Why I want to bring lions back to my village | Seif Hamisi

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Why I want to bring lions back to my village | Seif Hamisi

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Date: February 17, 2026
Speaker: Seif Hamisi
Host: Elise Hu
Recorded at: TED Countdown Summit, Nairobi, Kenya, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this passionate TED Talk, conservationist Seif Hamisi draws on his childhood in rural Kenya to advocate for a new, economically-driven approach to conservation in Africa. Hamisi argues that true, sustainable conservation is achieved not by ecological solutions alone but by empowering communities economically and making nature itself a viable source of income. Through rich anecdotes and real-world examples, he demonstrates how community-led, market-based conservation models are already transforming landscapes and livelihoods across Africa, and he calls for accelerated adoption of these methods to restore both wildlife and local prosperity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Connection: Growing up with Lions

• Hamisi opens by recounting his childhood in Taveta, Kenya, where the nightly sound of lions was both fearsome and a “powerful, beautiful reminder of how close we lived with nature.”
  • Quote: “Picture this. You are a five or six year old getting ready to go to bed and then suddenly you hear these lion roars. This is how it was in the early 70s in my village in Taveta in Kenya...” (03:33)
• He laments the disappearance of these iconic animals from his village, reflecting a broader pattern of wildlife loss across Africa.

2. Framing the Crisis: Ecological vs. Economic Problems

• Hamisi describes a sharp decline in African wildlife—down “by three quarters” over 50 years—especially outside protected reserves.
• Billions have been spent on conservation, yet both wildlife and rural incomes have declined.
  • Key Insight: “We've been applying ecological solutions to fix what are inherently economic problems.” (05:05)
• The core issue: Conservation only works if it generates income for those who live closest to nature.

3. The Case for Capitalist Solutions in Conservation

• Hamisi challenges listeners to “grow capitalist solutions—not the exploitative type, but models where nature drives business, where healthy ecosystems bring real income to families.” (05:45)
  • He emphasizes partnerships and innovations that incentivize stewardship, not just protection.

4. Real-World Examples of Community-Led Conservation

A. South Africa: Livestock and Grasslands

• Hamisi shares the story of Ms. Poloheng Ngubo, a livestock farmer who adopted traditional rotational grazing to restore grasslands and improve cattle health.
• With market access direct to farms, “no middlemen, no long trips,” better prices support rural livelihoods.
  • Result: Healthier land, richer wildlife, and local incomes growing together.

B. Kenya: Forests and the Maasai Mara

• In Chulu Hills, farmers transitioned from slash-and-burn approaches to forest carbon projects, protecting a million acres of wilderness.
• Around the Maasai Mara, communities pool land into wildlife conservancies, leasing to safari operators and researchers while maintaining ownership and tradition.
  • During COVID-19, these conservancies sustained family incomes by taking and repaying loans when tourism collapsed—proving the model’s economic strength.
  • Impact Quote: “On average, household take around $230 per month, a little bit less than starting salary of a university graduate in Kenya. But in a place where jobs are scarce and the future is uncertain, nature is not only surviving, but it's paying bills, it's putting kids through schools.” (08:33)

5. The Economics of Conservation: Money as a Tool for Good

• Hamisi confronts the myth that “money is the root of all evil”—in conservation, “it's clearly the lack of it that's a true root of evil.”
  • Quote: “The lack of [money] is driving the forces of degradation and destruction that we see today...” (10:30)
• He highlights the acceleration of supportive policies (in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Kenya) funneling more revenue directly to communities.
• The expansion of technology, finance, and community voice makes now the right time for scaling these models.

6. Vision for the Future: Culture, Dignity, and Restoration

• Hamisi’s ultimate hope: “It's only through economic prosperity of people living alongside nature that nature, wildlife and wilderness will return.”
  • He dreams that, through these methods, his grandchildren might one day again hear lions roaring near their home.
  • Memorable Closing: “Maybe then my grandchildren will get to hear the lions roar back again.” (12:40)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On childhood and co-existence with nature:
  “Looking back, I see it as something powerful. A beautiful reminder of how close we lived with nature...” (03:46)

• On failed conservation investments:
  “All of us know that we've spent billions on conservation in Africa, yet wildlife keeps on declining and people are going deeper into poverty and becoming even more vulnerable to climate change.” (05:00)

• On money's role in conservation:
  “People talk about money as if it's the root of all evil. But in conservation of nature, it's clearly the lack of it that's the true root of evil...” (10:25)

• On the transformational power of new models:
  “Nature is not only surviving, but it's paying bills, it's putting kids through schools. It is bringing dignity, security and choice.” (09:25)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:33–05:45 – Childhood memories, wildlife decline, and why ecological-only approaches fail
• 05:45–08:00 – The pitch for capitalist/community and market-based models
• 08:00–09:40 – South African and Kenyan case studies: real-life stories and economic impact
• 09:40–10:25 – The economics of conservation: what really works
• 10:25–12:40 – Policy, technology, and community empowerment; vision for the future
• 12:40–13:04 – Emotional conclusion: hope for restoration

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Takeaway

Seif Hamisi convincingly argues that the future of conservation in Africa lies not in ecological isolation, but in entrepreneurial partnerships with the very communities who call these landscapes home. Prosperity for people, he insists, is inextricable from prosperity for nature—a lesson with implications far beyond his Kenyan village.

