Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) today hosted the Kenya Revenue Authority KRA@30 Stakeholder Engagement Pearl Breakfast at the historic Ivory Burning Site, Nairobi National Park. In attendance were KWS Board Chair, Hon. Joseph Langat; KRA Board of Trustees members; KWS Director General, Prof. Erustus Kanga; KRA Acting Commissioner General, Dr. Lilian Nyawanda; senior government officials, partners, and key stakeholders, following an early morning game drive that offered a firsthand experience of Kenya’s unique wildlife heritage set against the backdrop of the city.

In his address, KWS Director General, Prof. Erustus Kanga highlighted that Kenya’s wildlife is not only a national heritage asset, but a powerful economic engine, driving tourism, supporting livelihoods, and sustaining the ecosystems that underpin water security, energy production, and climate resilience. Beyond tourism, wildlife contributes to our economy in even broader ways. Protected areas managed by KWS, covering approximately 8 per cent of Kenya’s landmass, form the backbone of critical ecosystem services that sustain the economy.

The Director General further emphasized the critical partnership between KWS and KRA, noting their close collaboration in monitoring imports and exports, strengthening enforcement, and curbing illegal wildlife trade and trafficking, where revenue administration and conservation intersect to protect national and global heritage. He underscored that conservation is not separate from development, but the very foundation that supports it. A key highlight of the engagement was the adoption of a lion cub by KRA, now named 𝐔𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐮 – a powerful symbol of shared responsibility and a shift from awareness to action in conservation.

KWS Board Chair, Hon. Joseph Langat also called on the private sector. government agencies, and other partners to follow suit by embracing wildlife adoption and actively supporting conservation efforts, emphasizing that protecting our natural heritage requires collective action. Today’s engagement reaffirmed a shared commitment to safeguarding the natural resources and ecosystems that sustain our country, and to securing a sustainable future for generations to come.