Ian converted his family’s 40,000-acre Kenyan cattle ranch into a wildlife and nature conservancy after witnessing an elephant massacre in 1988. Raised in Kenya, Ian realized that wildlife had no future unless local communities participated in its protection. The organization he founded, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, has a mandate to protect and conserve Kenyan wildlife and is now active worldwide.

Lewa now has 107 rhinos (with 15 births in 2008 alone). The Northern Rangelands Trust, also founded by Ian, provides logistical and technical support to over 15 community conservancies. Thanks largely to Lewa and NRT’s work, the concept of community-based conservation has been endorsed at the highest levels of government -- as reflected in Ian’s recent appointment to the board of the Kenya Wildlife Service.