Kenyan conservationist and wildlife filmmaker Paula Kahumbu was among eight people honoured at the 2024 Bristol University Alumni Awards.
The WildlifeDirect Chief Executive won the Global Citizenship Award for her impeccable environment conservation efforts and her work in protecting wildlife, particularly elephants.
While receiving the award, Kahumbu thanked the university for recognising her efforts adding, " I love what I do, and it means a lot to be recognised in this way".
"There are few people who look like me who have the privilege of saying that they are international leaders or voices for something as important as wildlife conservation," she added.
The University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch noted that the Awards are geared at appreciating and honouring exceptional contributions from the institution's former students.
"This year’s award winners have led fascinating careers, serving as wonderful examples for today’s students," she stated.
Others recognised at the awards were Sir Gregory Doran, Siyan Ruan, Sherrie Eugene-Hart, Justin Basini, Kimberly Prado, Jonathan Webb, and Jonathan Levin. Their contributions ranged between outstanding shifts in various fields including medicine and finance.
The winners took home, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Alumni Association Award, the Arts and Media Award, the Business and Industry Award, the Community Impact Award, the Contribution to Sport Award, and the Innovation and Enterprise Award respectively.
The latest award adds to the numerous accolades Kahumbu has won in her career as a conservationist and a wildlife protection advocate that has seen her openly speak up against ivory trade.
In 2021, the CEO bagged a partnership deal with National Geographic and Disney to produce 'National Geographic Kids Africa', a 26-part educational African film series.
She also partnered with the two global establishments in 2023 to be part of a four-part series called the 'Secrets of the Elephants'. She also became the first African presenter to be chosen by Disney and National Geographic for such a series.
"The need for representation is something I've been talking about for a long time. Not only does the rest of the world need to know that there are African experts, but we also want Africans to be at the forefront of elephant conservation in Africa," she remarked.
Kahumbu who is an elephant expert is at the forefront of protecting elephants from extinction.
