About – NATURE INVESTMENT GROUP

Who we are

Meet the Team

Who we are, our partners and advisers that help us accomplish our mission & goals.

Chairman

Paul Harrison

Paul Harrison is a nature conservationist, sustainability innovator and nature business entrepreneur. He is a director of several companies working in sustainability, natural resources management and nature-based solutions. He has more than 25 years of work experience in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe in conservation strategy, field biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, conservation finance, project and programme management, business financing and management, staff management and mentoring, agribusiness management and social entrepreneurship. Paul lives in the UK, travelling between the UK and East Africa, and is a fluent Swahili speaker.

Country Lead Kenya

David Githaiga

David Githaiga is a seasoned conservation leader with over 20 years of progressive experience in Africa’s Natural Resource Management sector. He worked ten years for the United Nations Development Program, where he managed the UNDP Kenya Natural Resource Management team. He most recently held the Africa Conservation Director position for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) program in Africa. He coordinated project implementation teams working on diverse conservation projects and strategies. David lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya, manages the NIG interests in Kenya and speaks Swahili and English.

Operations

Francois Pienaar

Francois Pienaar is a chartered electrical engineer with 25 years of experience in the electricity sector and working in the development sector.

His experience ranges from utility turnaround management managing distressed power companies to managing large electricity infrastructure projects ($210M plus). He has worked with numerous Development Finance Institutions in several countries (Africa and Europe), from the Worldbank to the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He is passionate about conservation and volunteered in several conservation programs and supported anti-poaching programs through money raising and his time.

Francois lives in Ireland but regularly travels to Tanzania, where he lived for 12 years.

Country lead Tanzania

James Laizer

James Laizer has over 20 years of experience working in natural resources management in Africa, terrestrial and marine and public and private sectors. He was a socio-economic and ecological researcher, working with indigenous communities, local and national governments, donors, and investors in forested and savannah landscapes in Tanzania. He is currently the Managing Director of Sound and Fair Tanzania; an initiative focused on the trade of FSC®️ certified hardwoods from community-managed, certified forests. He combines his time between managing Sound and Fair and specialist consultancy and advisory work through Kilimanyika Ltd.

James lives and works in Arusha, Tanzania, manages the NIG interests in Tanzania and speaks Swahili and English.

Investments

Struan McDougall

Struan McDougall founded the private investment network Cambridge Capital Group, a venture capital network that mobilised $50m+ risk capital into early-stage ventures. He is also a founding trustee of The Cambridge Capital Group (CCG) Trust, a non-profit charity supporting high-impact conservation projects across seven African countries. He also managed a game park rehabilitation and lodge building project in a remote game reserve in Uganda and recently consulted on an ecotourism research project for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.

He divides his time between Kenya and the UK and travels extensively in East Africa.