On the 29th of November at the Durban City Hall a spectacular array of celebrities, highly successful businessmen and women, organisations and individuals gathered to show their support for Wildlands Conservation Trusts’ conservation work, including their popular ‘Rhino Parade’ campaign.
‘Rhino Parade’ aims to raise the funds required to support Wildlands’ rhino conservation projects whilst also raising awareness about the plight of our Rhino. The Durban Rhino Parade saw 4 significant South African celebrities step forward to endorse their very own rhino sculpture, which have been housed at King Shaka International Airport for the past few months.
Guests in attendance at the high profile event included ‘rhino ambassadors’ Pat Lambie, Shaun Pollock, Chad Le Clos and Ray Phiri, who also gave an unforgettable performance. The evening saw 20 lots being auctioned off including impressive accommodation packages, spectacular art pieces and of course, the 4 celebrity endorsed ¾ life size rhino sculptures.
Wildlands are actively trying to find long term solutions to environmental challenges, including the on-going rhino poaching onslaught. In this effort they are working closely with a number of other organisations to develop a co-ordinated and effective response.
The Wildlands response to this onslaught is structured around four complimentary strategies:
The total amount of funds raised through the auction was bumped up significantly when ‘Rhino Army,’ (www.rhinoarmy.org) a merchandise partner of Wildlands, handed over a cheque to the trust for R150 000, specifically targeted at their Project Rhino Aerial Support and Project Rhino Investigations and Prosecutions Support projects.
The overall amount raised on the night was around R800 000 – a true reflection of the support and commitment Wildlands receive for the amazing work that they do.
The Wildlands’ Art for Conservation event was launched a few years ago as an event that involved top local artists and saw art pieces being donated and auctioned off to raise funds for conservation efforts. This year Wildlands combined this popular event with the ‘Rhino Parade’ rhino auction, with the intention to raise significant funding to be ploughed back into projects with a shared vision of a Sustainable Future for All.
Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands Conservation Trust, who also MC’d the event was completely blown away by the support, “it is so humbling to receive such incredible support for the work we are doing. We are particularly excited about the significant partnerships we are building, with the likes of Bonitas Medical Fund, Inhluzane Trust, Sunday Tribune and the eThekwini Community Foundation (eCF) being some of those, who all contributed to making this evening a record breaking fundraiser,” concluded Venter.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)