, the Xcelerator programme develops key mindsets and behaviors which form the four foundations of impactful leadership in outstanding managers.

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Undergraduate Degree

Developing the next generation of conservation leaders

We attract Africa’s most talented future leaders and equip them with the tools and real-world experience to shape Africa’s wildlife destiny in the coming decades.

We offer an individually tailored undergraduate program, a BA in Global Challenges with a specialization in conservation, to empower students to drive innovative solutions to Africa’s conservation challenges.

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The Business of Conservation Conference

Breaking down the silos in conservation

We convene a wide array of stakeholders to promote best practices, strengthen networks, and collectively tackle the challenges of conservation. The first of these was the 2018 Business of Conservation Conference which hosted 300 leaders from conservation, ecotourism, politics, conservation philanthropy and investors. See highlights from BCC2018. Register your interest in BCC2019 by sending an email to businessofconservation@alueducation.com.

View last year’s agenda

View last year’s impact report

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Entrepreneurship In Conservation

Supporting high-potential entrepreneurs with a drive to transform Africa through impactful and ethical ventures.

A partnership with WWF and the Luc Hoffmann Institute to discover and incubate new revenue models that do not depend on tourism but still enable local communities in Africa to derive income from wildlife, manage their natural resources sustainably and improve their collective wellbeing. Entrepreneurs will go through an 8-month digital experience that uses a unique model to transform innovative ideas into viable businesses.

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Wildlife Economy Research

State of the Wildlife economy in Africa Report

The aim of our research is to gather data and information to illustrate the value of wildlife to economies and through this to encourage investment in this important economic asset. The research process will also highlight data gaps and encourage the collection of data related to wildlife economies in order to better understand the vast contribution of wildlife resources to national economies.

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Our Impact

Next generation leaders for conservation:

71

Emerging Conservation leaders:

70

Countries:

21

Decision and policy makers at BCC2018 and BCC2019

624

Scholarships money:

$ 1,582,000

Meet two of our conservation leaders

African Leadership University

ALU is reimagining university education at a scale and quality that has never been done before. By leveraging unconventional learning methods, technology, and a nurturing a bias towards problem-solving among its students, ALU is developing purpose-driven leaders who will utilize their talents, networks, and skills to address some of Africa’s—and indeed the world’s—toughest challenges.

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Seed Donor

Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer

A seed funder for African Leadership University, the late Jennifer (Fern) W. Oppenheimer was instrumental in the establishment of the pan-African university in 2013. Three years later–in mid 2016–Jennifer approached the University’s founder, Fred Swaniker, with an idea to create a new generation of African leaders who would lead efforts to safeguard Africa’s natural resources and wildlife. Her vision, shared by ALU, was to ensure that Africa’s wildlife becomes a truly valuable ‘asset’ that is enjoyed by Africans and the world, and that contributes to the sustainable development of Africa. Jennifer subsequently provided seed funding to enable the establishment of the ALU School of Wildlife Conservation.