The Different Group has come up with an innovative way to carry out profitable business while at the same time investing in South Africa’s people, wildlife and heritage. Through their Financial Services business, they have established Different.org, a philanthropic platform through which they, and other South Africans, can contribute towards significant social and environmental work being carried out in the country.
2015 saw Different.org partner with Wildlands to raise funds for the crucial monitoring of populations of Black and White Rhino, and a pack of newly introduced African Wild Dog, on a community owned game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Somkhanda Game Reserve, owned by the Gumbi community and managed in partnership with Wildlands, holds significant populations of these endangered species. With the current and numerous threats facing these animals, constant monitoring is imperative to their conservation. This monitoring is carried out on the reserve daily by a professional monitoring organisation, Wildlife ACT Fund. All information regarding the location of the animals, their condition and their behaviour is then fed into management to allow effective use of resources. This intensive operation requires a dedicated team and it is for this work, that Different.org committed to raise an amount of R204 000 for the monitoring of this population in 2016.
“African Wild Dog require additional conservation land for the success of the species and it is important that we continue to locate suitable habitat to introduce new packs. Due to their quick and far ranging habits, they can be challenging to manage without knowledge of their movements, and it is for this reason that monitoring is so important,” commented Mark Gerrard of Wildlands. The funds raised through the Different.org platform will also be vital for the ongoing monitoring of the black and white rhino population, which, under the current climate of rhino poaching, is absolutely vital for reserves such as Somkhanda.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)