“Earth Night” is a concept pioneered by the Wildlands Conservation Trust. The Durban leg was launched this weekend, 9 November, at the Elangeni Hotel with around 300 guests in attendance. “Earth Night” is an event that offers individuals insight into the conservation efforts of Wildlands and its partners, and is also a fundraising platform to assist with Wildlands’ projects.
A standard feature at any “Earth Night” is an auction of around 15 lots to fundraise for conservation. The lots included travel packages, luxury holidays and art pieces. Another exciting item in the programme was the lucky prize draw (the prize was donated by the eLan Group) for the Praia do Cossa Hotel & Resort in Mozambique, and gave the winner ownership of a sectional title unit at this resort for 1 week for 15 years.
Another popular item that formed part of the auction was donated by retired cricketer, Shaun Pollock, who also attended the event with his wife, Tricia. The piece donated by Pollock was a Championship Trophy presented to him in 1999 by Standard Bank, for being the first South African to achieve the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs in one day Internationals. This was the most popular piece of the night fetching R32 000 which will be used as part of Wildlands’ efforts to curb the rhino poaching crisis.
Wildlands were also pleasantly surprised when Craig Drysdale, Head of Global Sales for Thompsons Africa, handed over 2 cheques to them at the event. The first cheque was for an amount of R30 000, raised by Thompsons at the “Tourism Indaba” and another from Goway for just over R53 000 raised through a campaign ‘looking out for Rhino.’
“In November last year Goway received a mail from Thompsons Africa highlighting the excellent work that the Wildlands Conservation Trust is doing for Rhino Conservation and this is a cause that resonated with them completely,” said Drysdale. “Bruce Hodge, founder and President of Goway, is committed to the preservation of the world’s unique environment and wildlife, and this is a value that he has instilled in the company at all levels. It was initially decided to launch a four month promotion during which Goway would donate an amount of $20 for every brochure lodge booked. After extending the promotion validity twice, they have now embraced this as an ongoing project. They are delighted to hand over this cheque and look forward to a long and successful association with Wildlands,” said Drysdale.
The 300 guests were also entertained by local artists Lauren Laing and Clive Gumede. They blew the guests away with their rendition of “The Prayer” along with several other popular songs. Clive, who owns C-LIVE events, has performed for Jacob Zuma, sung the National Anthem at an International Rugby Game and been nominated for 2 Durban Theatre Awards. Laing has sung for Nelson Mandela, performed with Simply Red and had hit songs on East Coast Radio and 5FM. “We are grateful for individuals such as Lauren and Clive who gave of their time and talents at no cost to the Trust,” said Dr Andrew Venter, the CEO of Wildlands.
When asked what inspired the “Earth Night” concept, Dr Andrew Venter said “It was inspired by an incredible group of 3000 individuals (Green-preneurs), demonstrating that it is possible to clean and green even the most seemingly ‘hopeless’ communities, which has ultimately thrown a challenge to us, Wildlands Conservation Trust.”
Wildlands is a top environmental non-profit organisation that is driven by their vision of a “Sustainable Future for All.” The Wildland’s “Trees for Life” project educates and nurtures Tree-preneurs. These Tree-preneurs, based in rural areas, grow indigenous trees to barter for food, bicycles, Jojo tanks, education support and building material. The young trees bartered with Wildlands are then planted into areas in desperate need of reforestation or greening.
“Our intention is to transform communities into sustainable communities within the next 10 years,” said Dr Andrew Venter. “This is a mammoth task given the poverty population pressures and environmental degradation, but it is possible– with your support and that of donors such as Thompsons, Goway and Bonitas Medical Fund – the headline sponsor for this event.
“Our rich heritage of offering medical cover to all South Africans for over 31 years and our unmatched experience in providing affordable, quality healthcare ensures that Bonitas Medical Fund remains relevant to people from all walks of life,” commented Dr Bobby Ramasia, Principle Officer at Bonitas Medical Fund. “In this context Bonitas has partnered with the Wildlands Conservation Trust because it is aligned to our commitment to supporting life, the wellbeing of people, the community and, by extension, sustainability of the environment. In addition, the Wildlands Conservation Trust supports Bonitas’ ideals by being actively involved in projects that help uplift and restore both communities and the environment to health.
The evening raised around R400 000 for Wildlands, which will be used for their conservation based projects spread across South Africa.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)