First youth rhino summit for KZN
'uPhondo loBhejane' (the horn of the rhino), a permanent children's rhino art display was unveiled at King Shaka International Airport
EZEMVELO KZN Wildlife CEO Dr Bandile Mkhize announced that Project Rhino KZN, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Kingsley Holgate Foundation will be initiating the first International Youth Rhino Summit to coincide with World Rhino Day from 21 to 23 September.
The announcement was made at the King Shaka International Airport with the unveiling of ‘uPhondo loBhejane’ (the horn of the rhino), a permanent children’s rhino art display donated by Barrows, a Durban-based retail marketing company.
Dr Mkhize said it would be fitting to host the summit in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, the ‘heart’ of the southern white rhino where it was first saved from extinction over 100 years ago and from where, in the 1960s, Dr Ian Player and other KZN conservation pioneers translocated hundreds of white rhino back to their original range states, including the Kruger National Park.
The inaugural summit aims to enable young conservation leaders from Africa, Asia and other parts of the world to sound a global call to action against rhino poaching and wildlife crime.
With a four metre high rhino horn and ‘boma’ emblazoned with information on the rhino poaching crisis and hundreds of rhino art examples from children in South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland, this show-stopping display includes the beautiful rhino sculpture ‘iSibindi’, decorated by the pupils of Russell High School in Pietermaritzburg which was a Wildlands Conservation Trust Rhino Parade initiative.
Desks, rhino art pages and crayons allow children visiting King Shaka International Airport to also add their messages of support against rhino poaching.
To date over 150 000 messages of support have been received by the ‘Rhino Art – let our children’s voice be heard’ programme.
