Author: Buyisiwe

The 2015 Mail & Guardian ‘Greening the Future Awards’ were held at the Hyatt Regency in Johannesburg in July this year. WESSA, through their project the ‘Ntsubane Living Forest Project’, was nominated in the Community Conservation category where they have focused on bringing about fair and equitable resource benefits to forest user groups, communities and the state.

The project focused on a broad range of activities which all link to the common goals of forest conservation and livelihood support. The elements include forest rehabilitation and protection, as well as detailed work with the local crafters to ensure sustainable harvesting and efficient use of resources. The work carried out with funding by the Blue Fund aimed to strengthen the forest users association and ensure that communities hold the incentives to protect their resources. This work linked directly to that carried out through the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF), which WESSA carried out to ensure effective rehabilitation and protection of the Ntsubane Forest Complex, the largest indigenous forest ecosystem in the Pondoland region of the Eastern Cape.

The project was elected as the runner up in the Community Conservation category. “This clearly highlights the importance of the work being carried out through these funding programmes as well as the amazing dedication which WESSA has put into critical ecosystems and communities,” commented Mark Gerrard, Conservation Grants Manager for Wildlands. “We are extremely excited about this award and it gives us great confidence that our work to build capabilities for co-management and sustainable resource utilization of forest resources is being recognized” said Mike Denison, Biodiversity Programme Manager for WESSA.

The African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) is located in Kleinbaai in the Western Cape and opened its doors in March this year. It was planned and constructed by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) with support from the Blue Fund with the objective to rehabilitate and release injured or sick seabirds back into the adjacent ocean. Their motto, ‘Every Bird Counts’ is apt for this day and age, where habitat loss and other human related factors are affecting wildlife populations globally.

Since opening its doors, the centre has treated a number of seabirds. Thus far, 11 African Penguins (a species endemic to Southern Africa and endangered due to a number of reasons) have been brought into the centre. The injuries have ranged from shark and seal bites to oil coatings. Due to the thorough care given to the birds by the centre manager’s Bird Rehabilitator, Xolani Lawo, many of the birds have recovered well.

This success was made evident when the first two groups of African Penguins were released in July. “This is such an exciting time for us as it shows the need for, and efficiency, of the centre,” commented Brenda Du Toit, the manager of DICT. “Ideally we do not want to have any birds in the centre as any injured birds should hopefully be fully rehabilitated for successful release,” Du Toit stated further.

“As supporters and part funders of this project, we are extremely happy that this centre is proving both useful and effective,” said Mark Gerrard, Conservation Grants Manager for Wildlands and the Blue Fund.

For more information on the APSS, please visit www.africanpenguin.org and to understand or support the Blue Fund, visit www.grindrodbank.co.za/BlueFundHome or email markg@localhost/import-data-post

The eleventh iMfolozi MTB Challenge took place this past weekend (25 July) where more than 250 mountain biking enthusiasts descended on the historical Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in the name of conservation. The iMfolozi MTB Challenge forms part of the Old Mutual Wild Series and will see another three events staged in 2015.

The park is home to the big 5 and was started by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) as a way to expose the general public to the pristine beauty of the reserve. The focus of the MTB challenge is to raise funds for the endangered African Wild Dog.

This year’s event experienced a lot of rain – but it was welcomed by the field rangers (for the very dry reserve) and didn’t deter the riders. They rode the grueling 55km in muddy and cold conditions.

Jasper Van Vessem came in first place in 3hrs10 followed by Pascal Pau and Matthew Myberg. Jo Mackenzie came in first place for the ladies in 3hrs55 and 14^th overall. She was followed in second place by Sophia Rollo and in third place by Bronwen Bainbridge. Several individuals, namely Pieter Burger, Mani Combrink, Peter Proctor and Kobus Jansen Van Rensburg, were given a token of appreciation from Old Mutual and Stihl as they completed their 9^th and 10^th iMfolozi MTB Challenge this weekend.

