KWS DG Prof Erustus Kanga Takes Center Stage as Kenya Hosts Global Tourism Resilience Conference at KICC

By John Kariuki

The 4th Global Tourism Resilience Day and Conference is currently underway at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, convening global tourism leaders, policymakers, conservation experts and innovators in a decisive dialogue on strengthening resilience across the sector.

As Kenya hosts this prestigious global gathering in partnership with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre and its Eastern Africa chapter at Kenyatta University, one of the most commanding and substantive voices shaping the discourse has been the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Prof Erustus Kanga.

Addressing delegates under the theme Resilience in Wildlife and Nature Based Tourism, Prof Kanga firmly positioned wildlife resilience as the bedrock of tourism resilience. He noted that in Kenya, more than seventy percent of the tourism product is directly linked to wildlife and natural ecosystems, making conservation stability inseparable from economic stability.“Wildlife resilience is not a peripheral issue. It is central to our tourism economy, community livelihoods and ecological integrity,” Prof Kanga emphasized.

He defined wildlife resilience as the capacity of species populations, habitats and ecosystems to withstand, adapt to and recover from complex and interconnected shocks. These include climate variability, extreme weather events, habitat fragmentation, poaching, illegal wildlife trade, human wildlife conflict and global crises that disrupt tourism flows and conservation financing.

Prof Kanga highlighted that Kenya’s resilience framework is firmly anchored in the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 and operationalized through the KWS Strategic Plan 2024 to 2028. The framework prioritizes ecosystem connectivity, climate responsive conservation planning, technology enabled wildlife management and strengthened partnerships across sectors.

Climate change, he warned, remains the most formidable test of resilience. Shifts in migration and breeding patterns, prolonged droughts, floods and increased resource competition between humans and wildlife require adaptive and science driven management systems. Kenya’s response includes climate smart conservation planning, habitat restoration, corridor protection and digital monitoring systems supported by predictive analytics and early warning mechanisms.

Prof Kanga also underscored the transformative role of community wildlife conservancies. By empowering local communities as custodians and direct beneficiaries of conservation, Kenya has expanded tourism offerings while reducing ecological pressure on protected areas. He stressed that resilient wildlife systems must be socially inclusive and economically viable.

On financing, the KWS Director General called for diversified and sustainable models including conservation trust funds, public private partnerships, ecosystem service based financing and innovative nature based investment mechanisms to reduce over reliance on volatile tourism revenues.

The conference has also featured strong interventions from Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Rebecca Miano, who reaffirmed Africa’s commitment to shaping global tourism resilience architecture, and from Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who described resilience as the new competitive advantage in global tourism.

Executive Director of GTRCMC Lloyd Waller challenged destinations to institutionalize resilience through data driven governance and responsible use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

However, as discussions continue at KICC, Prof Erustus Kanga’s intervention has decisively elevated wildlife and ecosystem resilience to the center of the global tourism agenda. His message resonates beyond Kenya’s borders: without resilient wildlife systems, there can be no resilient tourism economy.

With deliberations ongoing, Kenya is not merely hosting a conference. It is asserting leadership in redefining resilience as a permanent operational discipline that safeguards biodiversity, protects livelihoods and fortifies the future of global tourism.