"Elvis joined African People & Wildlife as a young warrior and conservation practitioner. He took pride in protecting both people and wildlife and helping others see coexistence not as a compromise, but as a strength."
Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld
Growing up in a Maasai pastoralist community in northern Tanzania, Elvis Kisimir knew firsthand what it meant to lose livestock to lions overnight. That experience didn't push him away from wildlife — it pushed him toward finding better answers.
Sixteen years later, Elvis is a senior program officer at African People & Wildlife and one of Tanzania's respected community-led conservation practitioners. This month, Elvis received the 2025 Diane Skinner Award for the Unsung Hero in Conservation, presented by the Painted Wolf Foundation and the African Leadership University's School of Wildlife Conservation.
The award honors Diane Skinner, a Zimbabwean conservationist and Painted Wolf Foundation co-founder who dedicated her life to protecting wildlife across Africa before her passing in 2022. Like Elvis, she believed in doing the work without seeking the spotlight.
Elvis has been central to building two of APW's most impactful programs. The Warriors for Wildlife network — now nearly 200 community-based coexistence officers across northern and central Tanzania — has documented and responded to more than 9,000 human-wildlife incidents, helping prevent retaliation against lions, elephants, and other species. More than 2,100 Living Walls, the locally designed livestock protection system Elvis helped expand from early pilots, now protect livestock valued at more than $30 million and benefit more than 25,000 Tanzanians.
In the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, lion populations are showing encouraging signs of stability. That doesn't happen without the trust Elvis and his colleagues have built with communities over years.
"Elvis joined African People & Wildlife as a young warrior and conservation practitioner," said Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld. "He took pride in protecting both people and wildlife and helping others see coexistence not as a compromise, but as a strength."
Elvis puts it simply: "Our future is tied to how we protect nature."
This award belongs to every community member, coexistence officer, and village leader who chose a path toward coexistence. Elvis is their colleague — and their champion.