Andrew Bradley, MD of Old Mutual Wealth, spoke at the prize giving, “Everyone here today has a smile on their face and we are more than happy to assist Wildlands in an event that makes everyone happy. Happy people are also good investors! The event fits in with the Old Mutual endurance focus and while it was tough, the exhilaration of seeing wildlife leaping across the pathway less than 50 meters in front of me en route, makes it well worth it.”

Hayden Hutton, MD of Stihl, announced they would be donating R200 000 worth of equipment to iMfolozi. “This will assist with maintenance of the park,” said Hutton. “This equipment will make sure we keep this park in a good condition and will help ensure riders are able to continue participating in this amazing event. When you talk to these rangers about the work they do – how can you not help?”

“There are around 430 wild dog in the country with between 85 and 100 in the Hluhluwe IMfolozi Park,” said Deputy Director of Conservation SPACE at Wildlands. “Each dog in the park is fitted with either VHF or satellite tracking collars which ensure effective behavior-based management and ensure rapid anti-poaching unit response from the rangers. These devices can only be purchased, maintained and monitored with support from the iMfolozi Challenge.”

To end off the formalities of the event Dr. Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands, did a spontaneous auction. Individuals raised their hands to pledge towards the conservation efforts of both Wildlands and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and managed to raise more than R30 000. “Wildlands would like to thank the dedicated Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff, Honorary Officers, the event organisers – Impi Concept Events, Old Mutual, Radox, Mondi, Stihl and Powerade,” said Venter. “And last but definitely not least, the riders that make this event a sold out success year after year.”

If you would like to participate in one of the unique Old Mutual Wild Series events visitwww.wildseries.co.za for more information.

Standard Bank and Wildlands recently handed over one of 24 JoJo tanks to Zenzeleni Primary School near Verulam. Standard Bank donated just under R270 000 to purchase JoJo tanks which they wanted to distribute to underprivileged schools in the Wildlands’ network.

This really is an incredible story in that it was born from the very popular “Ice Bucket Challenge”. Standard Bank made a concerted effort NOT to partake in this craze, but to rather raise awareness about saving water within their company. Standard Bank purchased 24, 5000 Litre tanks and distributed them to schools all over the country with the help of community upliftment and environmental organisation – Wildlands. The school Principal thanked Standard Bank and Wildlands for their priceless contribution to the school.

“We really appreciate the support we receive from donors like Standard Bank, and we are equally grateful to Wildlands for facilitating this,” said Principal of Zenzeleni Primary, Lenny Jayalall.

In 2005, the Gumbi community successfully laid claim to land previously taken from them. As part of their plan for economic development in the area, the community established Somkhanda Game Reserve, a 12000 ha piece of Zululand bushveld with rolling hills and large tracts of wilderness areas. For two young members of this community, Sibusiso Mathe and Ndumiso Ndwandwe, Somkhanda represented an opportunity to lift themselves out of rural poverty and create a successful life for them and their families.

The Gumbi community realised their shortfalls in certain areas around business development and therefore partnered with Wildlands to improve their chances of success. Through this partnership, African Insight, a tourism operator in the area, was brought into the fray to help develop the tourism product and build capacity of passionate members of the community. Tourism operations were established and these two community members, Sibusiso and Ndumiso, showed their enthusiasm and natural ability to work with guests and were gradually trained in various tourism elements. With this exposure, it became clear that they both had talent in the guiding field and wanted to share their passion with guests. It was because of this passion, that they were selected to attend the Wilderness Leadership Schools Field Guide Training.

Through generous funding by ABSA, the Wilderness Leadership School was resourced to offer this training, which included both theoretical and practical training through registered programmes. The students also learnt key elements of guiding in wilderness areas, such as ‘Leave No Trace’ and the ‘Wilderness Ethos’. Cherryl Curry, General Manager of the Wilderness Leadership School commented that, “it was really great to have two students who now have the opportunity to develop their guiding in their own community game reserve. They showed such passion and enthusiasm to learn and, with continued guidance, will become great wilderness guides.”

