Introducing a new generation of conservation leaders: Joy Juma

"I gained a BSc in Environmental Studies, with a focus on community development, at Kenyatta University in Kenya in 2004. Before coming to Cambridge, I worked for Fauna and Flora International for over 5 years in their East African office. I was involved in managing several conservation projects within East Africa, and my role was to ensure that livelihood issues were considered in all projects. I was also keen to ensure that communities were involved in managing their own resources. This approach was shown to be very effective through successful interventions in a bat conservation project in Tanzania. Here, an endemic fruit bat that was previously assessed as critically endangered was down-listed to vulnerable because of a significant increase in population numbers as a result of effective community conservation efforts. Another innovative project in which I was involved was a marine project on the Kenyan coast, where we helped communities to set up community conserved areas covering both the marine and terrestrial areas, that we also hope will prove to be an effective conservation intervention. I have also acquired some additional training in environmental journalism, communication and in sustainable livelihood approaches."