Month: March 2018

WILDLANDS are excited to announce some changes which have been brewing over the last few months. We believe that these changes will significantly inform and shape our ongoing growth and ability to make both a substantial and sustainable conservation difference.

WILDLANDS CONSERVATION TRUST will now be known as WILDTRUST. WILDTRUST, established in 2004 through the merger of two regional Trusts, has a vision of a “Sustainable Future for All”. It pursues the realization of this vision through two core programs, its WILDLANDS and WILDOCEANS programs.

Core to this new journey has been the launch of our WILDOCEANS program, under the leadership of Executive Director, Dr Jean Harris. This new program consolidates the existing WILDLANDS’ marine and coastal conservation work, and enables the expansion of support for the ocean environment and the sustainable development of coastal communities and the blue economy.

The WILDLANDS program activities, led by Dr Roelie Kloppers (Executive Director), has grown into an incredible portfolio of terrestrial conservation and sustainable community development projects – and will continue to do so.

WILDENTERPRISE is the new brand name for our Enterprise Development arm, previously known as WILDLANDS Green-preneurs Pty Ltd – established in 2011.

Our work will be anchored and supported by our revamped social media platforms and new website, www.wildtrust.co.za, which provides a consolidated platform for all our activities.

Find us and follow us on social media:

• Facebook: @WildlandsConservationTrust and @WILDOCEANSSA
• Twitter: @WildlandsSA and @WildoceansSA
• Instagram: @WildlandsSA and @WildoceansSA

Through this brand restructure process we have adopted a “We’re for The WILD” statement of intent, which captures the spirit, commitment and common purpose of the incredible WILDTRUST team.

We’re for The WILD

We work for the WILD places, the open spaces, on land and sea,

the green places, oases in our sprawling cities

We work for the safety of threatened species, conserving and restoring the ecosystems in which they can thrive.

We work for the upliftment of people and communities, creating WILD livelihoods that provide dignity and a future for families.

We’re for The WILD

for bringing Humankind and Nature back into harmony,

reducing the impacts of humanity, while providing opportunities for people.

We grow, we green, we sustain, we restore, we protect, we nurture resilience.

People and Planet.

Now. Tomorrow. Forever

We’re for The WILD

We encourage you to visit our fresh new website, as well as follow our work on our social media platforms. We trust that you will continue to support our journey as we strive for a more sustainable future for all.

In May 2017 a pride of three lions (1 male and 2 female) arrived at their new home – Somkhanda Community Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal, from AndBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve.

This translocation was carried out as part of Phinda’s lion management strategy, supported by Empowers Africa and inspired by the powerful feature documentary – Blood Lions®.

The lions were released from the boma into the greater reserve in August 2017 and have roamed freely over approximately 12,000 acres ever since.

“Soon after their release the male was seen mating with one of the females and we suspected she was pregnant,” said WILDLANDS’ Strategic Manager of Conservation, Dave Gilroy. “The teams then saw some signs that indicated the female had given birth and we have been anxiously waiting for her to bring the cubs out into the open. Our monitoring team finally had their first glimpse of the female with her cubs (and had a camera in hand) and we can confirm that there are 4 healthy and happy cubs in the litter. These cubs are the first wild lions born on Somkhanda in the past 50 plus years since lions were persecuted and exterminated from the area.”

“This introduction was supported and guided by the Emwokweni Community Trust and Gumbi Community’s vision to create a premier Big 5 game reserve on their land,” said WILDLANDS CEO and Executive Producer of the groundbreaking film, Blood Lions®, Dr Andrew Venter. “It has been a privilege to work with the Gumbi community to enable the successful re-introduction of lion onto their ancestral lands. Their vision and courage has been inspirational and sets a real example of how a deep rural community can use its land assets sustainably to stimulate local economic development. The Somkhanda lion cubs demonstrate that it is possible to expand lion range in South Africa, through real grass root conservation efforts, rather than the immoral and unethical approach adopted by South Africa’s lion breeders, who argue that they breed for conservation, yet the reality is that they simply breed for profit.”