“With the community steadily taking ownership of this game reserve and becoming more involved in the operations, we are developing a group of owners who are improving their livelihoods through a commitment to maintain the protected area status of the land,”, commented Mark Gerrard, Conservation Grants Manager for Wildlands.

For information on the reserve, visit www.africaninsight.co.za/somkhanda-game-reserve

“There has never been a better moment than the present to protect the planet for future generations,” said Paul Polman, Global CEO of Unilever, speaking at the Unilever Gala Dinner at Monte Casino, in Fourways on 01 June 2015.  In his call to government, business and NGOs to launch the company’s “brightFuture” campaign, he continued by saying:  “Now is the time to join hands as a global community to work together towards finding and committing to solutions for climate change.”

The “brightFuture” campaign is intended to engage people, especially future leaders to ensure that:

• Everyone has enough food to eat and no child goes to bed hungry
• Children reach their fifth birthday and have the right to a happy childhood
• Every home has enough water to drink and to wash, cook and clean
• And everybody can enjoy life today while protecting the planet for future generations

The Gala Dinner closely followed the activation held on 21 May 2015, where Unilever and Wildlands hosted a Brighter Future Activation Day at the Sports Grounds in Ndwedwe Verulam, Kwa-Zulu Natal.  At the activation, which drew members from the surrounding community, 68 Tree-preneurs received 122 hampers as part of a unique barter model.

Peter Cowan, the Chairman of Unilever South Africa made it known that with the power of the people, input by government and interest by all companies, big and small, we can undo the damage we, as humans, have affected on our planet.

“Roads in India are actually melting as we feel the brunt of global warming.  Gone are the days where global warming was a future notion; an issue for the next generation to handle.  It is our time to act now or there may not even be an earth, a planet to sustain our progeny.  The time to act is now.”

The Gala Dinner was an invitation to change, an invitation to do more at this present moment.  All this was but a call to action, ahead of the COP21 to be held in Paris towards the end of this year.

Mr Polman emphasised Unilever’s commitment to sustainable business practice.  “We don’t just create campaigns for the sake of looking good and ticking CSI boxes.  At the core of our business we strive to decouple the company’s growth from its environmental footprint and increase positive social impact.  We aim to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being as well as enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020,” he added.

“While our competitors and other corporates are talking about ‘brands with purpose,’ we have put some definition and measurement behind what we call ‘sustainable living brands’ – meaning brands that contribute to one or more of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan goals and have a sustainable living purpose.  We have been doing this for four years now and the result in each of our markets is proof that we are doing something right.”

Unilever, and other large corporates, have the opportunity to eradicate poverty and deal with the issue of climate change in partnership with government and NGOs.  In order to tackle climate change and ensure global growth, future leaders must be engaged and encouraged to heed the call and “Take Climate Action Now”.

Mr Polman concluded:  “Unilever cannot solve the world’s climate problems alone.  Worldwide in every country, every citizen, company, government and NGO has a role to play.  Together we can make significant strides in ensuring a better future for the leaders of tomorrow.”

Speaking at the same event, the CEO of wildlands, Dr Andrew Venter, mentioned that with Unilever’s support, as well as that of key donors such as the Department of Environmental Affairs, they are able to support over 10 000 Tree-preneurs, plant over 1 000 000 trees per annum and recycle over 20 000 000kgs of waste.

“It was an honor to share the stage with such a well-respected and passionate individual, Mr Paul Polman,” said Venter. “We share a common goal of wanting to uplift people and promote sustainability while doing so.”

The Ocean Stewards Programme was officially launched at the end of May at the Grindrod Ltd offices in Durban. Students from around the country were given the opportunity to meet some of South Africa’s top marine biologists and geologists. Wildlands and Grindrod (as part of their joint Blue Fund initiative), together with Sea-Quests, have established the Ocean Stewards Programme as a means to develop and bring more students into the marine conservation sector. “By building capacity and bringing a new generation of Ocean Stewards into the marine sector, Wildlands hopes to address the key challenges facing marine environments, such as degradation, overfishing, pollution and many others,” said Mark Gerrard, Conservation Grants Manager for Wildlands.

