ORGANISED by Project Rhino KZN, Africa’s celebrity adventurer Kingsley Holgate and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the three-day World Youth Rhino Summit
was held in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve, known for bringing the southern white rhino back from the brink of extinction once before
THE youth ambassadors from 20 nations who attended the inaugural World Youth Rhino Summit last week have hailed it a resounding success, and called for improved commitment to rooting out corruption, better use of funding and resources, more emphasis on education and awareness and greater political will to support the fight against rhino poaching and global wildlife crime.
Six hard-hitting Resolutions and a World Youth Wildlife Declaration were presented to Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs Barbara Thomson and global conservation icon Dr Ian Player.
His voice quivering with emotion on the point of tears, Dr Player handed over responsibility for saving Africa’s rhinos to the youth of the world.
‘We, the current generation, are on our way out. We have done our bit. You now have a tremendous responsibility and you must accept it,’ he said.
The Summit culminated in the unveiling of a World Youth Wildlife Declaration, which was signed by all delegates, representatives of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, and US government representatives.
Resolutions taken by the delegates from countries including Vietnam, Chile, USA, UK, New Zealand, Sweden, Portugal, Netherlands, Botswana,
Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa were:
Demand reduction: Calling upon highly respected figures from the main regions driving the illegal wildlife trade to publicly shame and renounce the consumption and trade of rhino horn and other endangered species, and to put pressure on governments to establish more hard-hitting legislation and laws to counter wildlife crime.
Education and awareness: Called for the inclusion of a curriculum on wildlife conservation in schools in South Africa and to use the social media networks of the global youth generation in both supply and demand countries to build a groundswell of support to preserve endangered species.
Links between poverty and poaching: Demanding greater government support to improve living standards in communities surrounding game reserves
to reduce the economic need to poach rhino.
Fighting wildlife crime: Urging greater efforts to reduce corruption existing within government structures and national parks.
