Kenyan conservationist Abdullahi Hussein Ali has bagged the prestigious Whitley Award for his efforts in protecting the critically endangered Hirola antelope.
The Whitley Award, nicknamed the ‘Green Oscars’, is an initiative by London-based conservation charity, Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), and is the most coveted conservation award in the world.
Ali holds a Ph.D. in ecology and is the founder of the Hirola Conservation Programme (HCP), a grassroots conservation effort solely dedicated to the protection of the hirola in areas along the Kenya-Somalia border.
With a global population size of fewer than 500 individuals, the hirola is threatened by habitat loss, completion with livestock and predation. Ali is currently restoring habitat for hirola in an effort to bolster their population growth in their natural range. In all of his effort, Ali is striving to ensure his efforts translate into practical conservation solutions for hirola.
In recent years, Ali has rapidly established himself as an expert on hirola ecology, while also working hard to raise its profile locally, nationally and globally. Ali is a member of the IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group and also works as a fellow for the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) group.
In his program, Abdullahi focuses on replenishing grasslands and wooing the local community to be caretakers of the endangered antelope.Ali impressed the panel of judges by his grassroot approach to conservation in that he has focused on his rural home and involved the local community in his projects.Ali’s commitment to his country and its wildlife has provided a powerful formula to deliver lasting change.
“He shows us a wonderful example of the benefits of a grassroots approach in conservation, and we are thrilled to highlight his achievements and support the scale-up of the Hirola Conservation Programme.” Said WFN Founder Edward Whitley.
Abdullahi will receive £40,000 (Sh5.3 million) to boost his project. This year’s awards were conferred via a video link due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.