At the launch event the 12 Third year and four Honours level students were introduced to the programme and given an overview of some of the ground breaking marine projects being undertaken in South Africa. Cathie Lewis, the Group Company Secretary for Grindrod Ltd, welcomed everyone and highlighted that South Africa needed believers, people who would dream big and lead the country forward.

The students will be taken on board the Angra Pequena, a research vessel currently undertaking work along the KZN coastline as part of the African Coelacanth Ecology Programme (ACEP). The cruise will be led by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, together with scientists and students from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI), South African Institute for African Biodiversity (SAIAB) and University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Studies of the offshore canyons and seafloor (reefs and soft sediments) and associated fish communities and plankton and oceanography will be conducted. “By linking the Ocean Stewards programme into the ACEP Surrogacy project, we aim conduct vital research work while catalyzing the emergence of a strong cohort of future marine conservation scientists and managers,” said Dr Jean Harris of KZN Wildlife.

The day ended with the students being inducted into the ways of sailing, including a tour around the R/V Angra Pequena. “I am so fortunate to be a part of this programme and am really excited to head out to sea on the research vessel,” commented Asanda Mthethwa, one of the honours students from UKZN. The cruise sets off on the 4^th of June and will return to port on the 24^th.

Visitors to the Old Mutual stand at the Comrades Marathon Expo, which took place at the Durban Exhibition Centre from May 28 to 30, supported Wildlands and their various rhino conservation projects.

The Old Mutual & Wildlands stand at the Comrades Expo included the ground-breaking Oculus Rift, a three-dimensional immersive video which makes use of cutting edge technology to give visitors a vivid glimpse into what the iconic race entails. Old Mutual has combined this technology with running guidance from marathon legend Bruce Fordyce. Once inside the world of Oculus Rift, Comrades runners are joined by Fordyce as he gives essential advice on the Big Five Hills that formed part of this year’s up run.

There were fun opportunities to donate at the stand (involving a life-size rhino sculpture that needed to be coloured in), merchandise that flew off the shelves and also plenty of information available on the Old Mutual Wild Series endurance events for runners. The Wild Series events take place in various protected areas around the country to raise funds to conserve endangered species or protect that specific habitat (www.wildseries.co.za).

Wildlands made in excess of R42 000 through merchandise sales and all monies raised will go towards their three rhino conservation projects – namely, Project Rhino Tracker, Aerial Support and Investigations and Prosecutions.

On race day, Sunday May 31, Wildlands hosted the last refreshment station for the runners in Alexandra Road, Pietermaritzburg (1.9km from the finish), where entertainment was provided by Umlazi’s Prince Mshiyeni Choir, one of the top performing choirs from the Old Mutual National Choir Festival (NCF).

Wildlands also had 63 registered runners under the Amabeadibeadi Race4Charity campaign, who raised R300 000 for their rhino conservation projects. They were spotted on the route in their unique, bright green RUN FOR RHINO running kits.

Wildlands was also responsible for all the recycling from halfway (Drummond) to the finish, a project they have undertaken for the past two years in an effort to make Comrades a “green” marathon. The Wildlands recyling team collected just under 50 000kgs of waste and this will be sorted and distributed from their depot based in Howick.

“Comrades and Old Mutual are both very environmentally conscious organisations,” said Lauren van Nijkerk, Deputy Director of Marketing at Wildlands. “We would not have been able to elevate our brand presence or our fundraising efforts without their support, and them sharing a vision for activating in a sustainable manner helps us tremendously.”

