(Posted 14th June 2022)
| In-kind contributions to the 33rd edition motorsport conservation fundraising event held in Kajiado West has hit the KES60 million mark. This is the estimated contribution by the annual off-road adventure event’s sponsors, service providers and volunteers towards organizing the event. The figure is additional to the KES 156 million for the Rhino Ark Charitable Trust conservation activities as well as KES 5, 293,000 raised for the host Mosiro community from the vehicle access fee. The latter money was presented to the local government officials during the prize-giving ceremony and will be used for priority community projects. Rhino Ark Executive Director Christian Lambrechts noted that “although the total fundraise from the chargers is always a key highlight at prize-giving, the in-kind contribution from the sponsors, service providers and volunteers is in no measure a lesser contribution.” To wind up the Rhino Charge 2022, the Spirit of the Charge will be held in Nairobi July 02nd for the announcement of additional awards and entries for the next Rhino Charge. The actual venue and logistics of the social event will be announced to chargers. The Rhino Charge is organised by a committee of professionals who voluntarily prepare and run the event every year. It’s held in a different location each year in a remote and wild part of Kenya. The event location is kept secret until few days before the event to prevent competitors from being tempted to rehearse at the site ahead of time, getting undue advantage over others. This year’s race ended without incident with most crews successfully completing the grueling race. They overcame steep and rocky routes against a backdrop of thorny shrubs. By prize-giving day, all the competitor car crews had been accounted for and reported as safe to ‘HQ’, the nerve centre of the event. Over the years, the safety aspects of the event have been increasingly enhanced through more stringent requirements for the vehicle. The mandatory features include driver and co-driver roll cage, First Aid kits, fire extinguishers, emergency distress flags, full harness seat belts for the front seats, window guards for all the windows and helmets. Further, medical evacuation plans were in place with a full medical team on site, a helicopter and a caravan on standby to evacuate emergency cases. For the communities to take full benefit of the presence of the Rhino Charge waste management setup, a clean-up was undertaken in the two market centres of Mosiro / Kajiado and Mosiro / Narok neighbouring the charge venue. The funds raised during the event will go towards the six priority areas for Rhino Ark. These are: 1) Protection of Kenya’s mountain forests, other threatened habitats and their rich biodiversity; 2) Engagement and education of adjacent communities in conservation; 3) Securing the connectivity between mountain forests and other threatened wildlife habitats; 4) Establishment of sustainable financing mechanisms for the conservation of mountain forests and other threatened wildlife habitats; 5) Advocate nationally and internationally for the conservation of the mountain forests and other threatened habitats, their wildlife and their ecological functions; and, 6) Use of science to assess the impacts of, and review conservation interventions. Rhino Ark provides a platform for the private sector to invest through the Rhino Charge in the conservation of mountain forests that are primarily managed by government agencies, in particular Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service. With funding from the Rhino Charge and support from these agencies, key challenges affecting these mountain forests have largely been addressed. These challenges include human-wildlife conflicts, encroachments, illegal logging and charcoal production. Going forward, Rhino Ark remains committed to working with the government conservation agencies and other partners to address effectively current and emerging challenges, including human-wildlife conflicts, illegal and unsustainable forest resource extraction and climate change. Rhino Ark’s achievements to date include the construction and maintenance of 680 kilometres of electric fence protecting over 80,000 Kenyan households, development of conservation education programmes benefitting 178 primary and secondary schools; establishment of two wildlife corridors; restoration of degraded forest areas in Aberdare, Mt. Kenya, Eburu and South Western Mau. Kindly note that general information about the Rhino Charge is available online on the Rhino Charge website www.rhinocharge.co.ke and https://rhinocharge.co.ke/ufaqs/ The digital channels of the Rhino Charge and Rhino Ark are: |
| Rhino Charge Rhino Ark RhinoChargeKenya RhinoArk @rhino_charge @RhinoArk Rhino.Charge Rhino.Ark Hashtag #RhinoCharge #RhinoArk Youtube rhinocharge4x4 Website www.rhinocharge.co.ke www.rhinoark.org |
