In a candid interview on Sanny Ntayombya's The Long Form podcast, Sebunya, who grew up under Idi Amin's regime in Uganda, shared his journey from a politically turbulent childhood to leading one of Africa's most influential conservation organisations.
He outlined a vision for the continent's future, one where conservation is not merely about protecting wildlife, but a driver of economic prosperity for African people.
Born in 1965, Sebunya's early life was shaped by Uganda's political upheaval. His father, Sewankambo, a member of parliament and Pan-Africanist, was hunted by Amin's regime, forcing the family to disperse.
'I didn't grow up with all my siblings,' Sebunya recalled, describing how this experience promoted resilience and a broader African identity.
'I never saw myself as a typical Ugandan, nor tribal.'
His path to conservation was serendipitous, sparked by a chance encounter with Margaret Thatcher's environmental debates in Strasbourg while studying French. This led to a master's in environmental policy in the UK, despite his initial training in political science and sociology at Makerere University.
Sebunya's critique of Africa's conservation history is unflinching. He argues that the continent's 8,000 protected areas, many established as colonial hunting grounds, alienated Africans from their land.
'Overnight, Africans became trespassers, poachers, not people looking for food,' he said, noting that post-independence governments perpetuated these frameworks. This colonial legacy, he contends, fuels perceptions of conservation as neo-colonialism, a sentiment echoed in a 2017 Guardian article where he described the sector's non-African dominance as resembling colonialism.
Less than 5% of conservation NGOs in Africa are led by Africans, a statistic Sebunya finds 'uncomforting' but is working to change.
At the heart of AWF's approach is integrating conservation with community prosperity. In Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, AWF donated 27.8 hectares to expand gorilla habitat while establishing the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, owned by the SACOLA cooperative.
Generating up to $500,000 annually, the lodge has funded community projects like housing for elderly widows and scholarships, directly linking gorilla survival to local wealth.
'No gorilla has been poached because they don't need to harm themâ€"that's where the money comes from,' Sebunya explained.
AWF's innovative bamboo cultivation initiative further exemplifies this, encouraging communities to grow high-value crops that attract gorillas, effectively expanding the park while boosting incomes by up to 700%.
Sebunya rejects the costly colonial model of militarised park management, which he estimates costs $3,000 per square kilometre and is unsustainable for African governments.
'A park like Serengeti is almost the size of Rwanda. How do you fence it?' he asked, highlighting the model's failure, with 30,000 elephants lost annually and rhinos extinct in many countries.
Instead, AWF promotes a symbiotic relationship between wildlife and communities, arguing that animals like mountain gorillas would say, 'Create a better relationship with my neighbors,' not 'Bring a gun to protect me.'
Looking to the future, Sebunya sees Africa's youth, 70% of the continent's population, as key to transforming conservation.
'In five or 10 years, these young people will demand to run parks for economic aspirations,' he predicted, envisioning decentralised management where communities like those near Rwanda's Volcanoes oversee their assets.
He cites rising human-wildlife conflict, as seen in Kenya and Botswana, as a challenge requiring private-sector solutions like insurable conflict mitigation. In Botswana, home to over 200,000 elephants, culling controversies spark protests in London and New York, not locally, where elephants threaten livelihoods.
'Until Africans value an elephant as much as a chicken, which pays school fees, we can't protect them without benefits,' he said.
Sustainable financing is another priority. Sebunya criticises Africa's reliance on foreign aid, noting that USAID funds 65% of Nigeria's health sector, a dependency he calls unsustainable.
AWF's partnership with the African Union, including the 2022 Africa Protected Areas Congress in Kigali, marked the first time African governments discussed conservation's importance since independence. Proposals like the Pan-African Conservation Trust aim to secure African-sourced funding, reducing dependence on global donors amid rising defence spending.
'Africa cannot outsource its core platform for economic developmentâ€"conservation,' Sebunya asserted.
Sebunya's optimism hinges on aligning conservation with development. He warns that without an African model, large mammals face extinction within a century due to land pressure and climate change.
'We're doing the same things Europe did, and it has no wildlife,' he cautioned, citing Lake Chad's shrinking size as a driver of regional instability.
Yet, he believes Africa's globally connected, educated youth will value natural assets like Victoria Falls or giraffes, which currently generate less revenue than artificial attractions in Dubai.
'This is their warâ€"climate change,' he said, comparing it to his father's fight for independence.
As AWF prepares for a private-sector-led future, Sebunya sees conservation as a global responsibility with African stewardship.
'If we cut down the Congo Basin, Europe will flood,' he warned, urging international support without ownership.
Watch the full interview below:
Wycliffe Nyamasege
