You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, and that they must protect them.

— Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate —

Allan Ward, Leadership and Management Program facilitator conducting a training session under a tree with local Kenyan conservancy members.
Leadership and Management Program (LAMP) training session with conservancy members, Kenya, June 2023.

MSWC produces short film to showcase the impact of Leadership and Management training on the lives of community members.

This is the The Story of Mayanai.

The magnificent mountains and savannahs of Northern Kenya are the backdrop for the story of Mayanai, a Samburu woman, who struggles to make ends meet when her husband is unexpectedly swept away in a flood. Refusing to see herself as a victim, she joins a training program that not only empowers her to play a vital role in her homeland’s wildlife conservation, but also significantly raises her status in her indigenous community. It’s an uplifting “heroine’s journey” of how she learns to save her community’s natural resources while providing a brighter future for her children.

Latest News

MSWC Releases 2022 Annual Report

“Having listened to many wildlife conservation leaders, managers, community members, and foundations and other organizations that are funding conservancies, I thought that I would have a go at applying the philosophy – that enhanced management skills lead to better social and economic outcomes – to wildlife conservation. This Annual Report describes the initial steps of such an experiment. MSWC views its role as catalyst, helping to promote and demonstrate the impact which leadership and management training can have in community wildlife conservancies. My vision is for attention to leadership and management skills of those who are “closest to the land” to become a routine element of wildlife conservation policy.” –

GUY PFEFFERMANN
MSWC Founder & President

Why Africa needs community-led conservation

Conservation efforts in Africa have typically been led by “parachute conservationists” — outsiders who drop in thinking they have all the answers, hire locals to implement them and then disappear. But conservationist Resson Kantai Duff has a better way to save wildlife in Africa: let locals lead these efforts themselves. She calls for a major shift in how conservation in Africa works, showing why the people closest to the land are the ones best fit to care for it. (source: ted.com)

Women’s Leadership and Management Program (LAMP)

In-field Impact Evaluation 2021

Read extracts from the women LAMP graduates’ feedback.

Wildlife will continue to disappear
until we empower communities to manage conservation.

What we do

Combine global expertise with local knowledge to develop leadership and management training at the community level.

  • Promote the development and implementation of localized curricula.
  • Bring conservancy management education to desktop and mobile phone users.
  • Create local language learning material.
  • Develop an international management center for research and teaching in rural Kenya.

HELP TO MAKE A SUSTAINABLE DIFFERENCE

The Leadership And Management Program (LAMP) for local communities is a transformational process to equip, and empower young men and women to manage their landscape, conserve natural resources and wildlife, secure their livelihoods, and have a high degree of resilience in difficult economic and ecological times. Particularly women from communities traditionally have little voice but can become incredible change agents given the right training.

We welcome any contribution towards the training, and work of MSWC.

Donate safely and securely either through PayPal or any major debit or credit card.

To donate specifically to our Women’s LAMP project, please donate via the Global Giving platform.

MSWC is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity under the United States Internal Revenue Code.

The need is for experiential learning, not the conventional academic approach… Above all, good governance is key to success; it is the engine that drives conservation especially in a community approach, because you are carrying thousands of people with you.

Tom Lalapaa, CEO, Northern Rangelands Trust

Who we are

A team of professionals with over 200 years of cumulative experience in international development, education, and animal welfare. 

Our Vision

A world in which biodiversity is conserved and ecosystems managed for the prosperity of all who live in them.

Our Mission

MSWC believes that effective wildlife conservation requires managerial skills at the grassroots level that marry the passion of the practitioners with the leadership, financial management, organization, and conflict resolution techniques needed for optimal delivery.

MSWC uniquely focuses on developing community grassroots managerial skills through structured learning and peer group support, working from the bottom up.

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