“As one of the founders of Somkhanda I am very excited about the news of the cubs,” said Nathi Gumbi, a member of the Gumbi tribe and WILDLANDS’ Strategic Manager for Community Engagement. “The female will now play her role as a mother and the male will guard his cubs and their territory, keeping his family safe. This is a good example of how animals are actually similar to us as human beings. We share our lives with nature. Our ancestors and my community have welcomed the lions and we are very proud.”

“Blood Lions fully supports the conservation of lions in the wild,” commented Pippa Hankinson, Producer of Blood Lions®. “When one sees a great example of lion conservation in a natural area, such as the Somkhanda lion translocation project, it once again raises the question as to why South African decision-makers continue to support the captive breeding and canned hunting of lions? As lion ecologists repeatedly state, captive bred lions have no conservation value and attempts to reintroduce these animals into natural areas is not a viable conservation option. When visiting South Africa, one cannot surpass the incredible experience of seeing lions roaming free in the wild, as opposed to seeing them in small enclosures with no possibility of ever leading the wild lives they were born to live. There is a rapidly growing global movement away from all forms of wildlife interactive tourism, and this can be measured by the support of the Blood Lions ‘Born to Live Wild’ tourism campaign and pledge www.bloodlions.org/born-to-live-wild/.”

“We cannot thank our loyal donors and partners enough for their support in making this translocation possible,” said Venter. “We must extend huge thanks to Empowers Africa, the Emvokweni Community Trust, Blood Lions®, Different.org, WildlifeACT, Jonsson Workwear and Phinda Private Game Reserve.”

You also have a chance to contribute, no matter how big or small, to enable a safe and secure home for this pride of lion. If you would like to donate or potentially Adopt-the-Pride contact us via info@wildtrust.co.za or visit https://wildlands.co.za/support-us/.

Long-term coastal clean-up efforts to continue, following the unprecedented nurdle spill that happened in KwaZulu-Natal on the 10th October 2017, resulting in over 2 000 000 000 plastic pellets (Nurdles) leaked into the ocean.

20 weeks after the disaster, only 11.7 tons (24%) of the Nurdles have been recovered. This despite the collective efforts of the DRIZIT, civil society and DEA Working for the Coast (WftC) teams. There is no doubt that the nurdle clean-up efforts will need to continue for months, if not years, to come.

“Noting the tremendous work that has been done by all involved, the department (DEA) is proud of the partnerships that have been established to deal with the spill. Whilst, the additional Nurdle focussed WtfC team’s contracts are coming to an end (employed on a three-month basis to deal with the disaster at the time), there have been engagements with the WftC implementers regarding this and an agreement was reached on the best approach. DEA’s WftC programme has just about 3000 warm bodies along the entire coastline solely responsible for the cleaning and upkeep of the coast. The brief to the implementers was that there will be dedicated teams working at a smaller scale to focus on Nurdles as the collection intensity has moderated. Over and above this, the challenge of waste washing up on the coast that has come down rivers and the channels, has led to DEA expanding the WftC activities to include inland river based activities, so as to deal with the challenge at source. These teams will be starting by the first of march and should the Nurdles manifest in greater quantities, these teams will also help with collection efforts. “Luvuyo Mlilo, Chief Director of Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programmes.

“There is little doubt that the plastic pollution of our oceans is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our generation. We are excited to be working closely with DEA, SAAMBR and many other partners, to shape and implement large scale pro-poor activities to deal with this scourge through our WILDOCEANS Programme.” Dr Andrew Venter, CEO WILDTRUST. Weekly updates about all Nurdle clean-up efforts can be found on the Coastkzn website* (www.coastkzn.co.za/nurdles).

A new K9 unit, established by Project Rhino to stop wildlife crime, has immediately been put to work effectively in the Zululand region of KwaZulu-Natal, locating a number of carcasses of critically endangered white-backed vultures. Vultures are regularly poisoned for illegal use in the traditional medicine market, with population numbers plummeting in recent years The…

On the 19th of October 2017, during a particularly intense storm, 2 ships collided in Durban harbour and at least 49 tons of plastic nurdles were lost into the Port from the MSC Susanna and subsequently into the ocean. This is the largest plastic pollution event in South Africa’s history, with over 2 000 000…