Our Team
Dr. Alexander Bulirani
Dr. Alexander Masankho Bulirani is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is a top carrier civil servant working for the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Water Development as Controller of Agriculture Services.
He joined Wildlife Action Group (WAG) in 1997. Dr. Bulirani has served WAG in different capacities and facilitated the first Memorandum of Understanding between WAG and the Department of Forestry in 1997. His training is in Fisheries much of which was obtained in France. Dr. Bulirani was Director of the Department of Fisheries in Malawi from 2007 to 2017. He spent his middle career years in Salima-Senga Bay where he worked for a series of regional projects on Lake Malawi from 1991 to 2002 funded by the World Bank and other multi-lateral donor agencies.
Tony Finch
Tony Finch has been a trustee of WAG since 2003 who in 1964 went to Tanzania to start his professional career as a graduate forester.
After gaining a Masters degree in Forestry Economics and Planning at the University of Edinburg Tony spent the next 30 years advancing tropical forestry resource development and conservation within Africa, India, S. E. Asia, the Pacific Region and the Caribbean. As a tropical forestry advisor, he worked with national governments, the World Bank, the EU and the Commonwealth Development Corporation.
Tony has altogether over 38 years of residency in four African counties: Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. He retired in 2002 and joined WAG as a trustee in 2003. In 2005 he assisted his wife to establish and run one of the best palliative care services in Africa – from its centre in Salima it cares for over 300 cancer sufferers and trains government and non-government health professionals as hands-on palliative care providers.
Alan Chinula
Alan is a very successful Malawian lawyer who is a managing partner in
William Faulkner, Attorneys at Law in Lilongwe.
Alan has been part of the WAG board for over 12 years.
Ramzy Kanaan
Ramzy Kanaan is an environmentalist with a decade of experience in Malawi, where he worked with the Government to strengthen forest management and address deforestation through the PERFORM and MCHF programmes. With additional experience across East Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, Ramzy brings deep expertise in forest and biodiversity conservation, governance, financing, and partnerships.
Dr Clement Chilima
Dr. Clement Chilima is a forestry expert and former Director of Forestry in Malawi, with extensive experience in forest management, policy, and research. He previously served in senior roles at the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi (FRIM), contributing to research on sustainable forest management and environmental conservation.
As Director of Forestry, he played a key role in shaping national forestry policy, promoting community-based forest management, and addressing challenges such as deforestation, illegal logging, and charcoal production. Dr. Chilima has also contributed to national and international research and dialogue on forest governance, conservation, and natural resource management.
Brighton Kumchedwa
Brighton Kumchedwa - Director, Department of National Parks and Wildlife for Malawi.
Brighton Kumchedwa is a highly personable, strategic and dedicated conservationist. He has dedicated his life to conserving Malawi’s wildlife and has spent his entire career within the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), starting as a Parks Officer before and working his way up to his current position of Director of DNPW. Brighton holds an MA Environment & Socio-Economic Development.
He has been the lead in fighting wildlife crime in Malawi, led the development of Malawis revised Wildlife Act, established Inter Agency Committee for combating wildlife Crime and supports the Malawi Parliamentary Conservation Caucus. Brighton Recognized as a leading conservationist in recognition of their outstanding contribution to and considerable success in their chosen field has been recognized as Winner of the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa 2017 for his leadership in taking the poaching crisis head-on, helping to create new laws and policies to investigate, prosecute and recognize poaching as a serious crime.
Brighton sits on the board of Wildlife Action group providing strategic guidance.
Lynn Clifford
Lynn Clifford is an Irish lady working for WAG since 2010. She has a background in veterinary nursing and international selling and logistics. She has dedicated her last 16 years to working in conservation in Cameroon and Malawi, and has been instrumental in the ongoing success story of WAG, tackling head-on and turning around the serious challenges such as human-wildlife conflict.
She has concentrated her efforts on illegal poaching especially of elephants, and decreasing deforestation through working closely with communities at grass root level.
Yolanda Ng’oma-Kalinde
Yolanda Ng’oma-Kalinde is a policy and governance professional with experience supporting government reform and programme delivery in complex environments. She has worked across digital transformation, open government, and environmental governance, partnering with government and development stakeholders to drive results.
Currently with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, she provides strategic policy support and contributes to the delivery of national priorities. Yolanda holds a Law degree and an MBA, and is passionate about building systems that deliver lasting impact..
Richard Banda
Richard is the longest serving employee of WAG, having joined as a young man in 2002. There were only 4 scouts at the time, poaching was very high and we very rarely saw elephants or other wildlife.
Richard has been trained in community bases, wildlife management, anti poaching and intel, and
advanced tracking. Today Richard is highly valued member of the family with a wealth of knowledge and skills of the forest, the communities and the history of Wildlife Action Group.