Grindrod Asset Management, in partnership with Wildlands, hosted the Blue Funds’ Golf day at the beautiful Clovelly Country Club in Cape Town at the end of May 2015. Flanked on either side by grey Cape autumn weather, the day turned out spectacularly, with no wind and warm sunshine. Golfers were treated to 18 holes on the well managed course and were spoilt by Grindrod Asset Management who sent out refreshing drink carts throughout the day and handed out a great selection of prizes to wrap the afternoon up.

The focus of the event was to raise awareness for the Blue Fund, a partnership between Grindrod Financial Services and Wildlands, aimed at supporting coastal conservation throughout South Africa. “With South Africa’s spectacular and lengthy coastline being the focus of much development, there is a serious need for energy to be put into marine and coastal conservation,” says Mark Gerrard, Conservation Grants Manager for Wildlands. “It is for this reason that Grindrod and Wildlands have come together to form the Blue Fund, attempting to drive coastal conservation awareness and support the dedicated efforts of organisations working in the sector.”

The Clovelly Golf Day ended with a presentation from the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) on the threats faced by marine avifauna and the work that they are doing to assist. Paul Stewart, head of Grindrod Asset Management, together with Mark Gerrard of Wildlands, then handed a cheque of R300 000 over to members of SANCCOB to allow the purchase of an X-Ray machine for the centre. “The purchase of the X-Ray machine will allow SANCCOB to improve its operational efficiency as well as significantly save costs in the future and we really appreciate the support from the Blue Fund,” said Francois Louw of SANCCOB.

The evening wrapped up with Paul Stewart (Head of Fund Management, Grindrod Asset Management) handing out prizes to the participants of the Golf Day. He ended off by saying, “Through the success of Grindrod Asset Management and the involvement and success of our clients, we hope to continue the support for conservation through this partnership with Wildlands and the Blue Fund, ultimately contributing to the good work being done by organisations such as SANCCOB.”

One of the oldest mountain biking events on the KwaZulu-Natal calendar – the Giant’s Castle Mountain Bike Challenge took place last weekend, the 23^rd of May. The challenge involves a 50km route and is known as one of the toughest one-day mountain-biking events in the country.

This year’s event was staged in celebration of the rides’ 20th year and gave riders the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent Giant’s Castle surroundings for one last time.

This 20^th Celebratory Ride lets us reflect back on the legacy of this event. Back to where it all started in 1995, when a small group of avid mountain bikers had a vision for ‘conquering the Giant’ and raising funds for the Natal Parks Board Conservation Trust. They were led by Bruce Houghting, whose on-going dedication and commitment to this event and conservation is, simply put, inspirational. The first official Giants Castle Mountain Bike Challenge was staged on the 27th April 1997. The efforts of the riders and sponsors raised an amazing R34 000, which was handed over to the Natal Parks Board Conservation Trust in support of the monitoring and tracking of Bearded Vultures.

Since 1997, the event has raised over R2 500 000 for the conservation efforts of Wildlands and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. This would not have been possible without the incredible commitment of the thousands of riders who have taken on the challenge of the “Giant” over the years!

“These funds are being ploughed back into Giant’s Castle and the Maloti-Drakensberg Park in terms of management infrastructure and Bearded Vulture conservation including tracking movement patterns of the birds, and enabling environmental education in the schools of the area,” said Deputy Director of Conservation SPACE at Wildlands, Kevin McCann. He then urged the riders to think about their significant contribution to the conservation efforts through their participation not only in this event but the Wild Series as a whole. The Bearded Vulture is an iconic species of the Maloti Drakensberg mountains, and requires significant intervention in order to survive into the long-term, including the provision of safe feeding areas, understanding their movement patterns and improving the awareness of the general public through visiting the new Giants Castle vulture hide, generously funded by N3TC.

A big thank you goes out to all who have supported this initiative from the beginning, such as David Sanders and Gary Preston who have ridden ever event since 1997. A special thanks to our sponsors Sunday Tribune and STIHL who have made it possible to stage this amazing event in the spectacular Maloti Drakensberg Mountain.