(The
prototype community craft commission rhino, Yenza in the Durban Art Gallery. Pic
by Rogan Ward)
eThekwini Community Foundation is adding
its voice to the global battle cry to preserve South Africa’s natural heritage
and to this end has formally joined Project Rhino KZN, and has secured a second
community craft commission rhino which will be sponsored by the US Consulate in
Durban and The Wildlands Conservation Trust.
The ECF is a proactive, not-for-profit
public benefit organisation, strategically aligned to the eThekwini
Municipality.
“The preservation of much of our natural
heritage is in crisis – personified by the ongoing rhino poaching tragedy,”
says ECF director Kathryn Kure. "The rhino has become iconic and
represents one diminishing species among many. As a Trust whose broad mission
is interfacing people – projects – planet, we are aware of the need for a
healthy symbiotic relationship between the country’s craft community and our
natural heritage. For the crafters to continue to work, there must be systems
in place for the sustainability and careful monitoring of our flora and fauna.
Traditional crafters typically harvest elements of natural heritage, for
example wood, quills, grasses, ilala palms and reeds. The reports of
international syndicates who consider our resources to be fair game to be
plundered, is alarming.
“A key element in this fragile
house-of-cards is the preservation of the rhino,” she continues. ”The
Foundation is doing everything in its power to support the rhino campaign. One
of our great success stories this year was the commissioning and decorating of
Yenza a nearly life-size resin rhino, by a collective of crafters. Yenza has
been much in demand, and has played an instrumental role in the conversation to
create awareness around rhino poaching.”
ECF has been accepted as an associate
member of Project Rhino KZN an association of like-minded organisations
allowing collective co-ordination of rhino conservation interventions. The
Foundation also partners with and supports the proactive Wildlands Conservation
Trust.
“At a Provincial level, Ezemvelo KZN
Wildlife has taken a number of pro-active steps to stop this onslaught on our
rhino, including our active involvement in Project Rhino KZN, which is a
regional collaborative effort to combat wildlife crime in KZN. The eThekwini
Community Foundation (ECF) is a fellow member of this collaboration,” explained
Dr Bandile Mkhize: CEO Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
For more information, contact Kathryn Kure
at 031 311 2044 / 083 252 0992 or email: Kathryn.Kure@durban.gov.za or femkathryn@gmail.com
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