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(NEW
YORK, February 11, 2016) – Forevermark, the diamond brand
from The De Beers Group of Companies, and custom safari
specialist EXPLORE, Inc. joined together tonight to support
Rhino Rescue Botswana. More than 100 guests attended a
private dinner hosted by Chef Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin
Privé benefiting Botswana’s
newly-created Tlhokomela Trust. ‘Tlhokomela’ means ‘to
protect’ in Setswana, reflecting the trust’s mission to
perpetuate and expand Botswana’s vast and pristine
wilderness areas and protect critically endangered rhino and
other species.
Once widespread in Southern Africa, the white
rhino is now listed as ‘near-threatened’ and black rhino
‘critically endangered’ according to the International Union
for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. A
rhino is killed every seven minutes in Southern Africa due
to the skyrocketing value of rhino horn in Asia, which has
made it more valuable than gold
Special guests including the Hon. Minister
Tshekedi Khama of the Botswana Ministry of Environment,
Wildlife and Tourism, legendary activist Gloria Steinem,
actress Uma
Thurman, model Coco Rocho and husband James Conran attended
in support of rhino conservation.
Cherri Briggs, safari specialist and
conservation-activist of EXPLORE Inc, conceived of the event
after taking Eric Ripert and Uma Thurman to Botswana in an
effort to raise awareness of plight of the rhino.
Forevermark’s support of the Tlhokomela Trust
is part of the ongoing commitment by De Beers to protect the
diversity of the natural world in which it operates. For
every acre of land used for mining by De Beers, five acres
are dedicated to the conservation of nature, building
thriving ecosystems with healthy populations of native wild
animals and plants.
“A
diamond is a treasure of nature, created by the earth
billions of years ago. Our passion for diamonds is matched
by our deep sense of connection with the natural world,
which we are dedicated to protecting for future
generations,” said Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark and
Executive Vice President of Marketing for De Beers. “We are
proud to join with the Government of Botswana in promoting
rhino conservation globally.”
De Beers has been active in rhino
conservation since the 1970s and is a strong supporter of
the Government of Botswana’s progressive conservation
program. Debswana, a joint venture partnership between the
Government of Botswana and De Beers, currently supports
approximately 50 per cent of Botswana’s white rhino
population. The Debswana rhino conservation project aims to
grow and improve the genetic diversity of the rhino
population before relocation back into the natural habitat.
Both the Orapa Game Park and Jwana Game Park,
which surround Debswana’s Orapa and Jwaneng Mines, are home
to several thousand animals, including, rhino, giraffe,
zebra, baboon, cheetah, leopard and many other animal
species. The Jwana Game park spans more than 40,000 acres of
protected land, while the Orapa Game park currently consists
of 30,000 acres with plans to expand to more than 100,000
acres. Balisi Bonyongo, Managing Director of Debswana, is
the chairman of the Tlhokomela Trust.
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