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B2Gold supports community-backed rhino conservation in north-west Namibia

B2Gold supports community-backed rhino conservation in north-west Namibia

With conservation funding affected by the lockdown, a number of areas in north-western Namibia’s rhino range have been left exposed by the lack of tourists thus requiring extra patrolling.

With the donation of 1,000 ounces of gold by B2Gold, the launch of the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar in January 2020 and the subsequent sale of 600 bars to local buyers, the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar Advisory Committee has responded to the crisis.

Proceeds from the sale of the Rhino Gold Bar will be used in two vital ways: A portion will be invested to provide long-term financing to community driven efforts to protect Namibia’s black rhinos, while the conservation premium will be applied to activities in the field, ensuring that your support goes directly to the trackers, rangers and communities who live with wildlife.

B2Gold’s Gold Bar initiative supports to keep rangers from all 13 rhino range communal conservancies in the northwest in the field for the next 12 months, including the following conservancies: Anabeb, Otjikondavirongo, Ehirovipuka, Omatendeka, Sesfontein, Puros, //Huab, Doro !nawas, Tsiseb, Sorris Sorris, Uibasen, and #Khoadi Hoas.

The initiative also supports field staff from Save the Rhino Trust Namibia and Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation who are crucial in ensuring adequate patrol levels to keep the poaching pressure at bay and sustain population growth and funding for upgrades on the communications system that links field teams and base camp and is fundamentally important to ensure rapid reaction time to crisis situations.

Within four months of the launch of the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar, the project has already disbursed N$3 million to community-backed rhino conservation efforts.

The company said when the B2Gold Rhino Gold Bar is launched in North America, additional funds will be raised to provide long-term sustainable funding to community-backed rhino conservation in the Kunene region, ensuring that the conservation-based economy, for which Namibia is world-famous continues to be viable.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys