Strengthening Conservation, Heritage, Community Engagement and Tourism at the Cradle of Mankind

Sibiloi National Park, located on the remote northeastern shores of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site widely renowned as the Cradle of Mankind. The park protects globally significant paleontological sites, including Koobi Fora, where some of the world’s most important early hominid fossils were discovered.

On Tuesday, the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Prof. Erustus Kanga, led a delegation comprising members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the KWS senior management team on a fact-finding and strategic engagement mission to Sibiloi National Park. The visit underscored Prof. Kanga’s continued commitment to strengthening conservation, heritage preservation, staff welfare, community partnerships, and sustainable tourism across Kenya’s protected areas.

The delegation toured key attractions, including the Koobi Fora Museum, the Petrified Forest, and Central Island National Park, assessing conservation status, visitor facilities, and opportunities for product diversification. At the Elephant Mini Museum, the team viewed the famous elephant fossil—remarkably larger than the renowned Amboseli elephant Craig—highlighting the site’s exceptional scientific, cultural, and heritage value.

Under Prof. Kanga’s leadership, KWS is placing strategic emphasis on enhancing visitor experience through targeted improvements in tourism infrastructure, promotion of eco-friendly investments such as lodges and camps, diversification of tourism products, and revitalization of museums and interpretation centers. These efforts align with his broader agenda of positioning Kenya’s parks as globally competitive destinations while safeguarding their ecological and historical integrity.

The Director General continues to champion a community-centered conservation model, strengthening partnerships with communities surrounding protected areas to promote inclusive benefit-sharing, sustainable livelihoods, and long-term stewardship of natural resources. This approach remains central to reducing human-wildlife conflict and ensuring conservation delivers tangible socio-economic benefits.

In line with his focus on institutional strengthening, Prof. Kanga is also prioritizing staff welfare through the upgrading of staff housing, improved working conditions, and capacity building—recognizing that motivated and well-supported personnel are critical to the success of KWS’s mandate.

The visit concluded with engagements with staff from both Sibiloi and Central Island National Parks, during which Prof. Kanga outlined KWS’s strategic direction, emphasized accountability and professionalism, and reaffirmed the vital role of every staff member in protecting Kenya’s wildlife, heritage, and ecosystems for present and future generations.