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Transcript

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[Elise Hu]

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[Saif Hamisi]

Picture this. You are a five or six year old getting ready to go to bed and then suddenly you hear these lion roars. This is how it was in the early 70s in my village in Taveta in Kenya, on the southeastern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was scary then, as it might be now. But looking back, I see it as something powerful. A beautiful reminder of how close we lived with nature. Sadly, the nighttime rowers and the many animals that once roamed our village are gone. What happened in my village has happened across Africa. Our forests, savannas, grasslands and wetlands are disappearing very fast. And the hardest hit places are community lands where people and wildlife lived side by side. In five decades, five decades, much of the land outside protected areas has been converted into either farms or settlement. It's not surprising that the population of wildlife in Africa has declined by 3 quarters in the same period. This is not just a sad statistic, but it's a crisis. All of us know that we've spent billions on conservation in Africa, yet wildlife keeps on declining and people are going deeper into poverty and becoming even more vulnerable to climate change. Why? Because we've been applying ecological solutions to fix what are inherently economic problems. The truth is that conservation works only if it creates income to people living closest to nature. That means we have to make nature not just something to protect, but something to invest in. That's why we have to grow capitalist solutions in conservation. Not the exploitative type, but models where nature drives business, where healthy ecosystems bring real income to families, where nature conservation and economic growth go hand in hand. This is beginning to happen across Africa. From the shrublands of Namaqualand in South Africa to to the winding tributaries of Okavango river in Botswana, the grasslands, savannah woodlands in Kenya. Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, to the forests of Ivory Coasts, Liberia and Congo. We are building better natural resource management systems and incentivizing efforts to bring back wildlife populations. I want to give you a couple of examples. In many parts of South Africa, herding livestock isn't just a job, it's a way of life. But many rural farmers there are struggling to get their cattle to the market. Even though they own half of the livestock in the country, only 5%, 5% of meat come from them. And the grass continue to suffer as cattle graze on the same land all year round. And when their cattle gets to the market, if they do, they are often malnourished and can't fetch a fair price. There's a better way. Let me introduce to you Ms. Poloheng Ngubo, a great livestock farmer and herder from Eastern Cape, South Africa. With support from Conservation International, she and other farmers have turned back to traditional grazing, where livestock moves between pasture and allowing land to rest and recover. Healthy grasslands means healthy livestock to them. And the change here is that those farmers have agreed to protect the land as they access a cattle market that comes directly to them. No middlemen, no long trips, and it works. Ms. Polo Kang's cow in recent auction the cattle fetch the highest bid in the market. And this is how it works because the model is not top down. It's built on what communities already know and practice. Now the grazing pressure has reduced and with that, the fields are now humming with insects and chattering birds. Wildlife is is getting restored one grazing cycle at a time, earned with cash streaming to farmers pockets. Now in Kenya, business solutions are taking off too. In Chulu Hills, farmers have transitioned from slash and burn to one of the earliest forest carbon projects. Here they are conserving and protecting 1 million acres of wilderness. And around Maasai Mara, all of you perhaps have heard about Maasai Mara. Communities living around there have come up together, pulled their land voluntarily and formed these big wildlife conservancies that they own. They lease these lands to safari operators and ecologists and get incomes while maintaining their land rights and way of life. During COVID pandemic, tourism crashed, tourism revenues crashed and what happened? Conservancies took up loans and paid the leases. When the pandemic eased and tourism came back, they repaid those loans quickly showing that capitalist solutions are actually maturing. This intervention has brought 180,000 hectares and community protection, doubling the space for wildlife in that area. And the impact to the families who are in this arrangement is transformational. On average, household take around $230 per month, a little bit less than starting salary of a university graduate in Kenya. But in a place where jobs are scarce and the future is uncertain, nature is not only surviving, but it's paying bills, it's putting kids through schools. It is bringing dignity, security and choice. These are the kind of 21st century conservation approaches that we must accelerate. We must bring tomorrow's conservation business solutions today. Because this is the right vision for Africa. It's the vision that our changing climate demands. It is a vision ultimately, that ultimately people benefit not because they gave up their culture, but because they protected it. Now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say this, provoking, perhaps an annoying statement. People talk about money as if it's the root of all evil. But in conservation of nature, it's clearly the lack of it that's a true root of evil that's driving the forces of degradation and destruction that we see today in those landscapes. Time is not on our side. We have to work with dedication, speed and scale. But the tide is on our side. Because today communities are stronger. Their voice is louder in decision making. And the stronger rights and safeguards, finance and market connectivity today, supported by an expanding technological space, has made it easier today more than before to invest in, to innovate and build businesses with and for communities that are living closest to nature. And policies and incentives by government are taking a different level. For example, the wildlife profit enhancing policies of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia to the Kenya Carbon and Conservancy policies. More revenue is now streaming to families and communities that are closest to nature. It doesn't matter which ecosystem you are talking about, because it's only through economic prosperity of people living alongside nature that nature, wildlife and wilderness will return. Maybe then the wildlife will be restored around my village. And maybe then maybe my grandchildren will get to hear the lions roar back again. Thank.

[Elise Hu]

You. That was Saif Hamisi speaking at the TED Countdown Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in 2025. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Tansika Sangmarnivong. This episode was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balaurazo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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