As COP17 Begins, One Congolese Leader Shows Why Investing in African Conservationists Works

The future of conservation in Africa depends on African leadership. Through its Conservation Leadership & Management Fellowship, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) invests in African conservation professionals, equipping them to strengthen institutions, lead teams, and turn biodiversity commitments into lasting action. Alain Mukiranya, whose journey in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is told below, shows why that investment matters.

Alain Mukiranya during a gorilla monitoring session in Maiko National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In the dense forests of the DRC, conservation means far more than protecting wildlife. It means safeguarding ecosystems of global importance while supporting the people and institutions who protect them. The Congo Basin is one of the world's most significant tropical forest regions, and protecting it is an immense responsibility.

For Alain Mukiranya, that responsibility is personal. A primatologist by training, he is a wildlife officer with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation. His career has been built on protecting nature, including work in Maïko National Park, a remarkable forest landscape that is home to the eastern lowland gorilla, the okapi and the Congo peafowl.

Over the years, Alain came to recognise that making a greater contribution would mean going beyond his operational responsibilities. In his own words:

"I wanted to contribute more effectively to conservation and create a greater impact for both protected areas and the people who depend on them."

That ambition led him to AWF's Conservation Leadership & Management Fellowship, supported by the Charles R. Wall Foundation. The fellowship gave Alain the chance to build leadership and management skills to do so. Through training in strategic planning, communication, leadership, team management, and problem-solving, he developed tools to approach challenges with a broader institutional perspective.

Alain and his colleague celebrate receiving awards for their contribution to conservation in 2025. 

"The fellowship didn't simply teach me new skills. It changed the way I approach challenges, work with others, and lead."

The shift was significant: instead of focusing on day-to-day tasks, he was now bringing people and partners together to work towards long-term conservation goals. Since completing the fellowship, Alain's role has expanded to include coordinating conservation activities, supporting environmental education, strengthening institutional communication, and engaging with partners.

In 2025, his contribution was recognised as he won the Best Ranger Supporter Award by the Game Rangers’ Association of Africa, acknowledging his commitment to conservation and his support for rangers working under challenging conditions. He also represented ICCN and the DRC at national, regional, and international conservation forums, sharing perspectives from his country's conservation landscape.

"Conservation is about people as much as it is about wildlife. Strong protected areas depend on strong leaders and strong partnerships."

Why Investing in African Leaders Matters

Alain's story points to a broader lesson; protecting biodiversity requires not only resources, but also African leaders prepared to turn priorities into action.

No one understands Africa’s landscapes, communities, and institutions better than the African professionals who live and work in them. Their knowledge is essential to conservation that is both effective and enduring. AWF's Conservation Leadership & Management Fellowship invests in these leaders, strengthening the skills they need to coordinate teams, build partnerships, and guide long-term conservation efforts.

In the DRC, where the Congo Basin's forests are vital to global biodiversity, protecting these landscapes requires international cooperation and strong Congolese institutions equipped to lead.

This is the challenge facing the global biodiversity community as governments negotiate commitments at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17: turning promises into action. That means investing not only in the protection of nature, but also in the African leaders and institutions responsible for delivering on those ambitions.

Through the Conservation Leadership & Management Fellowship, Alain has strengthened his ability to contribute beyond frontline operations. He now supports the coordination, partnerships, and planning that underpin effective conservation. Looking ahead, he hopes to lead a protected area and mentor the next generation of conservation professionals, extending that investment into the future.

Because the future of Africa's biodiversity depends not only on the landscapes we seek to protect, but on the people equipped to lead that protection forward.