Dear ATC Readers,
At dusk, after 10 hours of tackling some of the most rugged terrain in the history of Rhino Charge, the event was officially closed. Only one car out of 62 cars managed to reach all the required 13 guard posts.
Rhino Charge is an annual off-road motorsport organised since 1989 to raise funds for conservation of Kenya’s key mountain forests, commonly known as water towers.
The total amount of money raised for Rhino Ark conservation work as well as community in Songa Conservancy for hosting the event will be announced on Sunday morning at the prize-giving ceremony attended by Marsabit Governor, Rhino Ark chairman Isaac Awuondo, and Board member Rose Kimotho, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) chairman Peter Kinyua, and the KFS director Emilio Mugo.
Over the past years, the event has grown as a family event with rules and facilities providing a more conducive environment for families to attend, including the introduction of a kids’ corner by camp provider Tarpo this year.
Over 2700 people attended the event. This included an increasing number of children.
In keeping with Rhino Ark’s commitment to mitigate any potential negative impacts of the events, Rhino Ark made the commitment to make the Rhino Charge “climate neutral” from the 2017 event onward by offsetting the CO2 emissions related to the event, including the CO2 emissions related to all vehicles coming to the event, whether competitors, officials, sponsors, camp providers or spectators. To do so, Rhino Ark will calculate the climate footprint of the Rhino Charge and purchase the corresponding offset. This anticipates the objective of reaching climate neutrality in the second half of the century as detailed in the Paris Agreement, of which Kenya is a signatory. As part of this commitment, the Rhino Charge has joined the Climate Neutral Now movement (http://climateneutralnow.org/Pages/Orgs.aspx).
The event organizers have been enforcing stringent rules to ensure that no refuse is left anywhere in the entire Rhino Charge venue. This includes a system of fines that is strictly implemented to address refuse generated by competitors and spectators. In addition, with the support of key sponsors, refuse is collected across the venue, including the spectator camp and competing cars’ camps.
To promote refuse recycling, a Waste Sorting Station has been set up at the venue since 2013. Glass, cans, tins, and plastic bottles, among others, are separated and brought back to Nairobi for recycling. Over 50 cubic metres of refuse are properly sorted at each event and removed from the venue for recycling.
This year’s Charge event is being promoted by Brand Kenya as a home-grown national initiative to address conservation challenges facing the country’s mountain forests.
Photographs of the on-going activities of the event are accessible at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r7xgwtzr6adaigc/AAB0-hav4zxheSW2RalglWBLa?dl=0. For photo credits, use the file name.
The digital channels of the Rhino Charge and Rhino Ark are:
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