Mordecai Ogada and The Big Conservation Lie

Mordecai Ogada is a carnivore ecologist, involved in conservation work for the last 16 years in Kenya and other parts of Africa, mainly on human-wildlife conflict mitigation and carnivore conservation. Over the last three years, Mordecai has been engaged in examining the policy problems and prejudices that underlie the challenges experienced in wildlife conservation, particularly in the global South. These issues form the central theme of ‘The Big Conservation Lie’ a book focused on Kenya, co-authored with John Mbaria. At the Nature inFocus Festival, he spoke about how external interest in Africa's wildlife has cultivated acceptance of the suppression of Africa's aspirations. It also examines how the conservation arena has created fertile ground for class and racial prejudices in natural resource user rights.

Dr. Ogada’s professional work has included research and teaching conservation leadership at Colorado State University. Much of his energy has been devoted to the area of community-based conservation, wildlife policy and wetlands ecology.  He has worked on civil society conservation initiatives in Kenya for over 15 years.

He is currently the Executive Director of Conservation Solutions Afrika, a natural resource management consultancy based in Nanyuki. Outside the sphere of conservation, Mordecai is a keen hockey player, amateur cartoonist and student of African political history.