02 Aug 2016

Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama has applauded the organisers of the Nedbank Tour de Tuli mountain bicycle annual event for their love of conserving the flora and fauna.

Speaking during the official opening of the Tour de Tuli event recently at Limpopo Valley Airfied,  Khama stated that it was pleasing to realise that the event was held to raise funds for Children in the Wilderness  as well as to raise awareness in conserving the environment.

He stated the the “world does not belong to us but to our children and we must ensure that we live it the way we found it.” The event he said was key in educating people about the importance of taking care of the environment which was the reason the bikers flocked to the area to take part in the event.

The minister further added that there were many challenges pertaining to the wildlife resulting from poaching of wild animals. He said in recent time Botswana has been receiving rhinos from South Africa and Zimbabwe and those rhinos were here for the country to look after.

Khama also said Botswana was home to 170 000 elephants from the 220 000 which was about the 40 percent population left of Africa’s elephants. He described the poaching situation in Africa as scary.

Tanzania he said has a 15 000 elephants left from a number of 85 000 and if poaching continues in that country such animals would be extinct just under 10 years. Khama added that the Kwando River Valley through Zambia was one of the hot spots of poaching where a recent study found 862 carcasses as a result of poaching.

Of that number, 1200 were elephants and called for expansive intervention not only from government but other organisations such as Non Governmental Organisations, parastatals and indiduals .

Botswana, he said was working with her neighbours through transfontier parks and that all must intervene to protect the environment. The Nedbank Tour de Tuli annual event is held in the pristine areas of the three countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa and its mandate is to raise funds for the Children in the Wilderness as well to educate communities about the sensitiveness of the environment.

 Chairperson of Childern in the Wilderness (CITW) Russel Friedman said their programme has been running for 12 years and has been training children in areas with wildlife through eco-clubs as well as giving bursaries and scholarships to contribute to wildlife conservation.

The event has in the past 10 years hosted approximately 2 683 cyclists and raised R14.1 million. Cyclists not only have the opportunity of encountering a variety of wildlife, but the route also includes magnificent scenery and cultural interactions with the local communities living on the boundaries of these protected areas.

This year’s four day event attracted over 300 mountain bikers in the challenging and remote terrain in Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa between 29-1 August. ENDS