In the rangelands beneath Kilimanjaro, coexistence between people and wildlife has never been a simple matter. Livestock wander into the paths of lions. Farmers lose cattle they can scarcely afford to lose. Retaliation follows, and with it the slow unraveling of ecosystems that depend on predators to stay whole. Local conservation groups have long understood that progress depends not on fences or warnings, but on trust. And trust depends on people who can speak across the fault lines of culture, history and daily survival. One such figure held that space with unusual steadiness. Daniel Ole Sambu, who died earlier in December at age 51, spent years trying to keep the peace in a landscape where peace was fragile. As the program coordinator for the Predator Compensation Fund run by the Big Life Foundation, he helped design and manage a bargain that only works when everyone believes in it. If a family lost livestock to a predator, they would be compensated. In return, they would not kill the animal. It sounds simple. In practice, it required patient negotiation, long days in homesteads and constant reminders that the health of the ecosystem and the well-being of pastoralists were inseparable. His influence came not from authority but from the confidence of someone rooted in the place he served. He grew up in the broad Amboseli ecosystem and never forgot what it meant to live with wildlife close at hand. His work extended well beyond compensation forms and field visits. He spent years strengthening…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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