Ali is a Kenyan citizen born in Mombasa on July 1955. After his graduate work at the University of Colorado, USA in 1977, Ali joined the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) as a Research Assistant. During his 25-year tenure at KWS, he worked in several national parks as Assistant Warden and later Warden, including establishing the pioneer unit for marine Parks. His experience in KWS also included intelligence and live capture of wildlife and care in captivity among a range of other aspects of protected area management. To broaden his horizon and experience, Ali was recruited to join the East Africa Wildlife Society (EAWLS), one of the oldest indigenous membership-based conservation NGOs in the Eastern Africa region, as the Executive Director. While with the EAWLS, Ali managed to increase membership numbers of regional members and establish better collaboration with other NGOs and government agencies. A wider programme was also initiated covering forestry, marine, wetlands and wildlife areas. By the time of his departure the organization had a healthy financial base and reputation among peers in the region and globally. In 2007, Ali was appointed the Regional Vice-Chair for IUCN’s World Commission of Protected Areas and a panel member of the World Heritage (natural) Sites chaired by IUCN In 2009. Ali joined IUCN as the Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa covering 24 countries including the Island States in the region. Several new offices and programmes that addressed the needs of regional members including State Members, especially with respect to their priorities. After a five-year stint in the Secretariat of IUCN, he decided to go into semi-retirement and focus on mentorship and advisory roles. To date, Ali remains on the Board of several national and international Boards and Panels working in the field of conservation. In 2018, he was asked to join the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife of the Republic of Kenya as the Wildlife Sector Policy Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary, a position he still holds.
Involvement and experience with IUCN • During his tenure with KWS, Ali was an institutional focal point on IUCN matters and he was a member of the WCPA and the IUCN World Heritage Sites Evaluation Panel. • Subsequently, he was appointed the Regional Vice-Chair for East and Southern Africa of WCPA. A position he held until he had to step down when joining the IUCN Secretariat as the Regional Director • From 2009 to 2014, Ali was the Regional Director for ESARO • In 2016, Ali was elected as a Regional Councillor for Africa during the IUCN World Conservation Congress. • During the first Council, the President of IUCN appointed him as Vice-President to assist him in the running of Council affairs. A rare honour for a first time Councillor. • In this position, Ali also served on the Council Bureau and other Task Forces and as a member of the Governance and Constituency Committee.
